Measuring Stats
photo credit: j.labrado on flickr
I’m cheap. I don’t like paying a lot if anything when I get get the same thing for free. In this economy, I’m digging up new and better ways to make the most of everything and stretch my dollar as far as it can go. Having said that, I’ve never once paid for website statistics. Now, that doesn’t mean it’s not worth paying for a stat tracker; it’s certainly worth it when you’re website is generating millions of hits, or you’re a large company, or you have complex e-commerce or other technical hoopla going on. However, for the majority of us small-time bloggers, indie artists, and Etsy shop owners, it’s not going to be worth forking over any money for web statistics.
In this post, I’m going to give you a two recommendations on web traffic trackers you can use and what each one can do for you. Next week, I’ll get into Google Analytics because although it’s free, it’s very complex and even the simple uses of GA will require an additional post.
Site Meter [www.sitemeter.com]
What’s included in the free [basic] account:
Does it show up on your site?
Yes, you must upgrade to at least the $6.95/month option to get an invisible counter. However, you do have a number of counter display options to choose from.
What it looks like when you check your stats:
image credit: sitemeter.com
What you get if you upgrade:
- Visitor path
- Referring search keywords
- Invisible counter on your site
- Recent visitors export
- Ad free stats page
- Full IP address of each visitor is available
- Ranked reporting for referring pages, referring web sites, referring search engines, and referring search words
- Previous year’s traffic records
- Moving average charts [helping you to see if your site traffic is increasing over time]
StatCounter [www.statcounter.com]
What’s included in the free account:
- Invisible counter option
- Configurable summary stats
- Popular pages
- Entry pages
- Exit pages
- Referring URLs
- Recent keyword activity
- Visit paths
- Visit length
- Returning visits
- Recent pageload and visitor activity
- Recent visitor Google map
- Blocking cookie [to block your own visits]
- JavaScript stats
- Multiple site and multiple user management
Does it show up on your site?
No, you have the option of an invisible counter with the free account.
What it looks like when you check your stats:
image credit: statcounter.com
What you get if you upgrade:
- Increased log size [Your log-size determines how many pageloads you have the ability to view and analyze in more depth. Basically, if you want to look back in detail to yesterday's visit you are unable to view the detailed information of pageloads beyond 500 back. You can increase the log-size starting at $9/month.]
- Ad free stats page
- Custom stats page logo
- SSL secure tracking
These are the two most popular trackers offering a free option. Additional free and reliable web stat trackers include:
Add Free Stats
eWebCounter
ShinyStat
SiteTracker
A wonderful post! I use both SiteMeter and Google Analytics. Sometimes it amazes me that both are free. I’m looking forward to some tips on customizing Google Analytics for my needs. I know that it’s possible, but I haven’t tried it yet.
Keep up the great work on your site. I truly enjoy it.
Thanks for all the excellent advice! I’m learning so much my brain is overloaded.
I’m a new blogger and your info is always easy to understand and put to use, the sign of a great teacher(s)…
Cheer,
Andrea
I actually got both: the Statcounter and the Sitemeter. I simply couldn’t decide which one, so I put both on my blog! I do catch myself mostly looking at the Statcounter though…
this morning i woke up and thought, “boy, i wish someone would post a blog entry about how to figure out my stats.” i’m not kidding. and here you are! now maybe i will check out one of these other great-looking services. thanks!
i use sitemeter on my site, and still not understanding the whole google analytics thing
so will be looking forward to your post on GA
thank you!
[...] offers many of the features of the counters I mentioned in my previous post. However, GA is primarily for aggregate tracking, which means it focuses more on trends and [...]