A Complete Guide To Web Analytics Solutions
February 15th, 2006
The web analytics space is not an easy one to navigate as there are numerous companies and product types which will fit your needs differently. In order to help find the way through it all, I’ll map out the options as they currently stand. Please let me know if I’m missing an application you think should be listed. I’ll check it out and add it.
The Freebies
There are numerous free solutions out there, and they range from very useful to “you paid for what you got”. As you might expect, the free solutions lack a lot of the power of the paid ones, and they usually don’t offer much support. If you don’t have any money to spend on analytics or you’re new to it and want to get some experience before paying for a solution, then going with a free package is a great way to go.
Analog – One of the oldest web analytic packages available. Analog is free, and runs off of your log files. It can require quite a bit of customization, and is pretty cut and dry for what it offers. I used Analog for years, but find it just is too old school and a pain to work with to really be a great option these days.
AWStats – An improvement on Analog, but still a logfile-based solution. There are a few nice things about logfile packages, such as the fact that they work with users who have javascript or cookies disabled. However, the storing of logfiles can take up a lot of disk space, requires that you manage the files, and the analytics package takes usually can take time to analyze large files. AWStats is an improvement on some other options, it provides some graphs, and it’s nice that it also can do streaming and email statistics from their log files.
Google Analytics – The new kid on the block that made the biggest splash in 2005. Google Analytics was formerly Urchin until they were purchased by Google. Urchin was formerly not free, but months after acquiring them Google opened it up to the world. Presumably to help drive people to use Adwords since it ties in with Analytics so well. Google Analytics is the most powerful free application. It provides a wealth of statistics, a usable interface, and a lot of ecommerce statistics which are not common in free applications. It’s tie in with Adwords is handy if you do a lot of advertising there. It also uses a javascript tag to report the data so you’re not dealing with hosting your own logfiles. The downside is that the data is often 12 hours behind, so it’s not useful for looking at up to the minute stats.
SiteMeter – A previously popular solution for bloggers and small websites, Sitemeter has a free version that just requires you put their colorful logo at the bottom of your site. If you leave your data open, others can click to see your stats. This has some cool social aspects to it, and for those selling advertising it can be helpful. Overall, the application seems pretty old at this point, and doesn’t provide a wealth of data in the free version. However, it is simpler than Google Analytics, and you don’t have to mess with logfiles.
Webalizer – Similar to AWStats and Analog, Webalizer is a logfile analysis solution that is free. It has some customizable charts and provides all the basics, but like the others I don’t feel that it really measures up to the ease of use of Google Analytics or Sitemeter.
Blog Specific or the Cool Guys
The rise of blogs has lead to many application developers in all industries to start making blog-specific applications. Analytics is no exception and in the last year we’ve seen a few solid entries in the blog analytics space. Blogs tend to be simpler than some regular websites, and they don’t usually need ecommerce statistics. These applications focus on blogs, so if you’ve got a standard blog, you may want to look here.
Blogbeat – Blogbeat is a newish application aimed at the blogging market. It’s been a bit overshadowed by all the buzz about MeasureMap, especially with MeasureMap being purchased by Google.
While it’s not quite as pretty as MeasureMap, it feels just about as simple and perhaps a little bit more useful. I wouldn’t hesitate recommending people use Blogbeat. Like MeasureMap, it focuses on stats for your blog posts, referrals, links out, and searches. It has a free 30 day free trial, and it’s not too spendy after that. Installation was a breeze, so give it a try.
Mint – Perhaps the first analytics application aimed at blogs, Mint is a one man show run by Shaun Inman. Don’t let the low employee count fool you, Mint is a nice application. It has a cost of $30 per site, but that’s not too spendy if you care about your stats. The interface is very AJAXy and cool, and you host the data on your own instead of giving it over to a third party like with most analytics applications. It also has an API so developers can build on it, very cool. One problem though, is you need to be able to host it on a server running Apache, PHP, and mySQL. A great application though from a one-man army.
MeasureMap – The darling of the blog analytics space with it’s recent Google acquisition before it’s even out of it’s private beta. MeasureMap was developed by a four-person team from information architecture/visual design powerhouse Adaptive Path. It’s definitely pretty and smooth, and it’s very blog-focused with post stats, referrals, links out, and comment stats. I’ve been playing with it for a few weeks and enjoy it, but sometimes miss some of the details of other applications. It’s still early on, so MeasureMap will most likely add more features depending on what Google does with it, which I think is integrate it with it’s Blogger platform.
Installation was easy as it asks your blogging platform and gives you specific instructions based on that platform. They also have an “Events” feature coming out soon, as well as a developers API. Currently it’s free if you can manage to get an invite.
Low Cost Solutions
If you’ve got a serious small business web site, but don’t want to go the free route with something like Google Analytics, you might consider one of these low cost solutions. They are on par or better than Google Analytics, and your data is safe from Google, and because you pay you get support and near real time data.
Hitbox Professional – The lighter version of analytics application HBX (profiled below), Hitbox is an affordable solution at around $26.95 a month depending on volume, and it gets you most of the basic to intermediate stats a user would want, from an analytics leader in public company WebsideStory.
Hitslink – A stats app that’s been around a while from Net Applications. Hitslink is a solid mix of a typical web analytics application with simplicity and some more advanced stats like ecommerce and setting conversion goals. It’s not flashy, but it gets the job done at an economical price. A 30-day trial is available and installation was very easy for me.
Visitorville – This is one of the most unique analytics solutions available. It’s best described as web analytics meets the Sims. It has a 3D and 2D world where your analytics are mapped to an interface like you’re in a Sims-like video game. For very visual people this is a really fun way to check out your stats, and it has some great realtime features where when a visitor arrives to your site they arrive to the building (page) in a bus (the referrer). So, you see someone arrive to a building via a Google bus if it’s a Google search referral.
It also has ecommerce stats and page overlay features, making it a pretty darn complete application. The price is pretty cheap, so if you think you’d be into a very visual view of your stats, give it a shot.
The Big Guns
If you’ve got a serious web business, you need serious data. When you’re making hundreds of thousands of dollars a month from your web presence you’re losing money by NOT using one of these applications to know exactly how your users are behaving on your site. These applications can really be used to test and improve your site, but you’ll have to pay for their superior features and support.
Clicktracks – The originator of the “page overlay” analytics technique, Clicktracks has always had a different user interface and style delivering analytics data to it’s user. For some people their interface style is a huge favorite, for others such as myself I just couldn’t get into it that much. I can see how some would love it, but perhaps my years of standard analytics interfaces lead me to want something else.
I do like how they offer both a hosted ASP solution and a software solution if you want to keep the data on your own server(s). Pricing is spendier then the low-cost solutions, but it’s also cheaper than the most of the other big gun analytics providers.
E-commerce data is a big part of the mix if you want it to be, so I think Clicktracks fits well as a user-friendly small business ecommerce solution.
Coremetrics – A long time player who I’ve never had the chance to use. I demo’d it years ago, so I can’t really say much as I’m sure they’ve iterated quite a bit since then. They have a lot of big clients, and their feature list looks very powerful. Pricing isn’t cheap, and is usually negotiable but comes from a baseline of usage.
Fireclick – Another full-powered application I haven’t had the chance to use. Like Coremetrics they have an impressive client list and have a nice looking feature set. The Fireclick Index is a report that features a dozen key performance indicators to track your key metrics all from one report. They also feature an Excel plugin and a site overlay tool to see your data while viewing your site. Pricing is not listed and most likely negotiable.
HBX – A superpower web analytics application from public company WebsideStory. One of the leaders in all kinds of types of analytics reporting. HBX was one of the first to implement setting up custom funnels to track conversion on goals, they’ve had a site overlay for a long time, have a great plugin with Excel called ReportBuilder, introduced user segmentation early on, integration with PPC advertising, and have been using AJAX and other “web 2.0” technologies before the term even existed.
They have an impressive client list, and I’ve also had the pleasure of attending their user forum where they did a great job educating and also talking to their customers to get help on where to take their product. Pricing isn’t cheap, and is negotiable.
Omniture – A web analytics company based out of Utah that’s been on fire over the past couple of years signing big clients like eBay, Microsoft, and AOL. I haven’t used Omniture, but have heard very good things about their SiteCatalyst solution for it’s power in user segmentation and ecommerce statistics. They also have a Data Warehousing feature that allows real time reporting combined with the flexibility of having good access to old data. Pricing isn’t cheap, and once again is negotiated with a salesperson.
Visual Sciences – A web analytics company that’s been in “stealth” mode for a long time, they’ve long been talked about as having a disruptive technology compared to their competitors. They were just purchased by WebSideStory which should make for a very interesting application in the future as they make HBX and Visual Sciences merge or work together somehow.
Webtrends – The granddaddy of serious web applications, Webtrends has been around forever and been sold a few times along the way. Their now on their 7th version of their application, and they boast a big client list. Some new features include a conversion view from five points, bookmarking and sharing of analytics, a unique first-party cookie solution, and more. Unlike some of the other power applications, they do offer a free trial, but pricing isn’t cheap.
RSS Analytics Solutions
Most of the web applications aren’t tracking RSS feeds (yet). A couple of quality RSS companies that provide a number of services also provide RSS analytics.
Feedburner – Feedburner reports on a few basic feed stats for free like your total feed circulation, and for just a few dollars a month you can update to the Pro stats package to get more stats like what RSS items were viewed, how much, and what ones got clicks to your site. You can also see what feed readers people are using.
Pheedo – Pheedo’s stats are more aimed at RSS advertising, but you can get stats on your feed circulation and how much revenue you’re generating from your ads.
Conclusion
There’s so much to be gained from analytics. Start out by trying a few of these applications that fit your site and see what you can learn. You might be surprised.
If you know of an application that should be listed and/or reviewed, let me know at pmccarthy AT gmail DOT com.
Related Posts:
- The Right Way to Choose a Web Analytics Solution
- Analytics For Specific Items
- Wordpress Stats Plugin Launches
- Is Time Spent the Answer?
- A Roundup of Roundups
Entry Filed under: Blogging, Conversion Rate, Ecommerce, Google, Random, Web 2.0, Web Analytics
50 Comments Add your own
1. Anonymous | February 16th, 2006 at 12:42 am
Web analytics tools can be a privacy disaster if it’s combined with other information. see Why Google acquisition of Measure Map is a major privacy threat
2. Pat McCarthy | February 16th, 2006 at 8:24 am
You could say that same threat exists from them buying Urchin to make Google Analytics. While the situation in that article is possible, I’m not sure why Google would bother figuring out who doesn’t like George Bush, and why that matters on an aggregate level. If someone wants to know if you like Bush or not, they can just find your blog and see.
3. » Web Based Analyti&hellip | February 16th, 2006 at 11:53 am
[...] If you want to learn about what web-based analytics software is available out there, check this article out at Conversion Rater.com. [...]
4. Carl Howe | February 16th, 2006 at 12:43 pm
You should also consider StatCounter in your list. The free version only measures the last 100 visits, but it is both real-time and full-featured. It’s not as overwhelming as many of the other solutions, and yet provides a ton of useful data.
5. Pat McCarthy | February 16th, 2006 at 1:40 pm
Thanks Carl, I’ll investigate StatCounter, I’ve also got IndexTools suggested to add as well.
6. Mark | February 16th, 2006 at 2:42 pm
Another fairly large stats provider is DeepMetrix. They offer two different installable products, LiveStats.Net (JavaScript embeded tracking), and LiveStats.XSP (log file analyzer). They also offer the .NET solution as a hosted service along with another system called LiveStats.BIZ which is a hosted enterprise solution targeted at profiling, campaigns, and conversion.
I’ve used LiveStats.XSP for quite a while now since version 6 and find that it’s a very functional and flexible product although version 8’s interface (completely redesigned from 7) is way too laden with JavaScript and can be quite buggy in Firefox.
7. John Tokash » Compr&hellip | February 16th, 2006 at 2:44 pm
[...] This is a very comprehensive look at currently available visitor statistics solutions. I currently use Mint, Google Analytics, Analog and MeasureMap on this site and I’ve been thinking about doing an in depth comparison. Looks like I don’t need to anymore, conversionrater did the job for me. The article missed PHPMyVisites, a pretty mature system which I just heard about yesterday. [...]
8. Ivan Minic | February 16th, 2006 at 6:25 pm
This is simply brilliant! Thank you
9. Ian Pitts | February 16th, 2006 at 8:34 pm
I use NetTracker from Sane Solutions (http://www.sane.com) and love the ability to both drill all the way down to a specific visitor’s clickstream as well as to create ad-hoc reports. I can take any standard view and filter it on a huge array of variables.
The big plus with the version I have (SMB) is that all the data is stored in our SQL server database. I integrate this data in our data warehouse for full prospect/customer analysis.
10. arthur | February 16th, 2006 at 9:05 pm
i recently started using log parser and have found it to be a very useful and easy to use tool. the process is a bit more manual, but it lets me easily get to the data i need.
11. New Improved Plan Resonat&hellip | February 16th, 2006 at 10:46 pm
[...] If you’re interested in web stats, or considering upgrading stats packages, you’ll enjoy reading this study from Pat McCarthy. ( Via Jeff Nolan ) [...]
12. Pixel y Dixel » QuÃ&hellip | February 17th, 2006 at 2:20 am
[...] Qué sistema de análisis de visitas elegir Escrito por Dixel el 17.02.06 @ 10:17 am [...]
13. Henrik | February 17th, 2006 at 11:46 am
You might want to look into Instadia as well. They have nailed some relatively big clients, although they seem to have a preference for Danish companies.
14. Peter Caputa | February 17th, 2006 at 3:28 pm
Check out mybloglog
15. Blogalistic » A Com&hellip | February 17th, 2006 at 3:33 pm
[...] Conversion Rater has a very comprehensive rundown of the major analytics tools on the market. [...]
16. Pat McCarthy | February 17th, 2006 at 3:51 pm
Thanks for all the suggestions. I plan on checking out all the suggested tools I missed over the weekend, then I’ll update the post.
17. Web Analytics Solutions -&hellip | February 17th, 2006 at 4:17 pm
[...] Check out Pat McCarthy’s list of web analytics solutions. Not entirely comprehensive, but the list covers the majority of web analytics providers and each solution is accompanied by a concise description. [...]
18. mark munroe | February 18th, 2006 at 3:35 pm
I really like NetTracker also. The incredible drill-down capability and on-the-fly filtering capability really helps me see what is going on. I also love the fact that they expose the schema with their Enterprise version and let you access the data in any way that you want.
Google is nice and free but I run into too many roadblocks compared to the NetTracker where I can create just the reports I want. Plus, when you can’t drill down you just have to accept the data they give you on faith.
By the way – Nice blog and good writeup!
19. TecnoCHICA » Aná&hellip | February 19th, 2006 at 4:37 pm
[...] A través de Pixel y Dixel, he leÃdo que Pat McCarthy ha realizado un detallado estudio de los principales sistemas de análisis de estadisticas de nuestras visitas en la web Conversion Rater. En el post, habla tanto de sistemas tan conocidisimos como el Google Analytics o SiteMeter como de otros menos conocidos, pero igualmente eficaces como puedes ser el Fireclick. Y asà hasta una lista de hasta 20 servicios entre los que incluye además la descripcion de dos lectores de Feeds, Feedburner y Pheedo. Algunos vienen incluso con screenshoots, y enlaces para poder descargar los programas. Todo el artÃculo está en ingles, pero es fácilmente comprensible para poder hacernos una idea de que tipo de análisis nos conviene y de adapta mejor a nuestras necesidades. [...]
20. Sebastian | February 20th, 2006 at 3:37 am
One of the main feature we’re looking at when choosing a web analytic tool is its ability to store the data in a database that can be queried with any reporting tool. It allows us to cross data between the web analysis and other datamarts from the company. That’s why we normally use NetTracker as a web analytic tool (the only one we know that stores the data in a “free” database) although the interface and features of google analytics is, I think, much better (so cool!). Sebastian.
21. Biotope - Blogue de Geoff&hellip | February 20th, 2006 at 11:26 am
Guide des solutions d’analyses de traffic Web et visualisation 3D avec VisitorVille
Voici un guide de Conversasion Rater [en] sur les solutions d’analyse de traffic intitulé A Complete Guide To Web Analytics Solutions [en]. Très instructif! Comme le dit Fred, Visitorville [en] est vraiment surprenant avec sa vis…
22. Cuaderno de hule » &hellip | February 21st, 2006 at 5:05 am
[...] A Complete Guide To Web Analytics Solutions » Conversion Rater (tags: web blogging) [...]
23. Briggsy | February 23rd, 2006 at 1:04 pm
Trace Watch is also worth looking at (http://www.tracewatch.com/) since it uses PHP code to track visitors and thus not affected by people who disable java script.
Logs robots seperately and provides page path analysis. Is also free. We use it at http://www.emanz.ac.nz
24. Wendy Novianto | February 23rd, 2006 at 3:25 pm
Any thought of adding slimstats to the list? I think it’s one of the promising stats tool to be reviewed as well.
Thanks
25. Marco | February 24th, 2006 at 5:54 am
A
CompleteGuide To Web Analytics Solutions.You lost phpMyVisites, a free and powerful open source (GNU/GPL) application. Easy to use, this is maybe the most advanced free (GNU/GPL) application based on tag, with 29 translations available for now.
26. Bohr’s Blog »&hellip | February 25th, 2006 at 8:22 am
[...] A Complete Guide To Web Analytics Solutions [...]
27. Zognition » Web Ana&hellip | February 25th, 2006 at 9:44 am
[...] ConversionRater’s guide makes good reading on the subject, but unfortunately is a little too brief for my liking. But take a look at the article anyway, it’ll give you an overview of what’s available out there. [...]
28. Bohr Yu » links for&hellip | February 25th, 2006 at 10:11 am
[...] A Complete Guide To Web Analytics Solutions [...]
29. Nico | February 28th, 2006 at 1:16 am
Where is phpmyvisites ????
this guide is far from being complete without phpmyvisites !
30. Pat McCarthy | February 28th, 2006 at 3:58 pm
I’ll be including all the applications that have been suggested shortly.
31. Nejoom | March 1st, 2006 at 12:00 pm
Check out opentracker.net it has some impressive real-time user analytics.
32. Measuring Web Traffic - S&hellip | March 6th, 2006 at 8:12 pm
[...] For a nice overview of some of the better offerings, I’ll point you to ConversionRater.com’s Complete Guide to Web Analytic Solutions. But for the direct response on what I use here are the nuts and bolts. [...]
33. otro blog más » Un&hellip | March 7th, 2006 at 12:08 pm
[...] Ya puestos con cosas de interés general, también podemos destacar la página de herramientas del Information Architecture Institute, uno de ‘diseño 2.0′ (yo también odio los números de versión, y cada vez más), de Emily Chang, otro de diseño para dispositivos móviles, Web Design Practices, un sitio web sobre buenas prácticas de diseño y esta guía sobre soluciones de analítica, que habla de un buen número de alternativas para saber qué pasa con tu web. [...]
34. A Random Pixel » We&hellip | March 8th, 2006 at 7:49 am
[...] The good thing about Mint is that you would get to keep all the data. For a comprehensive list of web analytical tool please visit the blog of Conversion Rater. [...]
35. nexus&hellip | March 25th, 2006 at 5:40 pm
EstadÃsticas del blog
36. Edmund Pelgen&hellip | April 15th, 2006 at 6:42 pm
A Guide to Web Analytics Tools
Pat McCarthy from Conversionrater.com has an excellent post detailing a large number of web analytics packages from the freebies to the the big guns, as he calls them. It is a very comprehensive list and worth a review if you are looking to try a new a…
37. Steve | April 23rd, 2006 at 7:22 pm
Anyone know of other low-cost analytics that have page-overlays?
38. Cal Brown | May 1st, 2006 at 11:47 am
I am not having a great day but just reading the word “spendier” cheered me up. Great turn of phrase:)
39. TW | May 4th, 2006 at 5:49 am
I sent a terse, very detailed, web-metrics-knowledgeable enterprise-level pricing estimate request to Coremetrics via email. I designed it carefully to signal that I was at a very early and tentative stage of the conversion process. I received two phone messages and three emails—none of which answered my question.
They made a couple of big mistakes. They couldn’t tell where I was in the process. (Or, by trying to get me on the phone, they didn’t care, which is worse. If I want to be sold to, I’ll ask you to, OK? If I want to talk on the phone like it was 1979, I’ll let you know that too.) Their materials were wildly inappropriate—they sent me a list of Coremetrics “benefits” which the metrics-savvy customer would find generic and obvious and which the non-savvy customer would find incomprehensible. They ignored my basic request. That wasted my time in a world where I’m both accustomed to being way too busy and also to finding the exact information I need quickly and easily. I am a metrics professional. This is what we do. Is that or is that not their target audience?
The software looks great, but that’s not too difficult in this vertical. Coremetrics tries to differentiate itself by providing you consultancy based on your numbers—but if they can’t judge their own customers right, how are they going to help me with mine?
And we learn something else: I made the time to get the word out about this. Satisfy potential customers or they’ll evangelize against you. I don’t know who we’ll pick, but I’ll fight to the death to keep it from being these guys.
40. Joe Farrar | July 21st, 2006 at 4:35 pm
We would like to trade links with you.
41. Remington | September 28th, 2006 at 6:31 am
Hi,
You also missed the european market leader, so they say: Nedstat, a dutch company with offices through Europe.
Or are You only looking at US Solutions…
Greetz,
Remington
42. james johnson | October 18th, 2006 at 3:21 am
you should also consider http://www.Intellitracker.com. We have been using it at the BBC for the last 6 months and it is incredible compared to the more basic tools like Webtrends, omniture or WebsideStory.
43. Marcos Richardson | November 2nd, 2006 at 2:10 am
Another European Vendor;
WebtraffIQ Web Analytics Agency now tracks terrestrial channels such as TV and Radio.
A bold statement…
‘WebtraffIQ was the first solution to use page tagging within the Web Analytics Industry’
http://www.webtraffiq.com
http://www.m-w.co.uk
Tel: +44 (0)207 379 3300
44. Richard Cooling | November 15th, 2006 at 2:54 am
we have been using Livestats XSP for about 3 years as a hosted solution for our customers that host sites with us, however Microsoft have recently purchased Deep Metrix and now we need a new solution thats cost effective…..
any ideas ??
45. Matt Hopkins | January 22nd, 2007 at 9:26 am
I think that Microsofts web analytics offering should be very interesting, especially if they are after Googles cut of the free analytics market.
But for the moment I’m sticking with my in-house solution NetInsight. Although i’m still keeping an eye out for Omniture after they just bought up Instadia…hmmm…
Matt Hopkins
http://www.WebAnalyticMatt.com
46. Sharon Lin | May 2nd, 2007 at 10:04 am
What is your evaluation of Index Tools? I noticed it was not included in your list …
47. Pat McCarthy | May 2nd, 2007 at 10:05 am
Hi Sharon,
I hadn’t ever used IndexTools before but now have it tracking this site so I should add it soon.
48. Cindy T. | October 15th, 2007 at 4:19 am
Great list! Thank you very much for putting this together. I notice that you left off Conversion Analyst by Engine Ready. It is also a great analytics tool to use!
49. Google Analytics Guide | October 18th, 2007 at 8:56 pm
Nice topic you are sharing, thanks!. I am using google analytics, because its free. But is it best to track all things we required at higher level business? Which one of the analytics tools is best according to you?
50. D. | March 2nd, 2008 at 2:17 pm
I have tested Google analytics and Statscounter. Both offers tons of information, BUT, Statscounter contains a WONDERFUL tool, THE PATH VISITOR, and it’s a true opportunity to getting know where, what, and how you must do an excellent marketing and visibility.
I think STATSCOUNTER is better than Google Analytics. Also it’s free and they did expand entries to 500. Obviously you can to get a paid option,too.
Today Statscounter got to be one of the best web analytics .Consider the path visitor as an authentic wonderful.
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