Website Statistics Software

[GuyFromChicago]

I'm looking for a web statistics package for newer venture I'm involed in. I need something robust that can provide a high level of traffic/statistical detail for a site (or series of sites) that will receive millions of unique visitors per month. I've been looking at http://www.omniture.com/ so far.

Any suggestions or recomendations?

[yfs1]

I've always been a huge fan of sawmill.net - they also have the added benefit of excellent customer service

[GuyFromChicago]

I've always been a huge fan of sawmill.net - they also have the added benefit of excellent customer service

I think I saw that being advertised over at seochat. Are you using the software now?

[Crazy_Rob]

I've been using Urchin 6 On-Demand since April. It's the best i've seen so far...and it's pretty cheap.

[Jaimitodelqueso]

me too, Urchin is indeed very good

[North Carolina SEO]

From a user perspective, I really enjoy SmarterStats Enterprise Edition. It seems to offer a number of options and has been rather durable on the shared servers of crystaltech dot com.

[GuyFromChicago]

I've been using Urchin 6 On-Demand since April. It's the best i've seen so far...and it's pretty cheap.

Thanks man, I'll check that one out too.

From a user perspective, I really enjoy SmarterStats Enterprise Edition. It seems to offer a number of options and has been rather durable on the shared servers of crystaltech dot com.

Another that I will add to the list to review. Thanks to you too.

[Doublespresso]

I've been using Urchin 6 On-Demand since April. It's the best i've seen so far...and it's pretty cheap.



Is $200/month "pretty cheap"??
...or am I missing something?

I'm also looking for a stats product, has anyone used whoson?
Any feedback?

(my first post! :))

[Crazy_Rob]

Hi, Doublespresso- welcome to DP! :D

I guess "cheap" is a relative term.

It's cheap compared to what it was priced at 6 months ago. ;)

[pwaring]

Webalizer (http://www.mrunix.net/webalizer/) works fairly well for me, although I don't know how well it scales but I do know of a hosting company with 2000+ accounts that uses it to generate stats for each one. It might not have all the features of programs like Urchin but it's got a pretty good price tag. :)

[yfs1]

I think I saw that being advertised over at seochat. Are you using the software now?

Yes, I've actually used it since the first version. You can Beta test it for them and get a free version. I think I spent about 2 or so hours documenting what I was doing as I tried it and got a free liscence.

Its one of the more robust analyzers and it seems to give more accurate stats compared to some of the others.

[Shoemoney]

I really like webalizer and its nice to script out and customize. I wouldnt want the drag of urchin on a huge site i think it would slow it to a crawl.

[GuyFromChicago]

I'm going to start evaluating somer packages next week. I'm looking strictly at the reports and reporting capabilities...the IT director is looking at the technical side of things.

I'll update this thread after we've had a chance to run some demos and make some choices.

Thanks for the input so far everyone!

[Labcoat88]

Urchin is a nice tool, although $200/mo is indeed "cheap" when you start looking at more sophisticated tools. Products like Omniture start at 10x that cost.

GuyFromChicago - what questions are you looking for analytics to answer about your site?

LC

[GuyFromChicago]

GuyFromChicago - what questions are you looking for analytics to answer about your site?

Still just researching at this point - the site I had in mind when I started this thread is still under development.

In a nutshell, I just want a analytics package that will provide a high level of detail on a site that should in relatively short order have millions of unique visitors per month. It will have the meet the requirements of my IT group as well.

I like Omniture, but wanted to get some other info on other packages for comparison purposes.

[Crazy_Rob]

I've also heard great things about websidestory (HBX).

I saw a demo of it a few years ago and it was pretty impressive.

[JonahViaKeyboard]

No mention of WebTrends 7? I heard it's supposed to be pretty good but haven't really gotten to check it out. Any opinions?

Google's semi-recent purchase of Urchin is certainly an endorsement.

[GuyFromChicago]

I may look into WebTrends but other here have used it before and indicated it was a resource hog. No real experience with it myself.

[Labcoat88]

Are you looking for a logfile-cruncher or page-tag solution?

[BobL]

Urchin is very good but i normally use www.hitslink.com to get my stats. Very cheap and provides what i want quickly and easily.

[GuyFromChicago]

Are you looking for a logfile-cruncher or page-tag solution?

Open to either option at this point.

[Labcoat88]

Do you have a budget?

For low-$ in the $150-$600/mo. range, check out ClickTracks, Urchin and NetTracker. These products all scale to the volume you are predicting, and come in both logfile and/or page-tag (ASP) versions.

Higher-end products like Omniture, Coremetrics, SiteClarity (Harvest Solutions), HitBox, SurfAid, etc. will give you much deeper information and flexibility, PPC bid manamgenet, etc., but at a much higher price (read: $1000's per month.)

LC

p.s. my original interest in this thread, which was "what analytics products are people using", appears to have been answered: not many people here are using analytics...?

[Crazy_Rob]

p.s. my original interest in this thread, which was "what analytics products are people using", appears to have been answered: not many people here are using analytics...?

I think it's just that this subject comes up at least once a month.


-
I bought ClickTracks (non-hosted). It's a waste of $$- IMO.

[SEbasic]

From a user perspective, I really enjoy SmarterStats Enterprise Edition.Really?!? I found the results were no where near detailed enough. Might just have used awstats (imo)

Urchin is great - I'm just not keen on giving Google even more data about my sites...
</takes off tin hat>

[GuyFromChicago]

Do you have a budget?

Higher-end products like Omniture, Coremetrics, SiteClarity (Harvest Solutions), HitBox, SurfAid, etc. will give you much deeper information and flexibility, PPC bid manamgenet, etc., but at a much higher price (read: $1000's per month.)


No, no budget. We'll get what's best for the business regardless of cost. I had not heard of SiteClarity - thanks for that info - I will add that to my list of ones to review.

[Labcoat88]

FWIW, SiteClarity is the new name for Harvest Solutions' analytics tool... Harvest was just acquired by CheetahMail, so they renamed the product. One of SiteClarity's key features is the ability to do multi-property analytics ... i.e. grouping analytics by multiple sites (url's, subdomains or sections within a site.)

And if you haven't checked out SurfAid (IBM), I'd suggest that one too. Very nice product.

LC

[GuyFromChicago]

One of SiteClarity's key features is the ability to do multi-property analytics ... i.e. grouping analytics by multiple sites (url's, subdomains or sections within a site.)

That will be key - thanks for all the info you've provided. it's been very helpful.

[mopacfan]

I've always been a huge fan of sawmill.net - they also have the added benefit of excellent customer service
I second that. Sawmill.net (flowerfire.com) is a great program and if you beta test the software, you can get it at no charge.

[plmerlin]

I've been using Urchin 6 On-Demand since April. It's the best i've seen so far...and it's pretty cheap.

$199 per month cheap? Do I miss something? thank you

[Crazy_Rob]

Do I miss something?

Yes, you miss something. (post #9)