How do you track site statistics

What site is best for tracking site statistics ie. who visited, how many, and what keywords they search for prior to landing on the site? Thank you

We use Urchin which has all of the features that you mention plus more and comes with of our hosting package.

Unfortunely I don't think that we have the most up-to-date version as it does not show what is happening in real-time, a feature that I used to enjoy with Hitslink.

MD

try google.com/analytics

I use the wordpress statpress plugin. Its really useful, and i use that rather then the ones my host provides me with. If your using wordpress at all, i really recommend it.

Kye.

Clicktracks

Google Analytics is the best tool available for free. After activation and verification you only have to place a simple code on pages you want to track. There are so many reports available to track each and every thing you want.

There are some other tools available over the internet for free, it completely depends on you to choose.

yes...I'd have to agree that G provides pretty good analytics....

thing is, I'm of the mind that "hey, gotta keep somethings close to the vest, eh?" which means that while I do keep them ongoing...I ALSO keep other analytics running...and depend on them MUCH MORE......

each to their own of course, but I can add this...I have always worried about care of "assets & montoring" by the same party...goes back to my much much earlier career in foodservice....

IMHO...always keep a BACKUP method to do your serps, eh!




Jim

Go for Google Analytics as it is smart, lot of reports, comparison and understanding user behaviour on your website for free...................there are lot more paid tool which gives more customized information but why when google gives us maximum for free

I am confident Google Analytics is the best free tool however i stopped using it after I did research and found that the data is being used by Google to adjust serps. If you do a search for 'Google bounce factor' on Google you will find my article as well as some other more recent articles from people who are just realizing the effects that Google Analytics can have on your rankings.

Keeping that in mind I would recommend Clicky Web 2.0 analytics, it is cheap and has all the features 99.9% of webmasters ever use. ClickTracks (which Egol recommend) is also good although you might find it a bit more pricey for your needs.

I agree with the previous posters. I can add this:

What solution you need depends heavily upon your traffic volume. Small sites can easily use free tools, and Google analytics (see above for warnings on GA). Inexpensive options are also available. I don't know the cost of clicktracks but IIRC it wasn't too bad.

Higher traffic sites especially those with high transaction volumes may need more robust analytics solutions. I don't think you are in that range but if you had thousands of transactions a day it would likely be time to drop some serious money on something like omniture, webtrends, etc. etc. Those types of packages require extensive training and often their own servers etc.

Do not over spend. You can get tons of data from free and inexpensive products and until you have exhausted that information there is no need for anything more.

One more word of warning. Some tracking scripts interfere with each other. If you use Google analytics for example and add in another package do some log file checking to make sure both are catching all the right information. We found Googles conversion script interfered with the operation of Yahoo's and our webtrends tracking so we had to remove all but the webtrends.

Finally, whatever you use take the time to learn the system, what *exactly* the numbers mean, and then use the data to drive specific actions. Analytics can make loads of pretty graphs but graphs don't make you money. Changes to your site, and PPC campaigns informed by your analytics data might though.

I also use google analytics. It really helps me in knowing if my SEO efforts are or are not working. Shows to me how the people are getting to my sites and what they are using for key terms also. And I love that it also shows me technical information like the browsers they use and the screen resolutions, flash suport, etc. Helps in making a new website because you have a good idea of what your general population can support.

Nice reply reality. On-point with the fact that you shouldn't overspend.

Egol, would you mind shedding some light on the approximate cost for clicktracks? (now Lyris) Is it based on each customers needs?

Visio & Egol, can you point out what metrics you find most useful in these analytics packages? Something we are interested in learning more about is tracking which keywords a visitor entered the site from, what page they hit and where they went after as well as if they converted. Google Analytics tracks parts of this and we would like to see more info about visitor behavior. We are looking for more feedback if you are willing to share.

Lb1878

While everyone wants to know more about visitor behavior it is very very easy to experience analysis paralysis as you explore what is available in any analytics package. While some poking around can help you see what the package is capable of and you can learn some interesting trivia about your site visitors, the best use of analytics IMO is to drive specific decisions that you have already decided need to be made, but you would like more information to inform the decision.

For example:
Rather than starting with where do people go after they land, I would start with an actionable question like:
We want people to click on the 'specials' link. Will it help to move the link to a different location. Or, Should we offer a discount on shipping.

Starting from those questions determine what data might help inform your decision and see what information is the closest analog in your analytics package.

That is a valid statement but it is not so easy for us to set up design changes and such. Our guys are flexible but the decision makers pockets are tight. The do not get the whole internet thing although they have made great strides as of late.

I know we had a discussion about this months ago but this is the information the owners are looking to see. I am buying more and more into the A/B testing and trying to get the owners to buy in more as well. Its a tough uphill battle.

I always knew that Google was using their tools as a big brother type of thing and it aggravates me. It's smart but aggravating.

Someone more familiar with GA should be able to help you find/configure the right reports within it.

As for convincing management it might help to explain the origin of A/B testing is in the world of direct mail and physical space. You might show them some of the more surprising results from Marketing Sherpa. They often have examples from high end retailers so management might be willing to do what the 'big guys' do. It can also illustrate that you never know until you actually test.

Also I would pick one thing on the site that you think needs to be changed. Something you think will have a positive impact and try to get permission for a one time test on that. Maybe they will understand when they see the bottom line.

Hope you continue to see progress. Once they get it you will be busy explaining sample sizes and running lots of fun tests.