Biz thread: What's the best Stats software?

[spacekadet]

It can be free or monthly charge, I don't care. I just want the best damn web stats software to track visitors to my site. I want it to be graphical and show me who is on my site at this very moment, where they're from, how they're navigation, entry, exit, bla bla. It needs to be able to handle xxx,xxx uniques daily.

Thanks GFY

[spacekadet]

Bump.. Inquiring minds want to know.

[4Pics]

Webtrends?

[Randomonium]

Originally Posted by spacekadet

It can be free or monthly charge, I don't care. I just want the best damn web stats software to track visitors to my site. I want it to be graphical and show me who is on my site at this very moment, where they're from, how they're navigation, entry, exit, bla bla. It needs to be able to handle xxx,xxx uniques daily.

Thanks GFY

My experiences (only two) with WebTrends haven't been the most positive ones, but I might be an exception.

Google Analytics, Urchin, ClickTracks and many others will do what you are looking for. I'm not sure about the "at this very moment" part, as many of the solutions have some delay to the information (read log files).

Best is very subjective, especially when you balance ease of use etc. Some packages have more customizable reports than others blah blah blah.

There are other features that may matter to you such as integration w/email marketing etc. However when you get into what you are going to do with the information, then some packages really start to shine above others.

The information is one thing, the ability to take action based on that information is another.

If you are going to be doing comparative testing, and/or customization then those features often begin to outweigh other factors. For this I generally use three different solutions (in my world cost is a factor) depending on the situation.

One of these is (GA) google analytics (based on the urchin platform). It's free. Some people have expressed concern about giving google your break even information if you are buying adwords. If you are concerned about this you can buy urchin, and run your own.

The other two I can't post on the boards about.

One is a customized package by some offshore guys. I can ask them if they are interested in other users, but should check w/them first.

The third is a technology partnership, so they can stay seperate from our (adult) indsutry. This is a hosted solution, and it's not cheap. I use it because of the ability for real time customization. This is a lot more than a stats package, though it gives pretty rockin stats.

Having said that, there are plenty of other options that out there at a wide variety of price points / feature sets.

My suggestion to you would be ask yourself:

What do I really want to know? - It's not just what information can be captured, it's also how you consume that information.

What do I want to do with that information? - Just use it to take a pulse? Track CPC? Compare creatives?

What is it worth to me? - Is cost really no object? Are you prepared to pay per impression? Have an employee or service? Want to run your own stats server? What do you stand to gain from the information/actions?

With those questions answered, the choice will be made a lot easier.

If you want to go into it you can post here you can email me gfy @ jeffrandom.com