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Web traffic is the amount of data sent and received by visitors to a website. This necessarily does not include the traffic generated by bots. Since the mid-1990s, web traffic has been the largest portion of Internet traffic.[1] This is determined by the number of visitors and the number of pages they visit. Sites monitor the incoming and outgoing traffic to see which parts or pages of their site are popular and if there are any apparent trends, such as one specific page being viewed mostly by people in a particular country. There are many ways to monitor this traffic and the gathered data is used to help structure sites, highlight security problems or indicate a potential lack of bandwidth. Not all web traffic is welcomed. Some companies offer advertising schemes that, in return for increased web traffic (visitors), pay for screen space on the site. There is also "fake traffic", which is bot traffic generated by a third party. This type of traffic can damage a website's reputation, its visibility on Google, and overall domain authority.[citation needed] Sites also often aim to increase their web traffic through inclusion on search engines and through search engine optimization. Analysis Edit Web analytics is the measurement of the behavior of visitors to a website. In a commercial context, it especially refers to the measurement of which aspects of the website work towards the business objectives of Internet marketing initiatives; for example, which landing pages encourage people to make a purchase. Notable vendors of web analytics software and services include Google Analytics, IBM Digital Analytics (formerly Coremetrics) and Adobe Omniture. Measurement Edit Example graph of web traffic at Wikipedia in December 2004 Web traffic is measured to see the popularity of websites and individual pages or sections within a site. This can be done by viewing the traffic statistics found in the web server log file, an automatically generated list of all the pages served. A hit is generated when any file is served. The page itself is considered a file, but images are also files, thus a page with 5 images could generate 6 hits (the 5 images and the page itself). A page view is generated when a visitor requests any page within the website – a visitor will always generate at least one page view (the main page) but could generate many more. Tracking applications external to the website can record traffic by inserting a small piece of HTML code in every page of the website.[2] Web traffic is also sometimes measured by packet sniffing and thus gaining random samples of traffic data from which to extrapolate information about web traffic as a whole across total Internet usage. The following types of information are often collated when monitoring web traffic: [3] The number of visitors. The average number of page views per visitor – a high number would indicate that the average visitors go deep inside the site, possibly because they like it or find it useful. Average visit duration – the total length of a user's visit. As a rule the more time they spend the more they're interested in your company and are more prone to contact. Average page duration – how long a page is viewed for. The more pages viewed, the better it is for your company. Domain classes – all levels of the IP Addressing information required to deliver web pages and content. Busy times – the most popular viewing time of the site would show when would be the best time to do promotional campaigns and when would be the most ideal to perform maintenance Most requested pages – the most popular pages Most requested entry pages – the entry page is the first page viewed by a visitor and shows which are the pages most attracting visitors Most requested exit pages – the most requested exit pages could help find bad pages, broken links or the exit pages may have a popular external link Top paths – a path is the sequence of pages viewed by visitors from entry to exit, with the top paths identifying the way most customers go through the site Referrers; The host can track the (apparent) source of the links and determine which sites are generating the most traffic for a particular page. Websites produce traffic rankings and statistics based on those people who access the sites while using their toolbars and other means of online measurements. The difficulty with this is that it does not look at the complete traffic picture for a site. Large sites usually hire the services of companies such as the Nielsen NetRatings or Quantcast, but their reports are available only by subscription. Control Edit The amount of traffic seen by a website is a measure of its popularity. By analysing the statistics of visitors it is possible to see shortcomings of the site and look to improve those areas. It is also possible to increase the popularity of a site and the number of people that visit it. Limiting access Edit It is sometimes important to protect some parts of a site by password, allowing only authorized people to visit particular sections or pages. Some site administrators have chosen to block their page to specific traffic, such as by geographic location. The re-election campaign site for U.S. President George W. Bush (GeorgeWBush.com) was blocked to all internet users outside of the U.S. on 25 October 2004 after a reported attack on the site.[4] It is also possible to limit access to a web server both based on the number of connections and by the bandwidth expended by each connection. On Apache HTTP servers, this is accomplished by the limitipconn module and others. From search engines Edit The majority of website traffic is driven by the search engines. Millions of people use search engines every day to research various topics, buy products, and go about their daily surfing activities. Search engines use keywords to help users find relevant information, and each of the major search engines has developed a unique algorithm to determine where websites are placed within the search results. When a user clicks on one of the listings in the search results, they are directed to the corresponding website and data is transferred from the website's server, thus counting the visitors towards the overall flow of traffic to that website. Search engine optimization (SEO), is the ongoing practice of optimizing a website to help improve its rankings in the search engines. Several internal and external factors are involved which can help improve a site's listing within the search engines. The higher a site ranks within the search engines for a particular keyword, the more traffic they will receive. Increasing traffic Edit Web traffic can be increased by placement of a site in search engines and purchase of advertising, including bulk e-mail, pop-up ads, and in-page advertisements. Web traffic can also be increased by purchasing through web traffic providers who are experts at delivering targeted traffic, however, buying traffic in the past has seen many websites being penalized on search engines. Web traffic can be increased not only by attracting more visitors to a site, but also by encouraging individual visitors to "linger" on the site, viewing many pages in a visit. (see Outbrain for an example of this practice) If a web page is not listed in the first pages of any search, the odds of someone finding it diminishes greatly (especially if there is other competition on the first page). Very few people go past the first page, and the percentage that go to subsequent pages is substantially lower. Consequently, getting proper placement on search engines, a practice known as SEO, is as important as the website itself..[citation needed]Freelancer Language Download PDF Watch Edit For other uses, see Freelance (disambiguation). Freelance (sometimes spelled free-lance or free lance),[1] freelancer, or freelance worker, are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance workers are sometimes represented by a company or a temporary agency that resells freelance labor to clients; others work independently or use professional associations or websites to get work. While the term independent contractor would be used in a different register of English to designate the tax and employment classes of this type of worker, the term "freelancing" is most common in culture and creative industries, and use of this term may indicate participation therein.[2] Fields, professions, and industries where freelancing is predominant include: music, writing, acting, computer programming, web design, graphic design, translating and illustrating, film and video production and other forms of piece work which some cultural theorists consider as central to the cognitive-cultural economy.[3] Freelance practices Types of work According to the 2012 Freelance Industry Report compiled primarily about North America freelancing, nearly half of freelancers do writing work, with 18% of freelancers listing writing as a primary skill, 10% editing/copy-editing, and 10% as copy-writing. 20% of freelancers listed their primary skills as design. Next on the list was translating (8%), web development (5.5%), and marketing (4%).[4][5] Freelancing is projected to grow to $20–$30 billion in the next 5–7 years in India,[6] and the freelancers in US will comprise 40% (approx.) of the workforce at the present growth rate.[7] Compensation Depending on the industry, freelance work practices vary and have changed over time. In some industries such as consulting, freelancers may require clients to sign written contracts. While in journalism or writing, freelancers may work for free or do work "on spec" to build their reputations or a relationship with a publication. Some freelancers may provide written estimates of work and request deposits from clients. Payment for freelance work also depends on industry, skills, experience and location. Freelancers may charge by the day, hour, a piece rate, or on a per-project basis. Instead of a flat rate or fee, some freelancers have adopted a value-based pricing method based on the perceived value of the results to the client. By custom, payment arrangements may be upfront, percentage upfront, or upon completion. For more complex projects, a contract may set a payment schedule based on milestones or outcomes. One of the drawbacks of freelancing is that there is no guaranteed payment, and the work can be highly precarious. In order to ensure payment, many freelancers use online payment platforms to protect themselves or work with local clients that can be held accountable. Copyright As an independent contractor, when a freelancer creates creative expressions such as written or artistic works, they are automatically granted ownership of the copyright for their work. Registration of copyright is not required for ownership of these rights, however litigation against infringement may require registration, as documented in the class action lawsuit, Reed Elsevier, Inc. v. Muchnick, when freelance writers sued publishers for copyright violations, though this case eventually settled for the benefit of freelance writers whether or not they had registered their copyright with the Copyright Office.[8] Copyright is rescinded only when a freelancer signs a contract specifying that they are "working for hire," or if they are hired into employment; these rights are further specified in U.S. copyright law, Section 101 in the Copyright Act of 1976 (17 USC §101).[9] Demographics Benefits Freelancers have a variety of reasons for freelancing, the perceived benefits differ by gender, industry, and lifestyle. For instance, the 2012 Freelance Industry Report reported that men and women freelance for different reasons. Female survey respondents indicated that they prefer the scheduling freedom and flexibility that freelancing offers, while male survey respondents indicated they freelance to follow or pursue personal passions.[4] Freelancing also enables people to obtain higher levels of employment in isolated communities.[20] The ability to pick and choose who the freelancer works with is another benefit. The freelancer interviews a potential client and they get to pick whether or not to work with that individual or company. Freelancing is also taken up by workers who have been laid-off, who cannot find full-time employment,[4] or for those industries such as journalism which are relying increasingly on contingent labor rather than full-time staff.[21] Freelancers also consist of students trying to make ends meet during the semester. In interviews, and on blogs about freelancing, freelancers list choice and flexibility as a benefit. Drawbacks Internet and online marketplaces The Internet has opened up many freelance opportunities, expanded available markets, and has contributed to service sector growth in many economies.[28] Offshore outsourcing, online outsourcing and crowdsourcing are heavily reliant on the Internet to provide economical access to remote workers, and frequently leverage technology to manage workflow to and from the employer. Much computer freelance work is being outsourced to developing countries outside the United States and Europe. Freelance marketplaces provide a marketplace for freelancers and buyers. Service providers or sellers create a profile where they include a description of the services they offer, examples of their work, and, in some cases, information about their rates. Buyers register and complete a basic profile, and then post projects outlining their requirements. Buyers will then bid for these projects on a fixed price or hourly basis.[29] Many of these websites have user review sections that affect the reputation of freelancers who list there, and which may be manipulated.[30] Freelance marketplaces have globalized competition for some jobs, allowing workers in high- and low-income countries to compete with one another.[31] According to a 2016 study by the McKinsey Global Institute, 15% of independent workers used online marketplaces to find work.[32] These marketplaces, including Fiverr and Lyft, have been criticized as exploiting workers.[33Investment in social media Language Download PDF Watch Edit Learn more This article is written like a personal reflection, personal essay, or argumentative essay that states a Wikipedia editor's personal feelings or presents an original argument about a topic. Social Media consists of a myriad of means in which the interactions among people using web-based tools and platforms creates online virtual communities centered on user input and the sharing of information.[1] Social media features anything from content-sharing to collaboration, and can take the form of platforms such as micro-blogging, forums, bookmarking sites, social networks and wikis. Prominent examples of social media include websites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Reddit.[2] Social media is not only used for personal uses but is now playing a growing role in business and organisations; with entrepreneurs increasingly looking towards social media platforms to market their businesses. It is evidently becoming the case that investment in social media “is a necessity, not a luxury”,[3] it is a fundamental instrument which should be used in any marketing plan. However, it is clear that business owners encounter various challenges with respect to investing in social media; they may face lack of time and knowledge on how to determine the return on investment (ROI) as an example; this is a recognized measurement to evaluate the efficiency and financial consequences of an investment and to ultimately assess the profitability of a business.[4] Return on Investment (ROI) Edit ROI refers to the money that a business or a corporation earns as a percentage of the full value of their assets which have been invested. The method to calculate this is: Return on investment = (Income - Cost) / Cost.[5] ROI is the most common profitability ratio that establishes the efficiency of an investment. In this context, ROI will measure the returns from a social media investment. However, it is commonly argued that calculating ROI is difficult and also depends on the applied returns and costs. There is no universal way of measuring the ROI of the social media commitments (Kelly, 2012). As such, some business owners tend to count how many Facebook fans and Twitter followers they have or how many retweets and likes they enjoy.[6] However, this may not be an effective measure of ROI. We can measure ROI using metric tools that foster conversion measurement and optimized CPM, which enables Facebook ads to reach the target audience (Burg, 2013). This enables the investor to know who clicked through their ads thus enhancing future business planning. In addition, we can measure ROI by analyzing interactions, calculated by multiplying the number of received likes by the number of friends of those likes witnessed the action. This defines how far the advert went; moreover, we can analyze traffic to determine the ROI in social media efforts (Harden & Heyman, 2011). Indeed, different social media understand the business owners need to evaluate their ROI in social media and thus there is a provision for built-in analytics tools for following engagement, likes, and shares (Burg, 2013). This helps the marketers to determine how often people find the marketer's page through the social sites. For example, on Facebook, one can analyze the comment to like a ratio of posts while on Twitter, one can analyze the retweets to tweet ratio. Notably, the higher the ratios, the higher the ROI is. Benefits of investing in social media Edit Building brand recognition and loyalty Edit Initially, business owners may choose to invest in social media as a means of building their brand recognition. Through social media, businesses can simultaneously draw in new consumers whilst making existing customers more familiar with the brand. For example, through the use of the micro-blogging site Twitter; brands can promote their products with a simple “tweet”, and any regular Twitter user could potentially stumble across their products and services via their newsfeed, whilst existing customers may become extra accustomed to the brand after seeing positive responses; following the current consumer's fashions. Companies can effectively use social media to enforce their company history, values and advantages in a way that will appeal to, and attract, many consumers.[7] It is statistically proven that businesses who engage in social media experience higher brand loyalty from their customers, hence we’ve seen not only an increase in investments, but also in the ROI; with over “72% of marketers now using social media to develop loyal fans”, and of those who have been engaging in social media platforms for at least 1 year, “69% found it useful for building a loyal fan base”.[8] Social media campaigns drive sales Edit Social media can directly lead to an increase in sales and brand awareness, as demonstrated with multiple campaigns in the past. A notable example was the success of the Jimmy Choo (2010) ‘CatchAChoo’ campaign; with which the internationally acclaimed luxury shoe and accessories brand set out to generate substantial online exposure to promote their new trainer collection, engaging customers through a real-time treasure hunt around London to locate a pair of trainers using the ‘Foursquare’ network.[9] This campaign lasted just under 3 weeks, with over 4000 individuals participating and 250 different blogs covering this campaign; with over 4000 mentions of this hunt on Twitter. The results? Trainer sales in Jimmy Choo stores rose by over 33% after coverage from The Evening Standard, furthermore the reputation of the brand; measured by positive mentions of the brand, went up by almost 40% as a result in less than a month.[10] Similarly, online fashion store ASOS.com launched another Twitter campaign; using the '#BestNightEver' hashtag. ASOS achieved high levels of customer engagement, in turn driving more than £5m worth of sales and helping the brand register its highest ROI to date in the UK, not to mention the successes it brought in the US, with searches for the ASOS trademark soaring by over 50%.[11] Increased website traffic Edit Investing in a company's engagement in social media undoubtedly has its benefits. Activity on social networking platforms such as Facebook as an example can lead to increased traffic that the company's website receives via these referrals. A common way to measure website traffic can be done by comparing search engine rankings through SEO(Search Engine Optimization) – mentions, sharing and the traffic of websites are positive signals of popularity; stamping the authority of many brand's websites and allowing them to rank highly among their competitors.[12] Activity on social media almost acts as a signal to search engines of a company's popularity and credibility, with all of this ultimately leads to more sales and increased brand awareness.[13] Controversies of Investing in Social Media Edit Facebook's Acquisition of WhatsApp Edit Facebook's $19 billion acquisition of WhatsApp, the popular mobile messaging app, has extreme significance in terms of social media investments. Although attracting much criticism for Facebook investing the highest sum of money for any IT company ever into an already five-year-old start-up; much profit is to be made with Facebook already raking-in 53% of their existing revenue from mobile-ad sales.[14] However, not only will the WhatsApp staff benefit from this deal, venture capital firm Sequoia Capital are entitled to what is estimated to be over $3 billion from their investments in WhatsApp, with their initial funding figure believed to be approximately $60 million; Sequoia Capital are believed to own approximately 20% of WhatsApp - their investments have clearly paid off.[15] Risks Edit Facebook are effectively paying $42 per user of WhatsApp, will this acquisition pay off? Existing competition from other messaging apps can prove a threat to WhatsApp, for example WeChat which had a reported figure of 396 million monthly active users in June 2014; an increase of 40 million users since December 2013.[16] The existing competition from these messaging services certainly has negative implications for WhatsApp's user base and revenue. Rewards Edit Allows access to China – China boasts over 1.2 billion mobile users, but that is normally not of any use as Facebook is of course blocked in China. However, that is not the case with WhatsApp, thus Facebook can certainly benefit from the lowering of this barrier.[17] Increased users - Facebook enjoys 1.23 billion monthly active users, of which 945 million of them regularly access Facebook from mobile devices. This, coupled with the fact that WhatsApp has over 450 million monthly users, certainly allows Facebook to grow its user base and in turn increase revenue.[18] Other Recent Investments Edit Twitter's $10 Million 'Laboratory for Social Machines' Investment Edit Micro-blogging powerhouse Twitter has recently invested $ 10 million in the “Laboratory of Social Machines” initiative at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This 5 year commitment from Twitter focuses on the creation and development of new technologies; using data from Twitter's archives, improving analysis and the understanding of social patterns among multiple social media platforms and other web content. Pattern discovery will be utilized to decipher interactions and shared interests among users of social media, while new applications and platforms will be developed for both individuals and institutions to discuss and act on paramount societal issues[19] According to CEO of Twitter, Dick Costolo: "With this investment, Twitter is seizing the opportunity to go deeper into research to understand the role Twitter and other platforms play in the way people communicate, the effect that rapid and fluid communication can have and apply those findings to complex societal issues". Reddit's $50 Million Funding Edit The major open source, community based social network and news site Reddit, famously labelled as the “front page of the internet”, has secured $50 million of investments from multiple sources; from global venture capital firms such as Andreessen Horrowitz to an array of celebrities such as the renowned rapper Snoop Dogg. CEO of Reddit Yishan Wong, has stated that the funding will go towards expanding Reddit's moderately low staff numbers of only 60, as well as developing new tools for community management and moderation; 10% of Reddit's 2014 ad revenue will also go towards charity