Web Statistics Terminology

Browser: A software application used to access websites (e.g. Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Opera, etc).

Entry Page: The first page of a website viewed by a visitor.

Exit Page: The last page of a website viewed by a visitor.

IP Address: A number which identifies the location of a client (web surfer) on the Internet. In theory this is a unique number which can be used to identify separate visitors. (Note: You can view your current IP address here.)

Log File: A file generated by a server which records information about server activity (more info).

Page View: One successful request for a web page.

Referrer: The URL of a web page which refers visitors to another website via a hyperlink.

Server: A specialized computer which is accessible by other computers. A web server hosts websites which can be accessed by end users.

Session: A unique visit.

Status Code: A code which indicates how a hit was responded to (e.g. file sent successfully, file not found, permission denied, etc).

Unique Visit: One visit to a website by one visitor. The visitor may view any number of pages during a visit. If the visitor leaves and comes back later, this counts as a second unique visit. Exactly how much time needs to elapse between visits in order to count as a new visit depends on the way the analysing software is configured (more info).

Unique Visitor: A single person who visits a website, no matter how many times. If a person visits a site a hundred times in a month, they are still counted as a single unique visitor.