Web Analytics uses communication data between a client and a server to
generate business intelligence of use to an organization. In
brief, this is how it works:
When a request for a web page is initiated by a web browser on a personal
computer to a web server, identifying data is sent with the request.
This information includes the physical address of the personal computer on the
WWW (i.e. IP address), the originating and destination URLs, and the date and time
of the event.
This data is required by the web servers in order to return web
page content back to the web browser on the the personal computer. This
is illustrated graphically:
Communication between a PC
(Client) and
a Web Server
The web server retains all incoming communications in a log that is stored on the
web server. This data can be copied into a Data Warehouse and sliced
and diced as needed to generate business intelligence about website visits
In addition to transmitting basic Internet communication data, many websites store
"cookies" on the visitor's personal computers. These cookies contain
identifying information about the visitor's previous visit to the website.
