Web log analysis software (also called a web log analyzer) is a kind of

web analytics Web analytics is the measurement, data collection, collection, analysis, and reporting of web Data (computing), data to understand and optimize web usage. Web analytics is not just a process for measuring web traffic but can be used as a tool for ...

software that parses a server log file from a

web server A web server is computer software and underlying Computer hardware, hardware that accepts requests via Hypertext Transfer Protocol, HTTP (the network protocol created to distribute web content) or its secure variant HTTPS. A user agent, co ...

, and based on the values contained in the log file, derives indicators about when, how, and by whom a web server is visited. Reports are usually generated immediately, but data extracted from the log files can alternatively be stored in a database, allowing various reports to be generated on demand. Features supported by log analysis packages may include "hit filters", which use pattern matching to examine selected log data.

Common indicators

* Number of visits and number of unique visitors * Visit duration and last visits * Authenticated users, and last authenticated visits * Days of week and rush hours * Domains/countries of host's visitors. * Hosts list * Number of page views * Most viewed, entry, and exit pages * File types * OS used * Browsers used *

Robots" \n\n\n\n\n\n\nrobots.txt is the filename used for implementing the Robots Exclusion Protocol, a standard used by websites to indicate to visiting web crawlers and other web robots which portions of the website they are allowed to visit.\n\nThe sta ...

used *

HTTP referrer In HTTP, "" (a misspelling of "Referrer") is an optional HTTP header field that identifies the address of the web page (i.e., the URI or IRI) from which the resource has been requested. By checking the referrer, the server providing the new web ...

Search engine A search engine is a software system that provides hyperlinks to web pages, and other relevant information on World Wide Web, the Web in response to a user's web query, query. The user enters a query in a web browser or a mobile app, and the sea ...

s, key phrases and keywords used to find the analyzed web site * HTTP errors * Some of the log analyzers also report on who is on the site, conversion tracking, visit time and page navigation.

Common indicators

See also