GSLAP: a graph‐based web analysis tool

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe a new software tool that graphically depicts analysis of visitor traffic. This new tool is the graph‐based server log analysis program (GSLAP). Design/methodology/approach – Discovering hidden and meaningful information about web users' patterns of usage is critical to optimization of the web server. The authors designed and developed GSLAP. Presented in this paper is an example of GSLAP in the context of an analysis of the web site of a small fictitious company. Also included is an explanation of current literature that supports graphical display of data as a cognitive aid to understanding data. Findings – GSLAP is shown to provide a visual server log analysis that is a great improvement on the textual server log. Research limitations/implications – The benefits of the output from GSLAP are compared with the typical textual output. Originality/value – The paper describes a software tool that helps the analysis of usage patterns of web traffic.