I've added a fifth option to the already hard to understand /log page. Now you can view your hits by useragent (where useragent is the type of browser making the request for your page.) Probably you wouldn't keep it on this setting, but you can switch to it to uncover who is behind hits which the 'complete log' list as being from nowhere. Probably that doesn't make sense, but check it out if your curious.
For example, on my page, if I set it to complete log, I see that the overwhelming number of hits are unidentified (that is, they are not coming from a specific link on another page.) But the log is recording not just the refering page, but also the useragent (browser and OS) of the computer making the request. So if I flip the /log to 'useragent' I see that most of those unidentifid hits are coming from the googlebot. Also I can see what other browsers people are using (mostly IE.)
Thanks, that helps to make sense of what's coming in. A question: what does the "external referer" monitor? In other words, hundreds of hits come from outside digitalmediatree, according to the useragent log, but the number of "external referer" hits is very small.
Also, 200-plus hits on my page were from the googlebot, but my page still isn't showing up on google (on dogpile/overture, it is, though). Do they sample you several times before you're "validated"? Or is it just a lag in processing/posting the data?
No one really understands exactly how google works. In your case it's probably just a lag (instead of some sort of validation) but it's probably even more complex than that. If you are being indexed at all, that's a good sign, but it doesn't mean you'll show up in results (only that you are in the pool of pages which they then set their algorithms loose on - but just because you're in the pool doesn't mean you will turn up in the results when the algorithms finish their work on the data. Being linked from other places seems very important here.)
'external referers' means that /log will only show you hits coming from actual links on pages outside of (external to) the digitalmediatree.com domain. This is where you should leave it if all you're interested in is if anybody else links to you. So all the hits that aren't the result of someone following a real link somewhere else out there on the web are excluded in this case. But the complete log is always kept. The different options only effect the reporting - so, for instance, keeping it on 'external referers' doesn't stop the system from logging all the other types of hits. You can switch the views around at will, but all the information is always being captured.
|
For example, on my page, if I set it to complete log, I see that the overwhelming number of hits are unidentified (that is, they are not coming from a specific link on another page.) But the log is recording not just the refering page, but also the useragent (browser and OS) of the computer making the request. So if I flip the /log to 'useragent' I see that most of those unidentifid hits are coming from the googlebot. Also I can see what other browsers people are using (mostly IE.)
- jim 11-17-2001 4:38 pm
Thanks, that helps to make sense of what's coming in. A question: what does the "external referer" monitor? In other words, hundreds of hits come from outside digitalmediatree, according to the useragent log, but the number of "external referer" hits is very small.
Also, 200-plus hits on my page were from the googlebot, but my page still isn't showing up on google (on dogpile/overture, it is, though). Do they sample you several times before you're "validated"? Or is it just a lag in processing/posting the data?
- tom moody 11-17-2001 5:46 pm [add a comment]
No one really understands exactly how google works. In your case it's probably just a lag (instead of some sort of validation) but it's probably even more complex than that. If you are being indexed at all, that's a good sign, but it doesn't mean you'll show up in results (only that you are in the pool of pages which they then set their algorithms loose on - but just because you're in the pool doesn't mean you will turn up in the results when the algorithms finish their work on the data. Being linked from other places seems very important here.)
'external referers' means that /log will only show you hits coming from actual links on pages outside of (external to) the digitalmediatree.com domain. This is where you should leave it if all you're interested in is if anybody else links to you. So all the hits that aren't the result of someone following a real link somewhere else out there on the web are excluded in this case. But the complete log is always kept. The different options only effect the reporting - so, for instance, keeping it on 'external referers' doesn't stop the system from logging all the other types of hits. You can switch the views around at will, but all the information is always being captured.
- jim 11-17-2001 9:01 pm [add a comment]