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So that members of the Air America Association can better understand and appreciate how often people use our website, I have compiled some statistics about Air America website usage.  The following are the statistics compiled during the past 12 months.

A note about terms used here:

Visits:  A "visit" is a very meaningful number.  Each time a person accesses the Air America site as a fresh session in their web browser, this counts as a "visit."  If you close your browser and come back, it will count as another visit.  But this is the closest thing to an accurate count of the number of times discreet individuals visit the web site.

Pages: The page count is also a very meaningful number.  After a person accesses the Air America website as a visit, the page count keeps track of the number of pages they view during that visit.  The page count provides insight into how deeply people go into the site when they visit.

Files:  The file count is also helpful.  It is similar to the page count except that, instead of tracking the number of web pages visited, it tracks the number of files downloaded by visitors.  For example, if a person clicks on a thumbnail of an image and looks at the full-sized image, that is a file transfer.  The same thing happens with PDF files, audio files, and videos.  Like the visits and pages statistics, the files statistic helps us better understand how much content in the website is being accessed by visitors.  People are not just browsing or reading the pages, they are clicking on links and are engaged with the website.

KBytes:  KBytes or KiloBytes is a measure of the amount of data downloaded from the site.  When someone visits a page, this KBytes number tracks the file size and amount of data downloaded from each page.  It is a less meaningful statistic than visits, pages, and files. 

Hits:  A "hit" is the least meaningful statistic of all.  Every time someone visits a web page, the "hits" counter counts every item that is loaded with the page.  In other words, it is not a "page" hit - it is a count of the number of items on the page.  So, a page with 5 pictures and 10 other images or graphics will produce a total of 15 "hits."  In addition, the "hits" counter even counts hidden or invisible elements of a web page.  As a result, counting "hits" is not a meaningful way to determine website usage and is always a highly inflated number.  Websites who use "hits" as a measure of web usage are usually either ignorant of this or are purposefully attempting to make it appear as if their site is visited more than it actually is.

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I hope you find this information interesting and helpful.  I am working on ways to make sure more people know about our website so they can visit us and learn firsthand about our remarkable association and members.  Our website is also the place where people can learn the true history of Air America's service in Southeast Asia.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or comments about this page.  You can reach me at webmaster@air-america.org.

Thanks!

Steve
Air America Webmaster