Lingo aside, it is not rocket science, and it is no more complex than Nielsen or Arbitron numbers. You just have to figure out what you need to know, and which service can give you that information.

Before you make a decision on an investment in the web, take a few moments to learn about your own company’s website, not only how many unique visitors it gets each month, but also where they come from, how they get there and what else are they reading. While larger companies have staffs to do this, small businesses often farm it out to web companies or just ignore it altogether.

Before you spend anything on the web, there are some easy ways you can learn about your website and how it is doing, most free, and all quick. Do this before you hear a pitch, and you will have the right questions to ask, and won’t appear to be ignorant.

Other basics: Your website should have web analytic software embedded in the site. While there are many types of services, Google Analytics and Statcounter are free, and provide hourly information on traffic, keywords and usage.

If you want more advanced analytic information, there are other sites  and services. Here are but a few:

• Alexa is one of the top sources for information on web traffic. It is owned by Amazon, and not only tracks web usage, but also shows which websites and web pages are “Hot” in a given day. Check in often to get some talking points with the web staff.
• Quantcast also allows users to plug an a website URL and then see how many monthly users it has. It’s an excellent way to begin to understand the ebb and flow of your web traffic.
• Hubspot’s Website Grader is another way of checking up on your web team. While the service has many limitations, it does “grade” your website. So plug in your URL and it will tell you how the site is put together properly, according to what the search engines need.
• If you are curious where your web traffic comes from, look at the site wholinkstome.com. You can see what sites provide links to your site.

Other info sources are more analytical, and use a sampling approach.

• ComScore Inc. is takes a more analytical view of the data; it surveys web usage data from millions of users, and gathers information in depth.
• Compete.com uses statistics and data from two million users.
• Hitwise is more of a marketing partner, and works with companies to see what other parallel websites are using to attract readers, and tries to see patterns.

Talk to your web staff about some of these sites, and ask them what they are using, and how it works.

Any others we should mention?

Email Chief Content Editor Garland Pollard for insight and ideas. Or call him at (703) 745-8602.