Understanding Smugmug Stats

thirdlife

Hello,

I have a question on the Smugmug stats.
The stats page states that a 'hit' is a unique view. Does that mean that every image I look at from a specific IP are all considered unique?

The reason I ask is because I have had 40,000 images views this month. One gallery specifically has had over 10,000 hits. This seems impossibly high to me.

Am I confused?

Thanks!

Andy

thirdlife wrote:

Hello,

I have a question on the Smugmug stats.
The stats page states that a 'hit' is a unique view. Does that mean that every image I look at from a specific IP are all considered unique?

The reason I ask is because I have had 40,000 images views this month. One gallery specifically has had over 10,000 hits. This seems impossibly high to me.

Am I confused?

Thanks!

It's not impossibly high, no.

Let's see if this explanation helps, and if you have more questions, holler! BTW, welcome to Dgrin!

stats page wrote:

Stats details:

These stats represent "real" hits only, not cached hits. Chances are good that a high percentage of these "hits" are unique photo viewings, since the vast majority of web browsers will cache the images.

Every time someone views one of your photos, at a specific size, for the first time, a "hit" is logged, and you see that statistic here. Every time they come back and view that photo, their view is NOT logged a 2nd, 3rd, etc time.

When they view a different SIZE of that same photo, though, another "hit" is logged, again, once only. So someone who sees your "thumbnail" and then also sees your "Medium" sized photo will create 2 "hits", hence the way the graph breaks down your stats.

The most important numbers are probably those for Medium, Large, and Original, since that indicates how many people looked at your larger photos after seeing thumbnails (so-called "conversion ratio"), but that's really entirely up to you.

Of course, linking directly to large photos on eBay, a message forum, or in an email will dramatically skew the ratio, so take it with a grain of salt.

SteveM

thirdlife wrote:

Hello,

I have a question on the Smugmug stats.
The stats page states that a 'hit' is a unique view. Does that mean that every image I look at from a specific IP are all considered unique?

The reason I ask is because I have had 40,000 images views this month. One gallery specifically has had over 10,000 hits. This seems impossibly high to me.

Am I confused?

Thanks!

Have a look at http://www.smugmug.com/help/acctreport which explains it pretty well.

Basically if Smugmug sends you data, it's logged as a new hit. Most browsers cache the image, so even when you return to that page/image, it knows you already have it, will not download it again, and will not log a unique hit. But if you clear your Internet cache, if the cache expires or you log on from a new PC, they're all new hits, for each individual file and size (thumb, small, med., etc.). If the galleries are not private, keep in mind they can also be on the Popular Photos page on Smugmug, as well as the recent additions to the "Browse Category" section, so whether people actually view your gallery, they're still viewing a thumbnail of at least one image.

To get a better idea of what is coming from where, make sure to consider StatCounter or Google Analytics for a little more informative stat logging.

See http://dgrin.smugmug.com/gallery/1092794
and http://dgrin.smugmug.com/gallery/1092684

Hope this helps!

Steve
http://www.downriverphotography.com

thirdlife

Andy wrote:

It's not impossibly high, no.

Let's see if this explanation helps, and if you have more questions, holler! BTW, welcome to Dgrin!

Thanks for the prompt reply. That does makes perfect sense.

Thanks!

thirdlife

SteveM wrote:

Have a look at http://www.smugmug.com/help/acctreport which explains it pretty well.

Basically if Smugmug sends you data, it's logged as a new hit. Most browsers cache the image, so even when you return to that page/image, it knows you already have it, will not download it again, and will not log a unique hit. But if you clear your Internet cache, if the cache expires or you log on from a new PC, they're all new hits, for each individual file and size (thumb, small, med., etc.). If the galleries are not private, keep in mind they can also be on the Popular Photos page on Smugmug, as well as the recent additions to the "Browse Category" section, so whether people actually view your gallery, they're still viewing a thumbnail of at least one image.

To get a better idea of what is coming from where, make sure to consider StatCounter or Google Analytics for a little more informative stat logging.

See http://dgrin.smugmug.com/gallery/1092794
and http://dgrin.smugmug.com/gallery/1092684

Hope this helps!

Steve
http://www.downriverphotography.com

I just set up Google Analytics with my Smugmug page. It seemed pretty straight forward. Again, thanks for those links.

XHawkeye

Is the Customize option available with a standard account?

All I see in "organize & customize" is Categories, SubCategories & ShareGroups.

thirdlife

XHawkeye wrote:

Is the Customize option available with a standard account?

All I see in "organize & customize" is Categories, SubCategories & ShareGroups.

I am not sure. I have a pro account. Sorry If I am of no help.

Barb

XHawkeye wrote:

Is the Customize option available with a standard account?

All I see in "organize & customize" is Categories, SubCategories & ShareGroups.

Hi

Customization is only available with the Power and Pro accounts.