Web Analytics Understanding user behavior and ... - pace university

The Problem
Server log files from CSIS website are used in this thesis. The server log files (412 MB) are stored
in the hard drive. The log files are then queried to extract only the logs where the users used
different keywords to reach the same web site.
For Example:
Keywords: pace, pace university, csis, graduate center of pace university, Westchester county
courses
Search Engines: AltaVista, yahoo.com, google.com etc.
The Web page reached: / ( csis.pace.edu)
The keywords and its relevance to the web site reached is understood manually by the human eye
using knowledge and intuition.
When the user reaches the web site, the activity recorded tells if the user ever wanted to be on the
site. Was he conducting any business or came to the site by mistake. These conclusions are drawn
by understanding the log files of each and every particular user. The activity of each user in the
main data files is again mined form the source file by using 'grep'.
The log file of the particular user, who has used a keyword in a search engine to reach this
particular web site, is obtained. From this it is understood whether the user was serious in his
search, or not.
The room for error in such a prediction exists. Never the less, it is more important to know the
bigger picture, so that a specific description, idea is obtained form these server log files about large
number of users.
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