typical traffic patterns

Traffic can seem like a supernatural force the work of a capricious god, who withholds when your site needs it most and floods you when you least expect it.

But traffic levels need not take you entirely by surprise. Like commuter cars on a highway, web traffic ebbs and flows. And like its automotive counterpart, it's both predictable and inexplicable. (Sure, you can expect delays during rush hour, but bumper-to-bumper traffic on Highway 101 at midnight? On a Tuesday! Why? WHY?)

Traffic patterns vary from site to site, depending on popularity, user base, and offerings. But there are many consistent patterns that show, in broad brush strokes, how people use the web.

Traffic drops sharply on weekends. Most people access the web from work, on work days, during work hours.


So how do people use the web? Well, in a nutshell: They use it at work. Most people access the web from work, on work days, and during work hours. (Take a moment to consider the implications.) So traffic drops sharply 30% or more for many sites on weekends and holidays. Since most visitors to most U.S. sites are American or Canadian, daily traffic is clustered during North American work hours, with another bump mid-evening from home users.

And the annual cycle is also predictable (See a year's forecast, p. 252), peaking in January, stagnating over the summer, and dipping in December.

There are exceptions, of course. Depending on your site's content and audience, your traffic patterns may vary.

Source of top two images: Nielsen/Net-Ratings.

Web traffic has become more predictable, if not entirely explicable, over the years. It's no surprise that U.S. Internet use is heavy during work hours on weekdays. But why is there such a tumble of traffic every January? No one knows.

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Dig Deeper

take action! increasing traffic, p. 267.




The Unusually Useful Web Book
The Unusually Useful Web Book
ISBN: 0735712069
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2006
Pages: 195
Authors: June Cohen

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