Choosing An Analytics Package

One of the things I’ve been thinking about regarding the launch of my new project is which statistical package should I use? That is why yesterday, I published a poll asking you which one you use and it seems as though the majority of you are using Google Analytics. I’ve never used Google Analytics but I’ve become a big fan of Woopra. I’ve been told that no matter which statistics package I use, I should use GA because it’s the statistics package of choice which contains the metrics needed to base advertising rates on. It’s also a trusted source of accurate information which is why advertisers like it so much.

The accuracy argument could be debated as each program varies in their results. However, it’s hard to go against the grain and since I do plan on monetizing the site, not using GA from the beginning could prove detrimental to my efforts.

One last thing I wanted to mention. I know when I started my personal blog, statistics were the last thing on my mind. However, once I installed Woopra, I realized what I had been missing. The problem though is that, using a statistics package midstream doesn’t give you any information from the past. This is why it is important when launching a blog to also choose a analytics program that you feel you’ll be using for the long haul.

What are your suggestions? If you were starting a new blog or website, which one would you use?

By the way, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that Performancing has their own statistics package in the form of Pmetrics. We have a free plan plus several premium plans. You also have the ability to create your own custom Pro plan during the upgrade process, with support for up to 200 sites and 250,000 total daily page views.

All new accounts get a free 21 day trial of the Pro service. You can upgrade any time during or after the trial.

9 thoughts on “Choosing An Analytics Package

  1. GA misses live stats. I’d like to see the last N hits to my website (date/time, IP, referrer). For some of my websites I use the old AXS Visitor Tracking System. Does someone knows a free (preferably serverside) stats app that shows your live data?

    For accurate stats I’m using Awstats on the server side + a different perspective through GA.
    And yes, GA doesn’t catch all pagehits.

  2. I’ve been a Web Marketing Analyst for almost a year now and a copywriter for 3 months. I read about Woopra but I still prefer to use Google Analytics. It is not because I get used to it but because I know that it is already tested. I have essays comparing Woopra and GA and according to my friends who have read it, they prefer GA as well.

  3. Analytics applications are more accurate. so never ever go for alexa/compete/technorati traffic stats. they’re not accurate when you check your or competitors stats.

  4. I’ve been using Statcounter on my blogs for as long as I can remember. I love the ease at which all the analytics is presented.

    I also have Google Analytics code running.

  5. I don’t see HOW Google Analytics can be as accurate as everyone is making out. I compared server-side logs against GA when I was using the service, and GA was only picking up about 75% of my visitors thanks to the amount of times that either the GA Javascript doesn’t load, or the visitor closes their browser or moves on before it does.

    If advertising buyers are going head-over-heels for GA, then I’ll show them my server-side logs and be 25% ahead of the competition. It doesn’t take much to install something such as Mint (which is still JS based, but loads much, much quicker so therefore picks up more hits) or to purchase a log file analyzer – or indeed use one of the free ones out there. If your host doesn’t provide access to raw log files then get a new host, since its a relatively basic addition to any hosting package.

  6. How can you use Woopra if they only track the first 10,000 hits?

    I have 2 websites that I use Woopra on(on the side with Google Analytics). One hits the 10,000 mark within an hour or two and the other goes about 15 hours before it hits the limit.

    The only downfall to GA is that they don’t do live stats. It takes a couple of hours to ‘tally’ up the stats. I normally check my daily stats at 3AM(I live on the east cost).

  7. Quite frankly, I actually use both tools on my website. I feel that each tool offers it’s own view of visitors, which is why I find each one invaluable. Of course the speed concern might come into play, but having both reports still has its advantages.

  8. It is possible to install both snippets – and make your site a bit slower – and see yourself which one do you like most. I think it solves your problem above.

    Personall, I’ll go with Google Analytics, it is tightly integrated with their other services and also crucial part of their offerings. With Yahoo Web Analytics and others, we can only expect it to improve in the future.

    Google now offers beta version of Advanced Segmenting, for instance, among others.

    Is Pmetrics the most recent one? I notice that GetClicky is more up to date, with exactly the same package… at least the web copy make me conclude that way.

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