Cheap alternative to Google Analytics

[mwoolgar]

Hi

Please can someone suggest a cheap alternative to Google Analytics for measuring PPC conversions?

Many thanks

[Mel66]

Google Analytics is free - it doesn't get much cheaper than that!

[mwoolgar]

Google Analytics is free - it doesn't get much cheaper than that!

Thanks, but I'm looking for an alternative to Google Analytics

[chiron]

Depending on what you need there are many options, but one in particular has continued to support, improve, and expand their simple but very functional offering over the years.

I still get same-day, same-person, immediate support via email after several years, which is nice. For $5-10/month for a domain - and I've noticed the installed metrics work across domains) it's worth knowing I am not entirely Google-locked, plus it's nice to have some checks and comparisons for any and all traffic.

www web-stat com

[mwoolgar]

Has anyone got a suggestion for a server bases [log files] solutions rather than tagging such as Google?

[eran]

You might want to look at piwik as well.

[eran]

You can use awstats to analyse your logs.

I hope this helps.


Has anyone got a suggestion for a server bases [log files] solutions rather than tagging such as Google?

[mcanerin]

The problem with tagging is that it doesn't work with non-JS browsers.

But the problems with logs are even worse. They don't measure cached pages - either browser cache or ISP cache. You also run into issues when there is more than one server. They also can't measure Flash frames (only a single loading of a movie), pass on variables and a lot of other things.

Of the two, in today's internet, you are far more likely to run into high tech issues like caching and variables than low tech ones like a lack of JS in a visitors browser.

Unless your site is small, unpopular, doesn't use a shopping cart, doesn't use PPC, doesn't use Flash, Ajax or any other form of interactivity and gets a lot of visits from people using browsers made in the 1990's, tagging is generally the way to go. It's not perfect, it's just better than the alternative.

Ian

[NewKidOnTheBlock]

Not sure if this has anything to do with why you (mwoolgar)want an alternative to Google Analytics (not sure if it's true for the UK, too), but in Germany using Google Analytics can be a big problem (I won't use it), because of the laws.

I don't understand the law well enough, but a German SEO blogger who knows his stuff (and who's friends with people at Google Germany and definitely not anti-Google) blogged about why German webmasters should stay away from using Google analytics until/unless Google change their policies on what they can do with the data, because it allows them to do things with the data that would interfere with the laws on data privacy in our country. (It's been half a year or so since I read this, hope I made sense trying to sum it up!)

No he didn't suggest a better alternative with an affiliate link, either ;-).

[seomax]

this site not related to hits but some info is given by this reffered site

go for seoquake.com there u can download toolbar and analyse sites with seoquake toolbar , that consists site position in google msn and yahoo , about pr , backlinks , and all info related to perticular site which are browsed by u on the spot.

web-stat.com is ok

[mwoolgar]

Thanks for all the suggestions.

One other question....

Can anyone recommend a web analytics software that tracks the user throughout a website. i.e. shows you the navigation from start to finish. I'm not looking for a package that just gives me entrances or exit information like google analytics.

Thanks

[bradbox]

Yahoo! have a system of their own (well, that they acquired). I've heard it is easier to use than Google.

Out of interested, why do you not want to use Google?