AW Stats vs Google Analytics
-
Hey Moz Community,
I am looking to get opinions on the best practice for analytics/traffic analysis. From experience I know that AW Stats reads high and Google Analytics reads low for traffic for reason in this article http://www.smartz.com/blog/2009/01/23/analytic-confusion-%E2%80%93-awstats-vs-google-analytics/
It drives me a little nuts how far off both are for some pages. I have one article that shows 100 views (GA) and AW stats shows 5 times that number of views.
Any suggestions or systems you recommend? Thanks
-
I did a major overall on all my sites to the new tracking in July 2011. However, I'm not sure when the new tracking was released. Definitely in 2011.
-
Also you have to tell AW stats what types of file counts as a page view. For instance I had to be sure my IT guys told it to not count flash files as pageviews as the flash file we had on the home page at the time was doubling the numbers of views when someone hit the home page
-
Kyle do you mean a couple months ago as in February or so? I dont think the placement has changed since then eh?
-
As far as I can tell the tracker is placed properly..I think the diff is AW gives false counts for images loads as multiple page loads.
-
Thanks for the considered response Charles; good point about focusing on actual traffic increase vs. getting wrapped up in total accuracy.
-
Hands down I use GA much more than AW Stats.
AW Stats has it's place, but the segmentation of users, user defined variables, events, goal tracking, and e-commerce tracking all tied up with adwords data easily trumps AW Stats.
AW Stats is great for getting info on bots, 404 errors, bandwidth usage, and hits, but these are used more for diagnosis and less for business level decisions.
Also, the variations you are talking about between the two rarely matter unless you think the variation is due to large portions of your traffic not being tracked correctly by one or the other.
The reason why I say these variations don't matter is that both methods of tracking have their quirks, and what you are really using them for is to see the trending of the data.
As long as you know the data is as accurate as you can get it, and you know how/why you are getting the data you are getting, then that data becomes actionable based on the trends you see and not based on the explicit value of the number.
As an example lets say I see in GA 1,000 visitors this month, and 1,200 visitors next month, and I see in AW Stats 10,300 visitors and 12,500 visitors. I care less about the differences in the numbers in the systems and more about the 20% growth in that statistic. Considering I can find out the "why" easier and with more clarity in GA I usually don't even look at AW Stats for this type of data.
I also might take a look at AW stats when first setting up analytics to be sure it looks like key indicators are showing similar trends so I know I am not missing a huge chunk of the site or something similar.
-
Perhaps the GA code isn't executing in time? Do you have a slow loading page? Where is the GA tracking code placed within your page?
The numbers shouldn't be that far off, that's for sure.
-
I always go with what Adwords says in regards to clicks. That number will be recorded no matter what user level settings are. In regards to when someone navigates to your site there are many softwares and browser settings that can be done to defer or disable analytics tracking.
Edit: disregard my post - i miss read and thought you where talking about Adwords vs Analytics results not Analytics vs AWStats. THB brought up a good point in regards to load time. A couple months ago analytics came out with a new tracking code that goes in the of the document as well that way it gets called first rather than last.
Good luck! - Kyle
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
What is Local SEO in Google Analytics (Organic Source)
Recently, I saw "Local SEO" is mentioned as the organic source. Can someone please tell what is this and from where Google is fetching data for this source?
Reporting & Analytics | | Kevin.Monks0 -
Universal Google analytics e-commerce tracking code?
Hi Mozzers, I have never setup a universal google analytics e-commerce tracking code before and my concern is what exactly do I need to add on the cart thank you page? Can someone send me a sample of code I need to be adding? What kind of customization does it require? The more details you can provide the better! Thanks!
Reporting & Analytics | | Ideas-Money-Art0 -
Apple.com showing in Google Analytics "My Top Active Pages" - Why?
Hi Mozzers This has more than likely been asked before but my searches have left me empty handed so I have asked on here ( sorry! ) Please see attached screenshot, do you have any idea why apple.com is showing in my top pages? I'm just curious more than anything as this isn't the first time I've noticed it. Anybody know? Happy Friday people, cheers Jamie CiTCA5b.png
Reporting & Analytics | | SanjidaKazi1 -
Google Analytics
Looking at a client's analytics - one page doesn't seem to record 'average time on page' data (it just displays 0.00 despite it receiving traffic) This isn't an issue for the rest of the website's pages. Any idea? http://www.smilestyledental.co.uk/ppc/general-dentistry-at-smile-style.html thanks for any help!
Reporting & Analytics | | dentaldesign0 -
Referral Traffic vs. Campaign Traffic in Google Analytics
I have two sites: a blog and an ecommerce site. The blog funnels people to the ecommerce site. In Analytics I'm seeing declines in referral traffic from the blog to the ecommerce site. During the same time I'm seeing an increase in campaign traffic to the ecommerce site, with most campaign traffic coming from the blog. I believe the increase in campaign traffic is largely a result of simply having installed more tracking links. This leads me to believe that the declines I'm seeing in referral traffic is simply a result of the increase in campaign traffic. In other words, what was once counted and reported as being referral traffic is now being counted and reported as campaign traffic. So my question is this: In Google Analytics is campaign traffic ALSO reported as referral traffic, or is campaign traffic reported separately and not duplicated in referral traffic reports? I'll provide a concrete example to make this more clear in case it isn't: Say site X sends 1000 visits each month to site Y. Say 50 of those visits come from a single link on X. If that link is changed so that campaign Z data info added (via the Google URL Builder), would you expect to then see 950 referral visits each month from site X to site Y plus 50 campaign visits to site Y via new campaign Z, or would you continue to see 1000 referral visits plus the new 50 campaign visits? Many thanks in advance to anyone that can shed some light on this.
Reporting & Analytics | | aaronprimal0 -
Google Analytics Showing Inflated Product Revenue
Hi- For the month of Feb on two of our sites we are seeing inflated product revenues. I have not seen this before and I am not having any luck searching for answers. Here is the issue: Product B sells for $159.95 For the month of Feb we sold 3 thus revenue should be ~$479.85 GA is showing Product B's revenue at $3,360.00 I read online that sometimes folks will bookmark the receipt page and that can cause this and we would need to put a catch in place for this but I am guessing this is not the case as it is happening on two sites. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Reporting & Analytics | | K2_Sports0 -
Google Analytics Campaigns
I need the help of a smart Mozzer. In Google Analytics: Traffic Sources>Sources>Campaigns all the results shown are from RSS. Can anyone help me with why RSS results would be displayed in Campaigns?
Reporting & Analytics | | waynekolenchuk0 -
X2 Google Analytics affect page rank ?
Hi there, If you had 2 Google Analytics Accounts one to the main site and another to the blog, could this affect the page position in Google? We've suddenly noticed a drop in our KWs and it was shortly after we added another Google Analytics Account. The blog has 68% Bounce rate and the main site has always been about 48%. Any help would be much appreciated. Many thanks Paul
Reporting & Analytics | | webdesigncwd0