I am curious to find out what percentage of directory owners actually have some type of web analytics installed on their directories. I really don't see a need for collecting the data as a majority of traffic is from referral sites, rather than any set of keywords.
To improve traffic - monitor conversions - know what content is effective - and countless other reasons. It seems to me that you need to monitor traffic and understand which of your efforts to promote are working and which are not.
I use Google Analytics on mine. I used it on Zorg Directory too. Infact I still do use it on Zorg Directory since the new owner never removed the code
I use it on my directory. You should also check out mikey's post about tracking goals on your directory. Zorg directory has that post.
There's always stat counter etc that work in a similar way. The best would be stuff like awstats which only you and your web host can access.
Yes, though I cannot remember the last time I looked at it. I tend to rely more on my own custom stats reporting.
I have it installed on all of mine. I mainly use it to track the Google traffic and what keywords are getting hit. The general directory gets hit from Google searchers looking to submit their site. My niche directories get hit from Google searchers looking for information on the niche.
It is good to know that there's no unanimous YES vote on using web analytics for directories. Certainly got good feedback from freelistfool's response. Hopefully, this poll will indirectly help a lot of directory owners with some key ideas on applying web analytics.