Vol. 2, No. 30
TODAY'S LESSON: Traffic

If your website traffic has been slipping off over the last year, you're not alone. Professor I.M. Geeky of the Webology Institute recently reported that Web traffic has been "like, way, way down lately." In a slumping economy, this is no great surprise.

But hey, there are all sorts of indications that the economy is back on track. Must have something to do with all those cool and trendy berets they were selling at the Olympics. Sold like buttered hotcakes, I understand.

With the market on the upswing, it's time to get your website back in the public eye. If that means starting the online store you've always dreamed about, by all means. If it means a marketing push, then get on it. Or perhaps you have less lofty goals, and just want to draw some cheap traffic to your site so you can brag to all your friends. Fair enough.

Here's a few ideas on how to get moving.

>>> Traffic <<<

The traffic here in the Bay area is so bad that people are starting to use sea kayaks for their commute to work. And let me tell ya, it's pretty entertaining watching them suits juggle lattes while they bounce around in those little boats. If the traffic to your site isn't as heavy as you'd like, there are ways to get it flowing more swiftly.

"Attracting Traffic"
Looking to direct more traffic to your site? The Lycos InSite program delivers guaranteed 48 hour inclusion and 48 hour refresh of your content within their Web search index for a full year. This ensures your site is always available to the Web-surfing public.

"Free Traffic Tips"
What's that, you don't like paying for anything, ever? OK, then how about going the cheap-o route to search engine optimization.

"Marketing"
Another great way to attract traffic is through marketing. But what does marketing mean? It usually has something to do with making money, but it also has to do with attracting attention. Whatever the case, here are some tips on how to define it for your own goals.

>>> Business <<<

If you're going to get your website back in the public eye, better make sure everything is ship-shape. This could mean anything from battening down the code to updating your content and graphics. If you're not sure where to start, maybe you should open up a dialogue between you and your audience.

"Market Research"
Who visits your site, and what do they want? Answers to these questions can be extremely helpful as you set out to build and fine-tune your site. Unfortunately, getting your hands on this kind of data is tricky business.

"Mine Your Data"
Almost every Web server worth its salt has some sort of system that stores information about which pages, images, and files are requested, who requests them, and how many bytes are transferred. All of this information is dumped into a log file that is stored in a specific location on your server.

1. When you're trying to keep visitors on your site, don't do it at the cost of annoying them. Trap doors, redirects, keyword spam, and multiple domains that host the same pages are more likely to make people reach for the back button, not their credit cards.

2. Next time you fire up your FTP client or log in to your Web server, take a moment and dig around for your log files. On most Web servers, you will find a directory - usually in your root directory, or the parent directory just above it - named "logs" or "stats." Inside, you will most likely see a file with a .log, .web, or .clf extension. Since Web logs are essentially text files, some will even have a .txt file extension. Download the log file, save it to a local drive, and have a look.

3. Looking for a spring fashion tip that will add a little flash and flair to your wardrobe? Berets: They're back, and they're cooler than ever.

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