You like to know how often your Webpages were called up and who called them up? From the STRATO PowerWeb Package up we supply you with downloadable evaluation statistics, such as Log files:

Useful background knowledge:
A web server records every attempt made to access an element (for example every HTML page or every picture) of your web presence. Even aborted attempts or prohibited attempts (e.g. to password protected files) are recorded. The server writes into a so called “log file”, the origin of the attempts (from which domain/IP address); the time the attempts were made; and which elements were being (web page or picture) called up. Our servers also record the browser used to call up a particular element.

For data protection reasons, the host name or alternatively the IP address of the clients, that visit your website, are kept anonymous in your log files. In the log files, you shall find the name of the clients internet provider. If this is not available, the IP address of the client is replaced by an anonymous value. All other entries are not changed.

The first 9 bits of the IP address are replaced by a Hash-value. For example, the IP address 123.123.123.123 will be replaced by the anonymous value 123.123.122.243. An anonymous IP address expires after 24 hours. After 24 hours the initial anonymous IP address is replaced by another anonymous address.

Example of the anonymization of the host name:
If there is a domain name in the log file, then the domain name part is kept in tact. Everything else is replaced by “anon-123-123-122-243.domain.tld”. The word “anon” stands for “anonym”. The digits stand for the anonymous IP address.

The following address:
ascend-tk-p66.rhrz.uni-berlin.de - - [15/Jan/2008:12:28:23 +0100] "GET /Holdayswithyou.gif HTTP/1.1" 200 8032 "http://www.yourstratodomain-1.co.uk/holidays/ibiza.html" "Mozilla/5.0 .... and so forth.

becomes:
anon-123-123-122-243.uni-berlin.de - - [15/Jan/2008:12:28:23 +0100] "GET /holidayswithyou.gif.gif HTTP/1.1" 200 8032 "http://www.yourstratodomain-1.co.uk/holidays/ibiza.html" .... and so forth.

From this you can draw the following conclusion; a server from the uni-berlin, using the Mozilla browser, made a successful attempt on the 15th of January 2008 at 12:28 pm to access the page “ibiza.html” in the folder “holidays”. The IP address of that server, however, remains anonymous.

Example of a unresolvable IP address:
If an IP address is recorded in a log file, because the hostname could not be resolved, then a fictitious host name will be created using the following criteria: “anon-123-456-165-41.invalid”. “anon” still stands for “anonym” here and the IP address is also represented by an anonymous IP address. The Top-Level-Domain “.invalid” is used, because it will never be used as a Top-Level-Domain and was developed for solely this reason.

The following address:
123.456.789.001 - - [15/Jan/2008:12:28:23 +0100] "GET /holidayswithyou.gif HTTP/1.1" 200 8032 "http://www.yourstratodomain-1.co.uk/site.htm" "Mozilla/5.0 .... and so forth ....

becomes:
anon-123-456-165-41.invalid - - [15/Jan/2008:12:28:23 +0100] "GET /holidayswithyou.gif HTTP/1.1" 200 8032 "http://www.yourstratodomain-1.co.uk/site.htm" "Mozilla/5.0 .... and so forth....

From this example, the following conclusion can be drawn: an attempt was made to access the page, “site.htm” by a server whose IP address ranges from 123.456.000.01 to 123.456.255.99.


Important basic terms
The most important terms regarding these statistics are access (Hits) and page inquiries (Page Views).

The number of the access/hits indicates how often inquiries were made to each of your Website pages including pictures, which are also recorded as an access. When a page containing 5 pictures with background music (e.g. Midi-File), 7 accesses (1 page + 5 pictures + 1 music-file) will be recorded. Inquiries to pages that do not exist or pages that were refused access are counted as hits.

The term Page Views only describes called pages (i.e. how often HTML and TXT files were called). The page with pictures and a music file produces only one demand paging/PAGE View. Unsuccessful inquiries are not taken into account. If you want to compare your own access statistics with others, you should always check the values in reference to each other. If you hear that others have a very high number, more than a thousand a month, this is usually because of the access/hits. These information can however be caused by the attractiveness of an Internet site, since the numbers increase quickly when many pictures and frames are used. If you want to know how good your on-line offer has been received by the Internet users, it is better to consult the number in the demand paging/PAGE Views.

Generally you need to take into account a certain amount of distortion with the access figures. These are usually caused by pro XY servers, for example by on-line services that are used. In between, a Proxy-Server will be used to save all enquires Internet documents and graphics enabling the next page enquiry to be taken directly out of the local memory (proxy server) instead of being taken new out of the Internet. This happens substantially faster. Because the file is no longer directly asked for by our server no access will be logged. These readers are invisible to you. The real "access/hit number" could actually be substantially higher than the Log files assume.
Turned around indexing robots of the search machines distort your statistics in positives. Reference search machines for instance such as AltaVista, Fireball or Hotbot use small programmes ("Bots"), which call up your entire Webpage and read it in the search machine data bank. Therefore you receive logged accesses which actually do not come from a real reader.

Further statistic call up terms
Next to the fundamental Hits and Page Views you are shown our call up statistics that are somewhat inflated:

· Files
How many files were successfully called up. Each Internet page, each picture and every other file called (e.g. Midi file, video sequence) and will be counted as a "file". The example with 5 pictures and back ground music were counted as 7 files (1 Page + 5 pictures + 1 music-file).

· Code 304 (not modified)
With each call of an Internet page the browser (depending upon cache) examines first whether it still has the page in its own buffer (Cache). If this is the case, it compares to see if the document on the server is up to date. Only in this case will it retrieve it from the server. The same procedure takes place at providers which use pro XY servers.
The server logs this inquiry, although the desired file was not transferred because it was still locally present, with the code 304.

· Sessions
Indicate, how much transfer volume the called up files caused. An example page with a file size of 14 kilobyte (KB) as well as 5 pictures at 10 KB causes 64 KB of transfer volume (or traffic). Our statistics give you information about.
The number of "sessions" can also distort the number of visitors. Therefore, a certain amount of distortion must be taken into account as large providers may have accessed your site with a pro XY server and some visitors may have accessed your Website several times within a single day.

· Kilobytes
Indicate, how much transfer volume the called up files caused. An example page with a file size of 14 kilobyte (KB) as well as 5 pictures at 10 KB causes 64 KB of transfer volume (or traffic). Our statistics give you information about:

This information is important for the development of your Internet Website. Depending upon the distribution of accessing browsers it can be meaningful for example, for certain HTML extensions which can only be shown by individual Browser types and to enable or stop their use.
The "Referrer URL" gives interesting information about how your visitors became aware of your Website. If there are no large search engines here this could be a reason for you to examine your registration with them to further optimise your search entry.
Finally the "Client Domain" ascertains from which country your visitor accessed your Webpage.
The hit list of the most called up pages and/or elements tells you about your visitors preferences. This feedback shows, where potential developments for your Webpage could lie and which areas may need improving.

 

A) USING THE EVALUATION STATISTICS 

 

Go to our Website and log in to our password protected Customer Service Area (STRATO Webhosting). Select the option Statistics and Statistic Request from the menu shown on the left side. In the right window you will see a link for your statistics for the last 12 months. Please click this option. A small navigational window will open where you will see a graphical overview of the access for the last 12 months:

  

 Fig. 1

 

When you scroll down you will find a tabled overview access. This can look like the following example:

 

Fig. 2

 

Within the table are different classified statistics for your Website (you can find explanations for the individual terms in the section "useful background information"). At the foot of the table the "totals" are summed up in one line so that you can see an overview of how many page demands or accesses took place over the course of the last year. In the line "AVERAGE" an average value of the values of the individual months has been calculated.
On the header of the table you will find a link to the statistics for the current month. These figures are updated more frequently than the total summary. You can get detailed statistics for each individual month by clicking on the respective month in the first column. Alternatively you can click on the individual months in the small navigational window:

 

Fig. 3

 

Links are only available for the months that contain statistics. In the above example the domain was first registered with us in July, the first statistic will be from this date.
For example a monthly statistic looks like:

 

 Fig. 4

 

Please note that in each case the coloured bars are a graphical conversion of the numbers. Which colour represents which value, is indicated in the first column. Thus you see a description of the relationship of the individual values. The number of all accesses ("hits") consists of the called up files ("files") plus the files that were called up but were still available in the cache. (Code 303) as well as other different error messages (e.g. 404 - error messages arise if page cannot be called up because of a possible invalid link).

See also:
 What do the total results in the overview for the monthly statistics mean?

By clicking on the respective options in the small navigation window you can get more detailed information:

 

Fig. 5

 

If you do not see a small navigation window, it is probably hidden or covered by another application. Click the Windows Programme list at the foot of the screen by the opened programmes until you reach the navigation window. If you still cannot find it you may have deactivated Java Script. If this is the case you will find the link for the navigational window at the bottom of the monthly overview page.
We recommend that you activate Java Script if you wish to work using the navigational window. You can do this in the "Preferences" and/or in the "pre-setting" of your browser.
You can now select from the different options to receive detailed classified single statistics.
At your disposal:

Over the line hits you receive a single classified evaluation of the accesses that have taken place for the entire month (e.g. Weekday & Hour) or for country (Over Country). An example of Weekday & Hour is as follows:

 

Fig. 6

 

When you click the top ten option the line items/URLs you receive a diagram of the most frequently called up pages of your Website:

 

Fig. 7

 

The option "Overview" shows the composition of the calls per page in a pie chart.

Further important information for optimizing your Website is offered with the option "Not found". Clicking on this shows you which pages failed. This is usually caused by invalid links. From time to time you can look in the list and correct any invalid links. You can also ask operators of other Websites with links to pages to your Website (that do not exist anymore) to correct the links.

Under the line "referral URL" when you click on the option "Top Ten" you will receive a diagram showing the domains that most frequently visited your Website:

 

Fig. 8

 

The option "Overview" shows the composition of the calls per domain in a chart.
Under the line "browser type" when you click on the option "Top Ten" you will receive a diagram of the most frequently used browser types:

 

Fig. 9

 

"MSIE", stands for, Microsoft Internet Explorer, the term, "Mozilla" is generally for, Netscape Navigator. The numbers show the respective version number.

The "Overview" option shows a list compiling the browser type. The different intermediate versions of the browsers (e.g. 4.02 and 4.1) are combined into one entry, so that you can see for example all accesses for the Netscape navigator Version 4.x.
The option "List" finally shows you separated access`s for each browser version that have taken place, i.e. navigator 4.1 and 4.02 are listed here individually.

Above the line "referral URL" when you click on the option "Top Ten" you will receive a diagram showing the domains that most frequently visited your Website:

 

Fig. 10

 

Normally you will find here the different Internet search engines.
The "Overview" option shows a list compiling the Internet addresses that referred visitors to your Webpage.
The "List" option shows you a list for each individual referring URL and the exact pages that were referred.

If you need the unevaluated original access statistics ("log files"), you can download these in the password protected customer service area. For this select the menu option  Statistics  and  Logfile-Download . In the main right window you can then select the desired period for the log files download. Statistics are available for all successful accesses (for your Webpage) that have taken place in the last 6 weeks:

 

Fig. 11

 

In the overview on the left you can select the desired starting date by clicking on the field below the dates. If under a date no clicking field is shown this means that on this day no accesses to your Website took place.
Finally in the right window you can use the same method to select the end date. In the above example a start date of 1.1. and an end date of 30.1. were selected in order to download a complete log file for the month of January. Then click on the button "Generate Log File" at the foot of the date overview. You will now see a new page in which the information about the selected log file is shown.
Simply click on the link "Here", to save the log file on your hard drive:

 

Fig. 12

 

You will now receive the well known dialogue box of the browsers in which you specify, the name of the file and where they are to be stored.
You can choose the file name and where you would like to save it. The file ending however must remain as .gz. The Download time depends on the size of the log file, i.e. on the number of the accesses to your Website during the chosen period. In order to view the file you must first de-compress it (in order to enable you to down load it quicker and it will be automatically saved in the .gz-Format). This is similar to the common compression format .zip. In order to be able to read the file, you must again decompress it with an appropriate unpacking program.

For examples common programmes such as WinZip can process the file problem-free.
If you do not already have one of these programmes installed you will are offered links to appropriate programmes along with the links for the Log file down load:

 

Fig. 13

 

Sometimes an auxiliary dialogue box opens as in above illustration, in which you are asked for the file ending for the log file. In the above example you enter .txt or if you have installed Microsoft Word or Wordpad you can also enter .doc. Finally click on the OK-button.
You can now see the file in the overview list of WinZip:

 

Fig. 14

 

Click on the "Extract" field on the toolbar. You will then receive a file selection option in which you can specify where you want to save the uncompressed file on your hard drive. You are free to choose where. Then click on  to save the file:

 

Fig. 15

 

You can now close WinZip and process the log file with the desired programme, e.g. with analysis programmes ("log file Analyzer as mentioned"). Some log file Analyzers can even process compressed files. In this case you can also naturally save the unpacked version with WinZip.

In addition you can view the file in any programme that can show text. For example Wordpad that is included with Windows or in Microsoft word.

 

Finally you can open the logfile.txt as normal.