ArtSites Updates

This week, I received an email from Bruce Millen asking:

I frequently get statistics of 1 Visitor & 1 View. This seems very odd to me that so many people would go to the trouble of accessing my website and then stop at the Home Page without looking beyond. I would think the Home Page image would intrigue a viewer enough to continue on at least a bit further.

Any thoughts on why this is happening?

This is a great question and I thought you might also enjoy hearing my answer to Bruce.

Firstly, 1 View does not necessarily mean that your 1 Visitor landed on your Home Page.

In fact, it's much more likely that these visitors ended up on another page on your website.

Seondly, what you're probably seeing are the results of online searches.

If you've followed some of my tips from our Search Engine Optimization series of articles, you've done a good job using keywords in your titles and descriptions.

Well, imagine someone doing a keyword search on Google, which just happens to match your title or description.

They may not even be looking for artwork!

For example, perhaps you have a piece of art that is based on a specific location.

If you included that location in your description or title, anyone looking for information about that location may stumble across your website.

BUT, if they're looking for directions or specific activities for that location, your website clearly is NOT the resource they were looking for. ;-)

In this case, that visitor might land on your webpage (because of the location mentioned) and realize quite quickly that s/he was in the wrong place.

So, what would that visitor do next?

Of course, leave and move on to other websites or results to find the information s/he was seeking.

From your Statistics perspective, all you'd see would be 1 Visitor and 1 View (i.e., the page they landed on).

And, given this explanation, it would make sense that they didn't stay longer on your website.

So, when you see Statistics like the above, DO NOT assume that people don't like your artwork or website! ;-)

They may have merely landed on your website based on a search for a keyword and your webpage matched their query.

(And, honestly, nice job on the search engine optimization! ;-)

Now, if you find that MOST of your visitors do not stay around, you may want to look into this!

This may be a sign that your visitors don't know where to go once they get to your website, i.e. they're confused ;-)

Or, maybe your website isn't "guiding" them to stay!

I always recommend having friends, family and fellow artists, periodically look at your website and give honest feedback.

Since you know your website SO well and have been working on it constantly, you may not see certain issues.

For example, look at your language to see if it encourages visitors to browse or go to other pages!

Just like any "shopping" experience, the more we browse, the more likely we are to find something that catches our eye! ;-)

So, do keep an eye on your statistics, but don't be upset if you have a few "bouncers" (that's the technical term ;-) who don't stick around.

What's more important is making sure that the people who DO want to find you and your art, stay around! ;-)

If you want to know more about how our Statistics work, etc., please check out our Flashback Friday Post: How Do ArtSites Statistics Works? And, can I get more details? ...

And, as always, if you have any other Statistics questions, just let ask!

Happy Statistics Watching!! ;-)