Website Traffic: The Best Tools to Track Your Online Metrics
It’s no secret that if you want to attract customers, you need to be seen online. Whether you run a brick-and-mortar storefront, a remote service, or any business model in between, your website can help you improve your marketing and stand out from the competition. Website traffic is a treasure trove of information, and the key to unlocking your online success. We have a great list of tools further down in this article to get you started on website traffic analysis.
Why Should I Track Website Traffic?
Website traffic is an essential part of measuring your presence on the internet. By comparing your traffic to your competitors, you can set a benchmark for your business’s online performance. Looking at other sites in your industry can help you improve your website’s visibility, SEO ranking, and overall structure. It’s a win-win situation for you and your customers.
Your website traffic can also reveal who is seeking your product or service and help you improve it. You may be surprised to find out who your visitors are, how they found you, and why they like your business!
Now, let’s explore the ways you can analyze your website traffic.
Just The Basics, Please!
These tools are perfect for those who are just starting out in online analytics or have a tight budget to work with.
SEMRush is a wonderful place to start if you need a basic overview of your visitor rate, visit duration and bounce rate. You can also compare your site to up to four competitor sites!
SimilarWeb offers comparable features, along with traffic sources and top keywords your visitors are using to find you. Give SimilarWeb’s Chrome extension a try; it allows you to peek at any website’s traffic for free. Talk about having an insider’s look at the competition!
Do you like graphs and visuals more than long lists of numbers? We hear you. Hotjar shows you exactly how visitors use your site with an interactive heatmap of highly clicked areas. You can also watch recordings of user sessions on your site and send them feedback surveys.
Dive Deeper into Web Metrics
If you’re ready to graduate to more thorough analysis tools, here are some great options.
Serpstat has a wide range of traffic and SEO features, including backlink analysis, rank tracking, and site auditing. You can also see the exact CPC (cost per click) for paid keywords on your site.
Can’t get enough data? Ahrefs crawls more than 6 billion web pages each day, and it can show you how much traffic your competitors are getting and why. Compare your domain authority to other sites and use the boatload of information to make your site stand out even more.
Traffic Analysis is Nice, But What About SEO?
While you’re gathering metrics, don’t neglect your spot on Google! Website traffic and SEO are closely tied, and many traffic tools also offer SEO features on the side.
Start your SEO journey with the Google Search Console. It’s a free, official tool that shows you the average position of your site’s keywords in search engines. It can help you optimize each page on your website to get as close to the top of the results list as possible.
SiteChecker gives you basic website traffic analysis, as well as your search engine ranking, backlink tracking, and Google analytics integration. It has something for everyone!
SpyFu is designed to recommend the best paid keywords for your website, based on your data and your competitors’.
We’d also like to give a shout out to MOZ, because it easily allows you to compare your site to competitors. While it has a lot of stats to offer, it doesn’t overload you with information right away. It’s sleek and accessible for most business owners.
I’m a Web Expert, What Else Can I Use?
For more comprehensive features, Clicky is a solid choice. Visitor privacy is their priority. They offer anonymized, GDPR-compliant visitor logs and action logs for every button on your site. Their smart detection can automatically filter out bots, giving you the most accurate reading of real visitor activity.
If you want to take your web mastery to the next level, UberSuggest has it all. You can see a full report of traffic data from the past four months for up to three URLs per day. They also offer monthly organic traffic reports, domain authority ratings, and backlink ratings. You can even take the UberSuggest SEO training course and perfect your website’s search engine ranking!
We hope you find your new favorite website traffic tools and see big improvements to your site! Comment below if you have any success stories using these tools. Let us know if your platform of choice is missing from this list, or just share your best website traffic tips and tricks below!