Using the Internet and browsing websites have become an integral part of our lives these days. As per statistics, around 4.66 billion people across the globe are active Internet users. Reports suggests that as of early January 2021, 1.83 billion websites existed on the World Wide Web and this number is on the rise constantly.
Every website that can be accessed over the Internet is hosted with a certain web hosting company. The purpose of a web hosting company is to not only provide server space for storing the files of a website but also to deliver the necessary technologies and services that are needed to make a website accessible over the Internet. There are various types of hosting services that are offered by every web hosting service provider. A web hosting service can be shared, dedicated, VPS, reseller, cloud, or WordPress. The most popular and reliable web hosts are often referred to as the “Best Website Hosting Company”, the “Best Windows Hosting Company” or as the “Top Cloud Hosting Company”.
Website Statistics
Any website’s details can be tracked along
with understanding the behavior of those that visit it through web statistics
contained in log files. Web statistics that depict trends in users’ behavior, prove
to be extremely beneficial and essential for gauging those aspects of websites
that contribute towards attainment of both, its business as well as general
objectives.
The statistics of websites are based on
server logs. The activities that take place on a server in a given period of
time are recorded in a simple text file, which is known as a server log. Server
logs, which are maintained by a server, can be of several types and are created
automatically.
Web Server Logs
One of the examples of server logs is a web
server log. It is a text file that gets created in accordance with the activity
that a web server generates. Page requests’ history is maintained in it. The
World Wide Web Consortium, which is the World Wide Web’s main international
standards organization, is responsible for maintaining a standard format known
as the Common Log Format for the files that are related to web server logs.
Apart from it there are other proprietary formats. A server log helps to
provide in-depth information regarding a website’s visitors, the browsers and
the operating systems that had been used to access a website, content that is
browsed on the site, web pages that are viewed etc. Information gets revealed
through it with regard to the web pages that generate the least and the most
web traffic, the sites that refer visitors to one’s website as well as any
visits made to a site by directory editors and search robots.
Any web server request related information,
such as the requested page, served bytes, service name, server name, client IP
address, HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) code, request date and time, user
agent, referrer etc. are usually included in a web server log. All this data
can either exist in distinctly separate logs (error log, access log etc.) or these
can be incorporated into a single file. Usually a server log does not gather
information that is user-specific and is not accessible to any regular Internet
user either. It can be accessed by either a Webmaster or by an Internet
service’s administrators. Server logs’ statistical analysis serve the purpose
of examining patterns with regard to web traffic, depending on time, day, user
agent or referrer. Moreover, when web server logs are analyzed properly it
helps to administer websites efficiently and host resources adequately.
Types of Server
Log Files
In this section information will be
provided on server log files that are either an access log or an agent log or
an error log or a referrer log. An access log is meant to record information
regarding the HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) files as well
as the graphic images that are being requested from a server. This type of a
log provides information about the number as well as the origin (.gov, .edu
etc.) of website visitors, the most request page by visitors, usage patterns
etc. An agent log file records and makes available all the relevant information
regarding the web clients that make requests on a server. Information related
to the failed requests of a server are recorded and maintained in an error log
file. An error message is generated by it automatically whenever anyone tries
to access a file that doesn’t exist on the server. Another type of a server log
file is a referrer log. It records information about that particular URL (Uniform
Resource Locator) which was visited immediately prior to visiting one’s web
page and making a request on one’s server. Such a log aids in collecting
information regarding the web pages that are referring traffic to a particular
server.
Benefits of Web
Server Logs
There are numerous advantages of web server
logs. One of these is that it is easy to implement as it does not require any
page tagging or page coding. Moreover, it aids in data ownership. It makes it
possible to have flexibility in data collection. One’s web servers can be
called on to gather a certain type of data and ignore the other types. This
aids in enabling one to select the type of information (server errors, file
types etc.) that is required to be analyzed. Direct requests to a database
application are permitted by certain web servers. Web server logs are capable
of measuring robot traffic. Robot activity data proves to be useful when
analyzing SEO’s (Search Engine Optimization) endeavors’ effects.
Conclusion
It is evident that web server logs have
many advantages as these contain essential information about the activity that
takes place on a web server and by analyzing these server logs valuable
insights into a web server can be gained.
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