[Web4lib] web analytics software

[David Whelan]

Hello!

I've been using Google Analytics to monitor 4 different sites and having a 
single interface made it easier to use the tool across different sites.  I 
typically wouldn't be able to get the log files for each site and have the 
same information.  It's powerful in that it gathers some data that a local 
installation might be configured to exclude (hostnames, etc.).  The data, 
and resulting graphics, can be tailored to specific time periods, sources, 
etc., and make good screenshots for reports to decision makers.

Another free site I've used and operates in a similar way to Google was 
Addfreestats.com.  Their web site is garish, but I still find that the way 
they set up their drill downs from screen to screen work a bit better than 
Google.  The overall experience isn't as good, though.  I'm also using the 
Google Webmaster tools to monitor activity like ranking in search results, 
which keywords > ranking > clicks to site, etc.  Another point in favor of 
the Google machine.

One stats program I've used in a corporate installation was Unica's 
Webtracker (netinsight.unica.com).  I don't think the interface is very 
good but - and this probably applies to all of the fee-based, locally 
installed stats packages - I can slice and dice my data much more closely, 
filtering out internal v. external users from a report without filtering 
them out of my logs, etc.  Even as powerful as Google Analytics is for a 
free app, it's not as powerful a reporting tool. 

An additional benefit to a local install is relying on log files rather 
than a javascript call (like Google or Addfreestats) to invoke your 
statistics gathering.  You can be sure everything hitting your site is 
logged.  But then you've also got to figure out how to deal with the huge 
log files that accumulate.

My vote's for Google Analytics.  It's low maintenance, free, and there's a 
lot of good data that's easy to access and navigate.

Best, David.

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David P. Whelan
Manager, Legal Information
Great Library
Law Society of Upper Canada
130 Queen Street West
Toronto, Ontario  M5H 2N6
tel: 416.947.3438    fax:  416.869.0331
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