Knowing what region of the globe your traffic is coming from can be important knowledge, especially if you use your site for money-making purposes, but who really wants to read through server logs…?
How about using gVisit, a Google Maps API development that give users a graphic representation of where their site traffic originated from. gVisit, which was pointed out by the SEOMoz.org blog, works by entering your site’s URL into the gVisit form, which is available on the developer’s site.
Users are then asked to place a snippet of JavaScript code (provided by gVisit) into the HTML (it will not change the site’s appearance). The JavaScript code allows gVisit to track site traffic in order to return the visual representation. After pasting the code into the site’s structure, users are provided with a URL that will allow them to track visitors to their site using Google Maps. For an example gVisit log, click here.
The current version of gVisit will track the last 20 visitors. However, if you would like to track up to 100 visitors, you can do so by making a donation (of any amount) to the gVisit developers. Once the donation has been made, the gVisit guys will update your service so that no advertisements are shown, while allowing you to track more of your site’s visitors. According to the gVisit’s disclaimer, the visitor maps are updated hourly.
The service sounds like a promising alternative to mucking through server logs in order to find the location of your site’s traffic. If nothing else, the data should provide a clearer picture of where you may want to target future marketing endeavors.
Chris Richardson is a search engine writer and editor for Murdok. Visit Murdok for the latest search news.
