By using web analytics effectively online marketers could be able to optimise their marketing spend effectively, it has been suggested.

Writing on E-Consultancy, Graham Charlton suggests that the use of the technique can aid advertisers in judging which website visitors are most likely to make an online purchase or subscribe to mailing lists.

He claimed that web analytics can help marketers "define" their audience by what parts of websites they read and how they have come across certain pages.

"Use this to inform your customer segmentation modelling and targeted marketing," he suggested.

Mr Charlton added that analysing customer trends will see firms be able to identify which referral sources, such as search engines and email campaigns, generate the most online revenue for businesses.

Meanwhile, analysis can help companies discover any potential problems readers may have with their website.

He said: "This insight can then help you build knowledge bases, or self-service offerings, to help customers help themselves.

"This will improve conversion rates, improve customer satisfaction and loyalty."

However, a study by WebTrends indicated that advertisers are experiencing difficulties in tracking the effectiveness of their paid search marketing campaigns.