Common traffic logging solutions often fall short:
- Web server access logs (Apache, Nginx) are too raw, hard to query, and lack application context.
- Analytics services (Google Analytics, StatCounter) are designed for marketing metrics, not technical insight. They miss server-side details, can be blocked by users, and give no visibility into bots or malicious requests.
Custom traffic logs fill this gap. By logging requests directly at the application level, you get complete, structured data about how visitors interact with your site. This supports not just analytics, but also security, debugging, and performance monitoring.
My Approach
- Structured analytics -- Collect exactly the data you need: method, URL, headers, user/session info, response codes, timing, payload sizes.
- Request or correlation IDs -- Tag every request with a unique identifier (such as my UTID) to follow user flows or trace issues across services.
- Flexible storage -- Flat files for speed, SQL databases for analytics, or hybrid setups that log to flat files first and then feed filtered or aggregated data into SQL in almost real time.
- Bots and attack detection -- Spot scraping, brute-force attempts, and unusual traffic patterns that analytics tools often ignore.
- Format options -- Logs don’t need to be “one line per request.” They can be JSON, grouped by session, or structured for easy parsing.
- Rotation and archival -- Automated log rotation, compression, and retention keep storage under control.
- Security -- Protect against log injection and sanitize sensitive data.
- Maintainable architecture -- Interface-driven, dependency-injected loggers that are easy to adjust or extend later.
Example Use Cases
- Understanding how users navigate your site.
- Analyzing conversion funnels or content engagement.
- Detecting scraping or brute-force login attempts.
- Debugging slow requests or failures.
- Feeding structured data into BI or reporting systems.
What I Offer
Consulting and Setup
I can help you design a traffic logging system that balances performance, detail, and analytics needs. This includes deciding what to log, choosing storage formats, and setting up retention and rotation policies.
Custom Development
I can implement:
- High-performance PHP traffic loggers with structured output.
- Analytics-ready hybrid pipelines (flat file to SQL).
- Bot-detection and anomaly-detection hooks.
- Custom tools to process and analyze logs.
Migration and Integration
I can also:
- Convert existing server access logs into structured formats.
- Import traffic data into SQL or analytics platforms.
- Integrate traffic logs with error logging and monitoring systems.
Why Work With Me?
- Focused stack -- 15+ years PHP experience and following best practices.
- Real-world experience -- My logging solutions power live production sites, including this one.
- Performance focus -- Optimized for high-traffic environments.
- Pragmatic solutions -- Clean, interface-driven architecture for easy long-term maintenance.
Get in Touch
If you want to gain deeper insight into your traffic, detect hidden issues, and build a logging pipeline tailored to your needs, contact me.