Introduction
Nowadays, due to the rise of technology, the vast majority of organizations own websites. These websites are one of the most common ways for possible clients to find out about a company, research it and even do business with it. Consequently, organizations must ensure that their websites operate at peak performance. In this article, we will give some recommendations about the proper monitoring of websites.
Tip #1: Consider both backend data and end-user experience
The speed of a website is very important for a user. To make sure that a site is fast, companies run speed tests and rely on response logs. Although these tools are important, the organization must also keep in mind that the actual speed of a website is not the same as the perceived speed. The end-user experience must be considered as well.
A good example of making a site seem that it loads faster than it actually does is by showing the text when it loads instead of waiting for the photos to be ready too. Another option is to display a loading animation while the user is waiting in order to make the site seem more responsive.
Tip #2: Fix common errors, while keeping an eye out for new ones
Through monitoring of weblog data, you can find some errors. These errors (like error 500 or 404) are so common in a website, that sometime are ignored by the organization. Among these errors, though, sometimes new ones appear, and it is possible that these are ignored as well. This is something that must not happen, because you don’t know how significant this error could be. Fortunately, website monitoring can help with this problem.
Tip #3: Don’t ignore older logs
It is very common for a company to not retain the logs of their websites. Often, they are used once by an organization so it can gain as much information as they can from them, and they are never viewed again. This is a mistake. Reviewing older logs can help the company evaluate the current state of their business.
Old logs can also show a slow-developing problem, which can be missed if only the newer logs are reviewed. This way, you can understand the issue, before it develops further.
Tip #4: Set proper alerts
The alerting system that Logstail offers can be very useful if used right. As happens with every system that is being monitored, though, it must be used properly. Website monitoring can trigger various alerts that have been set. In order to avoid multiple false alarms, the organization must not set the thresholds too low. On the other hand, setting them too high, might result to critical events getting missed.
It is worth mentioning that the user must not pay attention only to critical events. They must check lesser events, too, because if they wait for a critical event to happen – which could mean something very important, such as a failure – it could already be too late. Contrarily, lesser alerts might show that some issue is about to arise.
Conclusion
To conclude, website monitoring can be very effective for a company if used correctly. In this article we gave you some recommendations about the proper use of monitoring tools and which common mistakes you should avoid.
Logstail provides a complete log management solution which is necessary for every organization and brings this functionality to your hands. Now you can convert your data into actionable insights with just some tweaks and prevent performance and security issues. You can maximize the performance of your infrastructure or be notified of potential problems to take the appropriate actions.
In Logstail we are also offering the full range of services required to effectively mitigate cyber-attacks. Incident response and consulting, penetration testing and red team operations are aiming to help our customers reduce their cyber incidents. Sign-up for a free demo to realize the power of Logstail!
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