Do you trust Google Analytics?

13 years ago

Try Piwik. It's self hosted. I do see different results between Awstats, Google Analytics, and Piwik. I like to track my most important sites with several tracking methods in order to get a better overview and check what works. Then I cut it down to 1 only

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imagetypers

12 years ago

Originally Posted by PabloVTB

Try Piwik. It's self hosted. I do see different results between Awstats, Google Analytics, and Piwik. I like to track my most important sites with several tracking methods in order to get a better overview and check what works. Then I cut it down to 1 only

Yes, I think its the best way to do it.

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indiatext

13 years ago

I personally trust aw stats more than any other statistics tool available on the internet.

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KingOfContentMarketing 13 years ago

I think Google Analytics has gotten a lot better in the past year. Still, it is always lower than my AWstats by a decent margin (depending on the site). GA works with cookies and AWstats uses log files. Even with filtering out web crawlers AWstats is higher on average.

I like the presentation of data on GA but I'd love to see what another analytics software package shows to see the difference.
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- alexdigital 13 years ago
  
  Analytics will always be under your Awstats because it uses cookies and java script - which not everyone accepts/runs. Should be pretty close though.
  
  Awstats is server log files so everyone is tracked.
  
  You should be looking for trends from analytics anyway - not exact numbers.
  
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- dalibor 13 years ago
  
  True,same opinion here,my awstats traffic is also higher,but i guess GA is good,i use it also and it is great for more info about traffic that you get
  
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jasonthewebmaster Banned 13 years ago

Originally Posted by indiatext

I personally trust aw stats more than any other statistics tool available on the internet.

SAME HERE!

I have NEVER seen google analytics be as accurate as AWStats, and I host and manage over 100 websites.

I still use google analytics for certain things, but if you want the true unique visitor count, true hit counts, and more in-depth server side stats then you can only trust a server-side stats program.

Always trust your server stats over any outside stats program.. that's just common sense.
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- whyfrown 13 years ago
  
  Thanks for all your help guys! I understand that GA shows less traffic then all others because they account for crawlers and bots Thanks
  
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Alex Williams

13 years ago

I use Google analytics just because they have more functionality than others: I especially like the ability to setup "goals" and see which traffic source converts best.

I do not look too much at the traffic numbers though... just a brief overview is enough for me, this is why I don`t spend time comparing to others

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einfohound

13 years ago

I would second the vote for Piwik. I use it on all my sites and am very happy with it. I don't like the fact that, with GA, the Big G know every site you have and can track everything about them.

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Karan Goel

13 years ago

I use these two things:

Google Analytics
StatPress (for my WP sites)

Now, I see that sometimes, StatPress shows 10x traffic than the former. But still, I prefer to check my GA more than SP, and I trust it more, too.

Karan

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Tim Franklin

13 years ago

Good question, I use logs, GA, and other impression methods, they are all different, which leaves you wondering just which one is the most accurate, I tend to trust the logs better, because I can see IP addresses, browser, machine, entrance exit, and over all they just are much more accurate than the data I am seeing on GA, as well adsense shows a third pattern of impressions that is oddly even less accurate.

You can learn a lot by just looking at your log files, (hint)

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clever7

13 years ago

I use Statcounter and I love it because I have real time statistics. Google Analytics works well but sometimes there are certain mistakes that prevent its functioning. My third website’s statistics are never correct there… I use both, but I love Statcounter which is far superior. It gives me more information and real time statistics, and in a very clear form.

You’ll love Statcounter too. It’s free; you only have to put their code at your website.

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dipenmehta 13 years ago

google is more confident than any other search engine. and i think google analytic is generate good reports than any other site.
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Sarah Russell

13 years ago

I like the tools Google Analytics offers, but it does have it's limitations (not the least of which is having all your data right there for Google to look at!). I use it, though, along with AWStats and hope for the best.

One thing - if you're building a site that you plan to flip, be aware that most buyers are going to want to see GA data instead of AWStats...

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vishalduggal

13 years ago

Google Analytics works on JavaScript. So if someone has disabled his JavaScript in browser then Google Analytics can't recognize her/him.

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Christina Jo

13 years ago

I use google analytics and I think the reports they give are more than enough .. i guess I just anything that has google name on it

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kianhowe

13 years ago

It is not totally accurate but it is definitely the best free analytics tool out there. For me, its stats are more or less accurate compared to other analytics tool I use.

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William King

13 years ago

To analyze the traffic then web analytics is may be not a very good tool. But, to see how your website is performing on the web, what are the visitors trends, how much time they spend on your website and on which page than surely their is nothing much better than Google Analytics. It gives you a very good idea about the parts on which you need to do work and what factors of your site are going well.

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kevinfelixlee 13 years ago

You have no choice

sometimes we can only trust it.
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- jacked 13 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by kevinfelixlee
  
  You have no choice
  
  sometimes we can only trust it.
  
  Yea this, I sell most of my sites so it is a must for me.
  
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ericsimmon

13 years ago

Yes, absolutely its the best analytic tool.

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iobeek

13 years ago

I am really falling in love with Piwik and Visitors

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seoservices1

13 years ago

Hi Dear

Yes, absolutely its the best analytic tool. This look at Unique Visitors and search engine.

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simonbuzz

Banned 13 years ago

I use Getclicky.com and it is the best + it shows real time result which is a good thing...

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ayushiinfo

13 years ago

i am also having same question,,,,,

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seoservices1

13 years ago

Hello Gays

Yes Of course I Can Trust Google analytics Because It gives you a very good idea about the parts on which you need to do work and what factors of your site are going well.

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corsleymaxwell

13 years ago

Well of course because even if you will not, we can do nothing. Google is in control of everything in the internet world.

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WealthWithin

13 years ago

Google Analytics (or any other client side) tracking software will report lower numbers compared to server side tracking software.

I use Google Analytics all the time. It gives you more insight to your user trends compared to any other server side tracking tool.

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jhonandi

13 years ago

Google analyst only shown your home page stat. it is not shown a collective stat like a host gator control panel.

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Natlex

13 years ago

Analytics has REALLY good information, especially if you have adsense. However, the downside is someone can know your entire network of site that uses the same analytics email account...

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alonza513

13 years ago

I guess it could be, I suggest that that you don’t share your data with unknown member, how many privacy policies state we wouldn’t share user data then we stick on Google Analytics.

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jessyjose123

13 years ago

Yes my friend, why doubt in that

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rhrayan

13 years ago

yes,i trust in google analytics.

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datewali

13 years ago

i think google analyticas is best. but sumtime i feel that it is not working good i have no idea for any other analytics

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credasys

13 years ago

Yes, I trust Google analytics as it's also accurate tool in tracking our site statistics.

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ayushiinfo

13 years ago

i did not use google analytic tool .....

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Tim Franklin

13 years ago

Yes, sadly it is true Google Analytics only serves one Master and it is not you.

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StoneWilson

13 years ago

I don't really care about data besides UV and PV and Sales, so most of the time I just use Google Analytic to find more potensial keywords, I don't really understand why focus on data, you spend hours watching graph can bring you more sale or what?

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machej

13 years ago

I find it can be a bit off. Sometimes it doesn't count iframe traffic and traffic on the site for a few seconds. Also a lot of people have adblock plus that blocks it.

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brookeswebs 13 years ago

Hey guys I am using Google analytic for the last 2 or more years .It always give me accurate analysis in each category whether it is unique visitors or some thing else. I always found it reliable.
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PabloVTB

13 years ago

I also have found that data differs from different traffic analytic programs. Your best bet is to use more than one if you want the whole data, I guess

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credasys

13 years ago

Originally Posted by whyfrown

Hey there,
do you use analytics? because the stats that they provide and those that my hosting service hostgator provides are really different. But they provide very detailed information which compels me to trust them more. Do you know a better tool? Or why theres a difference? Thanks

It's normal that you can see different result because they are using different algorithms in tracking your site statistics.

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lianab11 13 years ago

I noticed different results in other traffic analyzers, but I still trust Google.
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- Tim Franklin 13 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by lianab11
  
  I noticed different results in other traffic analyzers, but I still trust Google.
  
  Can I ask (without offending you) why you trust GA, it is a free service and most of the data that google collects you never even see just curious why you trust them?
  
  here is just one example, using Webalizer, you can see by the screen shot below, that this website gets some decent traffic,
  
  Now lets have a look at what Google Analytics shows for the same period of time.
  
  And this is really quite shocking, not only from the point of view of what should be a very productive tool, but it should also indicate that if you are using adsense and you are not seeing the traffic that you are actually receiving are you getting credit for clicks?
  
  Think about that for a few seconds.
  
  So if I trust Google Analytics, then this website has only received, 21 website visitors, but even if the server logs are totally messed up beyond reason, there is no way that this much diversity could exist, which brings up the question of how accurate is Google Analytics in the first place?
  
  Do they only record certain types of websites visitors, or do they only count one IP address per ISP, one for bellsouth, one for ATT, one for some other podunk ISP, is this some kind of indication of how GA actually counts visitors?
  
  The question here is this, if you are not seeing all the data that GA receives and counts, then what are they doing with all that data?
  
  Think about that for a few minutes, obviously the price is right, but I question just how much stock that as a consumer and user we can actually put into GA at this point, it appears that they are some how measuring traffic in a different way than they did in the past which means that your websites, ranking might be somewhat different than they show it to be.
  
  Something to consider.
  
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ThorstenSchultz

13 years ago

Well I guess it could be, I suggest that that you don’t share your data with anyone, how many privacy policies state we wouldn’t share user data then we stick on Google Analytics, a few ad servers etc etc, aren’t you really sharing your users data. I guess this is why in the UK they are trying to pass Laws on IP tracking..

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StudioArtha 13 years ago

I also suggest Piwik. It is free, really easy to setup and use, and does not appear to have any significant performance impact on sites.

Look for it under CPanel >> SimpleScripts >> Piwik.

Good Luck.
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xaimgenesis

12 years ago

yeah google analytic is exact and its best i really do like it

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patco

12 years ago

Yeah, this project can help you a lot!

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UMS

12 years ago

If you want something that looks very much like Google Analytics, but is open source, check out:

Open Web Analytics

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patco

12 years ago

UMS, is there a limit using Open Web Analytics?

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UMS 12 years ago

Originally Posted by patco

UMS, is there a limit using Open Web Analytics?

Just the limit of your server hosting and database limits (same applies to Piwik and any other similar reporting software that require resources on your site)
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wendywond

12 years ago

Google analytics definitely helps me to decide what targeted keywords you need to focus on. I'm contented using it. Without the help of this tool you cannot manage your seo strategy properly.