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The following is a basic list of resources available for those who are starting to get their feet wet with Web Analytics.
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Contact us to find out more about Web Analytics and the rest of the Web Ecosystem.
The Web Analytics Association was founded at the end of 2004 to further the knowledge and culture of Web Analytics. It's members include vendors, educators and consultants active in the field of Web Analytics.
The Web Analytics Association and the University of British Columbia have produced the first known Web Analytics course. Antezeta participated as a course instructor. Our lecture, The Fundamentals of Merit-based Search Engine Optimization Measurement, is available (full article requires registration).
Standard website measures are usually captured in one of two ways. The first is to use software to analyze a site's web server log file data. This is called web log analysis. It requires proper configuration of the web server and associated web log analysis software. The second approach is to insert tags into website pages. Each time a page is read by a visitor connected to the Internet, information is sent to an ASP which tracks and reports on this data for the website.
Web log analysis generally captures more data than embedded tag solutions. Vendors of embedded tag solutions tout that they capture only human traffic; while it is important to filter non-human traffic when preparing marketing reports, it is equally important to know what search engine robots were visiting a site and what they did while they were there. Web log analysis also capture other useful data such as file downloads (.doc, .pdf...) and quality of service data – partial downloads, files not found, server error. Embedded tag solutions require tracking tags to be properly added to every page. Forget to add tags = no reports. Web log analysis is server resource intensive – log files get very big very quickly. Embedded tag solutions are a practical way to outsource this very real problem.
We list a few of the more popular solutions below. The right choice will depend on a series of factors including an organization's size, its type of business or service, and the profile of internal human resources available to utilize the Web Analytics solution. Terry Lund maintains a list Web Analytics Solutions, both commercial and open source. 133 entries (updated January 24, 2005)
Open Source tools offer low barriers to entry – no approvals, RFPs nor purchase orders are required. They can be extremely useful as a learning tool, helping organizations clarify Web Analytics fundamentals before considering a commitment to a full-feature commercial product.
While no match for their commercial counterparts, several open source clickstream (path) analysis solutions are emerging. We have written rudimentary StatViz and Pathalizer installation and configuration instructions.
Commercial tools generally offer improved visitor recognition, path (click stream) analysis and easier to interpret reports. The following vendors generally offer both standalone web log analysis solutions as well as embedded tag solutions. Most vendors offer demonstration versions available for download.
These are page tag only solutions.
Let Antezeta help you in the selection, implementation and usage of a Web Analytics solution!
Contact us to find out more about this topic and the rest of the Web Ecosystem.
