Google Analytics stats are rarely accurate from Twitter hits

[kckaz]

Whenever I do a tweet, I can get 20-30 hits to my web page according to the URL shortening service (I use tr.im your URLs). However, Google Analytics reports only about 10% of these hits. Many times my affiliate stats at various CPA networks report lower stats too. Any idea why?

I know the hits all happen pretty much immediately and simultaneously after a twitter post. Wondering if counts get lost in the sudden surge.

Kind of scary to think how many commissions we all could be missing if others experience the same issue.

[Steven Carl Kelly]

Google Analytics stats are not 100% accurate for any kind of traffic at all. For true stats, you should consult your server logs. While I like GA and use it on my sites, it is useful for a quick overview and volume comparisons but not for true, exact statistics.

For example, when I read your post I went and pulled GA and server stats for one of my student's sites that we've been working on this month. So far for June:

GA reports approximately 63,300 pageviews while the server stats show over 330,000. GA shows approximately 14,400 unique visitors and server stats show over 30,000.

ETA: Server stats aren't accurate either, in the sense that server stats capture ALL traffic, including non-human or mechanical traffic.

[EfitnessNYC]

Originally Posted by Steven Carl Kelly

Google Analytics stats are not 100% accurate for any kind of traffic at all. For true stats, you should consult your server logs. While I like GA and use it on my sites, it is useful for a quick overview and volume comparisons but not for true, exact statistics.

For example, when I read your post I went and pulled GA and server stats for one of my student's sites that we've been working on this month. So far for June:

GA reports approximately 63,300 pageviews while the server stats show over 330,000. GA shows approximately 14,400 unique visitors and server stats show over 30,000.

ETA: Server stats aren't accurate either, in the sense that server stats capture ALL traffic, including non-human or mechanical traffic.

Sorry for a silly question but is that awstat feature in my control panel for my host more accurate that google stats? if so, I just learned something!

[Steven Carl Kelly]

Originally Posted by EfitnessNYC

Sorry for a silly question but is that awstat feature in my control panel for my host more accurate that google stats? if so, I just learned something!

It depends on what you consider "accurate". The awstats in your control panel will count every single pageview and every single visit, even if those visitors are mechanically crawling your site and not actually humans visiting for your intended purpose. If configured normally, your server logs will also count pages when you do your site administration (for instance, if you're configuring WordPress or posting a new blog entry or testing or whatever).

GA will only count pages on which the GA code is included. GA will miss users who have Javascript turned off or are using some form of software which may block off-site Javascript from loading.

So you see, truly "accurate" stats fall somewhere in the middle between the two: server stats and GA. I use both. GA for a quick overview and for things like Adsense tracking and I use server stats for in-depth analysis.

[Lloyd Buchinski]

Originally Posted by Steven Carl Kelly

ETA: Server stats aren't accurate either, in the sense that server stats capture ALL traffic, including non-human or mechanical traffic.

Well at least with the DirectAdmin control panel they separate the 2 sets of stats. You have the numbers for human visitors, and for robots etc., and there sure are a lot of them.

What control panel are you using that doesn't separate them?

Darn edit wasn't working last night and I didn't want to bump the thread up to the top with hardly any new info. AW stats might vary a bit between hosts but at least on mine (hostpc.com) you get a surprising amount of info. I put up an mp3 file lately and was wondering if there was a way to know how many times it was accessed. Sure enough toward the bottom of the AW page there are the files separated by category, and then the bandwidth and number of times for each type.