Comparing Different Website Statistics Tools

Once you have developed your website and have it hosted online for the world to see it is a good idea to keep track of all of your efforts. It is beneficial to know how many visitors you are getting to your site and where they are coming from and what they are doing once they get to your site. In order to keep track of your website visitors you will need to use website statistics tools. There are several different types of website stats tools available ranging from free to paid tools. Deciding on which solution is best for you is dependent on two main factors:

  • Features that you require.
  • Price (free or paid).

Often times you are not sure of the features that you really need. Most of the paid tools offer so many features that you probably don’t need them if you just want to keep track of “hits” on a basic site. If you are using paid advertising and/or have an e-commerce site then you probably want business web statistics in order to keep track of every visitor that you get and what the best ROI (Return On Investment) you are getting for each advertising effort.

We have compiled a list of some of the most popular website statistic tools available.

Google Analytics (Visit Google Analytics)
Google Analytics is one of the most popular website analytics tools available and it is still FREE! It has lots of tracking tools that some of the other vendors charge for.

  • Pros: One of the best free online stats tools available; easy integration with Google Adwords if you are using their Pay Per Click advertising system.
  • Cons: Not real-time stats (delayed by several hours); Some users are leery about giving too much info to Google.


Clicky (Visit Clicky)
Clicky is one of the better paid services that is very affordable. Their packages offer some really impressive stats that are fairly unique. For example, you can track outbound links; you can track customized data for each user; you can view your most popular data in tag clouds which makes it easy to view stats at a glance. You can even white label their product and resell it and offer an affiliate program as well. If you are looking to track website stats with lots of features at an attractive price then Clicky is highly recommended.

  • Pros: Lots of features at a very affordable price. When of the best paid stats tools available. They even offer a free plan. Realtime web statistics. RSS feeds of your stats (if you are a stat junkie). Widgets and plugins that you can use or install on your site or a widget friendly site like NetVibes or iGoogle.
  • Cons: Free version doesn’t have as many features as some other free stats tools.


Mint (Visit Mint)
Some stats programs are so complex they are hard to navigate and understand. Mint offers a web statistics tool with a simplified the user interface and a very user-friendly dashboard in order to read your web site traffic statistics. But this doesn’t mean it isn’t full featured. One of the really nice things about Mint that sets it apart from the others is that their tool allows it to be extensible with several different ways of presenting your stats. They have lots of extensions called “Pepper”. These plugins offer official and community developed extensions that allow you get as much data out of your stats as possible.

  • Pros: Very simple and clean interface. Only $30 one-time fee per site.
  • Cons: Not a hosted solution so you need to make sure your host can handle the requirements for installation (php/MySQL). Not as many features in the basic installation. With the use of plugins you can probably get a lot more features but it will take some tweaking.


W3Counter (Visit W3Counter)
The analytics software from W3Counter offers a free service that allows you to track one website that gets up to 5,000 page views per day. Their “Pro” or paid plan is only $9.95 per month and you get access to lots more data. Offer your own stats program by signing up for their white label service and you can resell it on your own. This is important for web designers and SEO firms.

  • Pros: Real-time stats and follow visitors on your site live.
  • Cons: Tracking banner/image needed. You can customize these to match your site though. Not as many features as some of the other website tracking tools and their cost is a little higher in comparison.


SiteMeter (Visit SiteMeter)
SiteMeter offers comprehensive world wide web statistics, tracking and hit counter tools that make it easy to see what is happening on your website.

  • Pros: Paid version starts at just $6.95 per month.
  • Cons: Free version requires counter graphic. Visitor’s details are only tracked for the last 4,000 visitors on the paid version. This is less important if you are not concerned with tracking which pages each visitor went to for historical data purposes.


Special note on “Free” Tracking and Counters:
Are Free Website Statistics Really Free?

It is easy to be tempted by free things, especially online, when looking for web counter statistics. When comparing different free website stats tools you should think about why they are offering it for free. As the old saying goes, nothing is really free. So, how can they offer free stats? What are you paying for when you get it for free? Here are some possibilities to consider:

  • They are getting advertising. This is especially true if you need to place their graphic or counter on your site. This provides them with advertising. Also, they can be showing ads on their site when you go to login to view your site’s stats. So in the end you might be paying for it indirectly. But if you don’t mind some advertising in return for not paying out of pocket then a free service might be fine for your needs.
  • They might be using your site’s data for internal or external data/marketing purposes. If they don’t show any advertising at all on a free service then how do they make any money in order to finance their service?

Whenever you are comparing different multiple website statistic programs make sure you read the fine print when signing up for any stats programs. What is their privacy policy and what do they do with the data collected?

Every good site with website statistics is only good if your site is online. Here are some reviews of affordable web hosting companies.

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