StatsPro v. LogFile Analyzers - different technologies

Are all web site statistical reports created equal? Log Analyzers and Real-Time Statistics reports track site activity in very different ways. As a result, they collect different information and may not always match. For example, real-time stats are much better at tracking unique visitors and give a much more accurate page view count. Gaining a greater understanding of how these systems track and report stats will help you better reconcile the difference between the two techniques. Also, by understanding the differences you will be in a better position to interpret the results and make more effective decisions about your business.

Log File Analyzer

Your internet servers create a record of the traffic and information requests in log files. These log files include information on errors, processing time, bandwidth used, visitor IP address, where visitors came from (referred) along with additional information such as operating system or browser used. Website statistics that use log data typically install on a server behind your firewall and read your log files on a periodic basis. They interpret the data and provide a snapshot report in a readable format of the information contained in your log file.

Real Time Statistics

Another method of analyzing your web site activity is to update an optimized reporting database each time a visitor comes to your site. This method requires you to place a small JavaScript on every web page that is to be tracked. This code is invisible to your as visitors surf your site the code places a cookie on their computer so they are tracked as unique. Within seconds of placing this code on your site information about your visitors is written out to a database and instantly available for reporting. Because the database is optimized for reporting information such what marketing campaign referred the visitor or what their order value is can now be captured. Because the data is real-time you do not have to wait for a snapshot report.

How to reconcile the results from a Log Analyzer to Real-Time Stats reports.

If you have significant differences between your Real-Time Statistics and your Log Analyzer you may want to use the following check list to ensure you are getting the best quality of information.

• Verify that all of you web pages you want tracked include the tracking script: Many webmasters place the JavaScript tracking script in a common “header” or “footer” area of their website. By including the script in a common area it is referenced on all pages of your website. It the script is not included the page will not be tracked.
  
  
• Verify any site activity that may be non-HTML related such as display of graphics or downloads: a log analyzer will track this activity as hits. Your real-time statistics will only track these if there is an associated webpage that includes the JavaScript tracking script.
  
  
• Remaining differences may be caused by the following:

(a) User sessions from a log analyzer are tracked by IP address vs. the unique cookie tracked by the real–time statistics product. As a result a returning visitor with a refreshed IP address may be tracked as a new user by the log analyzer vs. a returning user based on their cookie. (Note: if your visitor does not accept cookies they will not be tracked by most real-time stats packages).


(b) Partially loaded pages, error pages or those pages stopped by the visitor may not get tracked by the real-time stats package.