Words Best Web Analytics Tools | Google Analytics Alternative
Whether you are a seasoned Webmaster or someone who has just been recently introduced to Internet Marketing, you probably have already heard of Google Analytics (one of the most popular web analytics tool). It’s such a popular web analytics tool that it seems like everyone is using it.
In April 2012, Nikesh Arora, Google’s chief business officer announced that over ten million marketers and websites use this tool to gauge how effective their online presence is. Barely a year later, in January 2013, BuiltWith’s report indicates that the number has grown tremendously to 17,586,002 websites or 57.3% of all websites using Google Analytics, including majority of the top 10,000 sites based on Alexa and Quantcast rankings. That is how popular Google Analytics is. (While writing this, it is being used on this blog too)
I’m guessing you’re using Google Analytics, or perhaps thinking of installing it to your website. And why not? It’s free, it’s very useful, and it’s so easy to use. But did you know that there are also Google Analytics alternatives available? There’s at least 30 such alternatives that you can use so why limit your options, right?
In order to help you decide which ones to use, I’ve come up with a list of the hottest web analytics tools on the Internet right now and I’ve also provided a run-down of their pros and cons just to give you an idea of the features they have which you may or may not like. I’m sure the information provided below will cut your research time significantly.
1.Clicky
Clicky is considered to be one of the most robust web analytics tool today and it provides real time traffic information of your website. The main dashboard includes a variety of website stats that can be customized based on date. It offers a link report that shows all external websites sending traffic to you. It offers an actions metric that measures all visitor actions like video views and downloads by the user. It offers search data which provides a list of incoming search keywords that brought the users to your website and, with its Sheer SEO tool, Clicky also shows the ranking for those keywords.
2.KISSmetrics
3.Chartbeat
Chartbeat is a tool, which I have been personally using, till some time ago. It is focused primarily on real-time data and real time analytics. In short, this is a tool, which lives in the preset. Its robust dashboard, Iphone app and email alerts notifies you immediately of any server crash, or traffic spikes. Their clientele include Billboard, Fox News, Foursquare, and Time.
4.Mint
Mint is a self-hosted web analysis tool that is comparable to Google Analytics in terms of the kinds of data it collects. It tracks all basic statistics like referrals, searches, popular pages and traffic trends.
5.GoSquared  |
| GoSquared has actionable metrics that is essential for e-commerce websites. It is a great tool that measures visitor engagement. With its real time reporting system, GoSquared notifies you of traffic spikes, social trends and much more! 6.Woopra Woopra is also a real-time website analysis tool that targets customer engagement. It offers top-notch analytics that allows you to seamlessly monitor more than one website simultaneously.  |
Mixpanel is another real-time analytics tool that measures user engagement.
8.FoxMetricsThis web analysis tool will allow you to specifically use metrics that your business requires. It offers four key features: Funnels which help you identify the points at which users drop an action (such as a purchase) and so that you can “fix them up” for maximum profits; Profiles which automatically builds user profiles and create customer life cycle, Segments which help segregate website traffic into categories and Triggers which are actions, on the basis of which you can assign a reaction.
9.ReinvigorateReinvigorate is a website analysis tool that has been on the market for quite some time.
10.Gauges
Gauges is a Javascript based real time web analysis tool that varies in pricing based on number of pageviews. It gathers and analyzes web traffic in real time.
Gauges is a Javascript based real time web analysis tool that varies in pricing based on number of pageviews. It gathers and analyzes web traffic in real time.
11.InspectletInspectlet is an analytics tools more focused on Usability testing. It has four important features, which are: eye tracking heatmaps, screen capture, customizable metrics, and real time analytics. It goes beyond just providing the basic visitor metrics.
12.GoingUpGoingUp provides website analytics as well as SEO tools for your site. It allows you to track visitors, sales and conversion rates while offering search strategies.
13.eTrackereTracker is an analytics tool that gives you real-time data and combines qualitative and quantitative analysis so you can have all the information you need to evaluate your site’s traffic.
14.Yahoo! Marketing DashboardA lot of people don’t know about this, but Yahoo! Marketing Dashboard is actually a very helpful web analytics tool.
15.Grape Web StatisticsGrape is a free program (open source) that gives you an accurate statistics of website referrers and number of visitors. It is made primarily for web developers. It is a fantastic option for anyone who finds Google analytics to be overwhelming. Grape is fairly simple and offers the basic metrics, although if you are a PHP developer or adept with HTML you would be able to customize this software to meet your own needs.
16.AT Internet: Web AnalyticsAT Internet is an advanced analytics tool designed to make it easy for Webmasters to analyze and measure their website’s data.
17.IBM Unica NetInsightIBM’s web analytics tool enables analysts to collect all the data they need to understand their website’s traffic in a very simple way. It is considered a very advanced tool that allows companies to conduct website analysis on internal products behind their firewalls.
18.SiteCatalyst
SiteCatalyst is an excellent alternative to Google Analytics, albeit, quite pricey.
SiteCatalyst is an excellent alternative to Google Analytics, albeit, quite pricey.
19.Coremetrics
Coremetrics is a web analytics tool now owned by IBM and is often being used by e-commerce websites. Its easy to use interface provides detailed statistical data that can be customized to meet the options of any business.
Coremetrics is a web analytics tool now owned by IBM and is often being used by e-commerce websites. Its easy to use interface provides detailed statistical data that can be customized to meet the options of any business.
20.Webtrends Analytics
Webtrends is a hosted web analyzer that’s available in multiple editions, depending on your requirements and needs. It was started in 1993 when most people were more interested in adding content that tracking what their visitors were actually reading. Webtrends was the first company that ever offered a web analytics tool, and they have provided their services to several influential corporations like Coca Cola, Toyota, Microsoft and The New York Times.
Webtrends is a hosted web analyzer that’s available in multiple editions, depending on your requirements and needs. It was started in 1993 when most people were more interested in adding content that tracking what their visitors were actually reading. Webtrends was the first company that ever offered a web analytics tool, and they have provided their services to several influential corporations like Coca Cola, Toyota, Microsoft and The New York Times.
21.Open Web Analytics
OWA is a downloadable application and is essentially the open source community’s answer to Google Analytics. It is self-hosted, and for wordpress users there is a plug-in available. This tool can be used to track more than one website. For a free tool, OWA is filled with features. It offers stat filters and heat maps.
OWA is a downloadable application and is essentially the open source community’s answer to Google Analytics. It is self-hosted, and for wordpress users there is a plug-in available. This tool can be used to track more than one website. For a free tool, OWA is filled with features. It offers stat filters and heat maps.
22.FireStatsFireStats is a web statistics system that gives you a convenient way to track your visitors’ activities.
23.HistatsHistats is a free web statistics tool and stat counter to help you track your website visitors down to which pages they are visiting and where they are coming from. It also provides logs that webmasters can use to compare campaign stats.
24.Site MeterSite Meter is also a free web counter that can be customized based on your specific requirements.
25.AWStats
AWStats is considered to be one of the most amazing web analysis tools on the Web that will analyze log files coming from services such as HTTP, FTP servers and streaming media. Their main interface consists of a single page that is divided into different sections, each providing a summary of statistical data. These include daily visits, list of referrers, search terms etc. These stats are automatically updated on a daily basis. It gives you the option of viewing a month by month traffic report, or you could also view the annual statistics.
AWStats is considered to be one of the most amazing web analysis tools on the Web that will analyze log files coming from services such as HTTP, FTP servers and streaming media. Their main interface consists of a single page that is divided into different sections, each providing a summary of statistical data. These include daily visits, list of referrers, search terms etc. These stats are automatically updated on a daily basis. It gives you the option of viewing a month by month traffic report, or you could also view the annual statistics.
AWStats defines a visitor on the basis of the user agent and IP address. If someone visits your website with a user agent, for example Google Chrome, and has an IP address, it will be counted as a unique visitor. On the other hand, if the user agent is a robot, such as GoogleBot, it will not be counted as a visitor.
26.Webalizer
Webalizer is a very basic self-hosted server side analyzer that can give you a very detailed and easy to understand data in HTML format. Its main page consists of a graph summary and a monthly stats table with links to more detailed information about each category of information. Information about the browser used, referrers, pages accessed, keywords and visitor information based on hour, day, month and year is available. The information is presented in a way to make the process of integrating data onto a spreadsheet, easy.
Webalizer is a very basic self-hosted server side analyzer that can give you a very detailed and easy to understand data in HTML format. Its main page consists of a graph summary and a monthly stats table with links to more detailed information about each category of information. Information about the browser used, referrers, pages accessed, keywords and visitor information based on hour, day, month and year is available. The information is presented in a way to make the process of integrating data onto a spreadsheet, easy.
27.StatCounter
StatCounter is a reliable and powerful web tracker that is customizable based on your data requirements. It is different from other applications that offer server side statistics in that it requires you to integrate a special code right into your website to gather info about your visitors.
StatCounter is a reliable and powerful web tracker that is customizable based on your data requirements. It is different from other applications that offer server side statistics in that it requires you to integrate a special code right into your website to gather info about your visitors.
28.BBCloneBBClone is a “web counter on steroids”—at least that’s what its developers say. It can give you information regarding your visitors’ OS, IP address, the browser they are using, as well as when, where and what time they visited. You just need to download the script so you can get real time data for your website.
29.Piwik
Piwik is an open-source tool that runs on PHP and MySQL.
Piwik is an open-source tool that runs on PHP and MySQL.
30.Stuffed TrackerThis is an old downloadable web traffic analysis program that helps you monitor your website traffic. It has a unique set of tools that will gather your web stats and analyze your visitors’ behavior.
31.CloudFlare
The reason that I say it is somewhat different is because it places emphasis on the security and CDN services it can provide, as a complement to the analytics set.
It seems to be an overall strong addition to any site, even the free package, as it promotes itself as a product that scans sites for security, utilizes technology to improve site speed, and gives you an insight on your visitors with analytics.
I can’t say the analytics are totally different from some of the more established sites discussed above, but I’m impressed with the overall package of CloudFlare, and wanted to include it here for you to check out. The site is currently in beta, so try it, and if doesn’t work for you, move on.
32.Church Analytics
Created by one of the original developers of the Standard Theme Framework (which I use on my blog at Sophistefunk.com), this analytics tool has one of the most beautiful interfaces that I’ve seen.
Priding itself on providing the information you really need without the vanity data that won’t help your site, Church Analytics is a relatively new competitor on the scene, but from what I’ve seen when I was using on my music blog, it is definitely a solid system built by people who know what they are doing.
I like that the navigation (in the dashboard) is really easy to follow, it is important for a new analytics system to be easy to use, as those who might be willing to try it out need to be won over quickly, given the numerous great options out there.
33.CrazyEgg
CrazyEgg is another company from Neil Patel (current KISSmetrics co-owner) and offers a lot of visual ways to see how people are navigating on your site.
This tool offers a few “maps” from which you can choose to see how you visitors are browsing:
So there you have it—a list of Google Analytics alternatives that you can use to check your website’s stats. Obviously, Google Analytics is still the most popular website analytics tool out there, and no one’s going to argue with that. However, there’s nothing wrong with using Google Analytics alongside other tools that may serve to enhance its features and as a result, give you all the data you could possibly need to ensure that your website will reach its maximum potential. If you have the budget, I strongly suggest you go for premium tools that have all the features and metrics, which your website needs. That is not to say that free analytics tool are no good—Google Analytics is a testament of how useful some of them can be. However, if you want more customized features, you may need to look into analytics tools that meet your requirements.
If you’ve used any or some of the Google Analytics alternatives mentioned above, do share your experience. I’d love to hear your opinions and comments.
