SOLD
A while back my art website, Fine Art Studio Online, announced that they were going to be switching from a company they current contract to gather statistics about visitors, keywords, time on the site, pages visited etc. to another type of stats which are somewhat similar to Google Analytics.
Admittedly, I'm adverse to change, but I have found the statistics interesting and hoped that the new ones would be similar. I know statistics really shouldn't be the focus of my attention.... but well, what can I say...? I keep trying to figure out ways to analyze or "measure" my progress toward my goals (which don't directly include website statistics.) and statistics would seem to be a way to measure which is less subject than some measures. I even did a blog post about statistics several months ago before I knew about the upcoming changes.
CLICK HERE if you would like to read the STATISTICS post from August.
Well... there are similarities, but after several questions to the tech staff (which has always been patient and absolutely professionally wonderful) I am left with some unease at anticipating the change.
After getting instruction from several techs, I know a bit better how to manipulate the new statistics, which are in line graph form, but I still can't get the same information. To make matters worse, it appears that the two types of statistics measure the data a bit differently, since the numbers which I think SHOULD be the same are not exactly the same. I'm told that the new stats will allow you to gather and analyze more data..... but I'd just like to gather the same data in the same way (bar graphs... I believe in the KISS principle). I would like to know how many people visit my site each day (total... not by the hour) and each month and each year and be able to compare that total number to the previous month or year. I haven't figured out how to do that with the new stats.
Also after spending far too much time on the subject, I realize that I really don't know the real VALUE of the statistics. I have far more visitors than in past years. Is this in ANY way related to an increase in my sales? I DO have more collectors than in past years (yay). Which comes first? The sales or the stats? If more people visit my site, will more people purchase my work?? Or perhaps my art is improving so more people are buying it and/or looking at my site.
All of the "experts" tell us artists how important it is to have a good website on which to display our artwork. I really do love my FASO website... It's easy and professional looking. Certainly if no one visits, the website isn't worth much, so in that way I suppose the stats are indicative of something. But how close the relationship is... I still am not sure.... And if different the stats are different from one method of capturing them to another... WHY and which is better? If stats really DON'T matter, then why have a way to keep track of them in the first place?
I am seriously hoping there will be some smart math-brained artist out there or perhaps someone from my website itself who would do a bang up job for all of us to help us better understand how to use statistics in general and the new FASO stats in particular.
In the meantime, please enjoy my little painting, "Hide and Seek". While the kitten plays under the blanket of leaves, ponder this:
Perhaps the stats are just another way to fool us into believing people are looking at our work...
Or ..........
Perhaps they help us seek the truth.
Or ..........
Perhaps they help us seek the truth.
No comments:
Post a Comment