Overview of Analytics vs Awstats
When checking your monthly web reports, many will notice a discrepancy in Google Analytics' numbers and those generated by Awstats (the web-based Web Stats available to our clients--if you are a client of ours and are unsure how to access your Awstats, please contact us and we will be happy to show you).
So what gives, why are the stats different?
Well, it's because Google Analytics and Awstats generate their statistics differently. Here is a brief overview of how each tool generates and logs visits to your website and you can decide which tool(s) is right for you.
Awstats records visits based on the server's logfile.
Every new visit is recorded by the server to a logfile which Awstats reads. One downside to this method is, webcrawlers and other automated bots are also counted in your stats when they crawl your site. This can vastly skew your page-views per user. Also, returning visitors that have web-caching enabled on their web browser (most people) will instead view a local copy of your web page from cache. Therefore, the web server will not be sent a request for the file and no update to the logfile, thus no stat increase.
Google Analytics records visits based on page tagging
As you may know, Analytics are setup by appending a small snippet of javascript to every web page that you want to be tracked. This javascript acts as a browser session cookie. The benefit of this is that every load will be tracked even if loaded from the browser's cache. Things to note with Analytics are:
Well, there's no doubt that Google Analytics has the upper-hand in visual appeal with its beautiful and intuitive user interface. Awstats has the advantage in technical data available. Like in all other areas, you can choose which tool is best for you based on your intentions. Marketing folks generally won't be concerned about a Yahoo bot at 3 a.m., but instead focus on tracking conversions which is one of Google Analytics' main strengths. Webmasters on the other hand, might not need to know how successful a landing page was in selling blue sprockets over red ones, and instead rely on traffic sources, an area better suited for Awstats. However, some of you will want all the information you can get, so, for those of you like me, it's a good idea to use both. Google Analytics may be more attractive and perhaps even more accurate in measuring true visitor counts, but Awstats will let you keep an eye on how search engine bots, or even spam attacks are navigating your site.
Happy tracking!
For more interesting reading on Google Analytics vs Awstats, goto: http://www.webmasterworld.com/analytics/3227679.htm
So what gives, why are the stats different?
Well, it's because Google Analytics and Awstats generate their statistics differently. Here is a brief overview of how each tool generates and logs visits to your website and you can decide which tool(s) is right for you.
Awstats records visits based on the server's logfile.
Every new visit is recorded by the server to a logfile which Awstats reads. One downside to this method is, webcrawlers and other automated bots are also counted in your stats when they crawl your site. This can vastly skew your page-views per user. Also, returning visitors that have web-caching enabled on their web browser (most people) will instead view a local copy of your web page from cache. Therefore, the web server will not be sent a request for the file and no update to the logfile, thus no stat increase.
Google Analytics records visits based on page tagging
As you may know, Analytics are setup by appending a small snippet of javascript to every web page that you want to be tracked. This javascript acts as a browser session cookie. The benefit of this is that every load will be tracked even if loaded from the browser's cache. Things to note with Analytics are:
- Users with javascript or cookie collection disabled will be invisible to your web count
- Webcrawler and bot activity are not tracked since they cannot run javascript
- Sometimes slows page load
Well, there's no doubt that Google Analytics has the upper-hand in visual appeal with its beautiful and intuitive user interface. Awstats has the advantage in technical data available. Like in all other areas, you can choose which tool is best for you based on your intentions. Marketing folks generally won't be concerned about a Yahoo bot at 3 a.m., but instead focus on tracking conversions which is one of Google Analytics' main strengths. Webmasters on the other hand, might not need to know how successful a landing page was in selling blue sprockets over red ones, and instead rely on traffic sources, an area better suited for Awstats. However, some of you will want all the information you can get, so, for those of you like me, it's a good idea to use both. Google Analytics may be more attractive and perhaps even more accurate in measuring true visitor counts, but Awstats will let you keep an eye on how search engine bots, or even spam attacks are navigating your site.
Happy tracking!
For more interesting reading on Google Analytics vs Awstats, goto: http://www.webmasterworld.com/analytics/3227679.htm
Labels: awstats, google analytics, tracking, web stats
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