Proper Web Site Tracking Code placement is imperative for accurate statistics and reports. Please see the example below for proper insertion of the tracking code.
After <body> Tag
Placing the Web Site Tracking Code after the <body> tag (at the beginning) has a couple of inherent benefits:
- Pages Are Tracked More Accurately
Web Pages with a lot of content may take longer to download and users may click on a link in your site and leave the page before it has completed downloading. With the tracking code immediately after the <body> tag, LoadStats will be able to accurately identify your user's behavior. - Limits Impact of Java Script Errors
LoadStats may not track web pages correctly if Java Script errors occur before the Web Site Tracking Code. Please see the Related Article below for more information.
Before </body> Tag
Placing the Web Site Tracking Code before the </body> tag (at the end) allows you to identify if visitors to your site had an opportunity to view all the elements on your web pages. However, placing the Web Site Tracking Code directly before the </body> tag could leave you susceptible to a few problems:
- Inaccurate Page View Count
This can happen due to Java Script errors occurring before the Web Site Tracking Code, which may render LoadStats unable to communicate with the servers. At the same rate, any web pages that do not fully download on a user's browser may not be tracked by LoadStats if the Tracking Code is placed at the bottom of the page. - False Site Navigation Reports
Navigations Paths reports may be skewed if the Web Site Tracking Code is not downloaded by the user's browser. This is most likely to occur on pages with large amounts of content, whereby users know where they want to go on your site, and click the appropriate link before the page is completely downloaded.