At Wessex Archaeology we use Smarter Stats, along with Urchin and Google
Analytics. They all produce different numbers, even for basic statistics
such as page impressions!
SmarterStats is doing a sterling job of crunching through 3 years of log
files, and can produce fancy graphs as well as individual asset tracking
(how many people have downloaded podcast X for example).
Google Analytics of course uses a script to get its data, and can tell some
very detailed (but anonymous, of course) things about our readers (it even
estimates connection speeds) which is handy. It's visitor number statistics
are very low compared with SmarterStats, so I agree with Dan that the two
methods of scripts and log files produce (often) wildly different results.
So to sum up - I use a combination of both methods. Log files for things
like visitor numbers and asset tracking, the script method to get more
detailed info about screen resolution, OS, demographics, connection speed
etc.
No method seems perfect for a large variety of reasons (best described here:
http://www.analog.cx/docs/webworks.html).
Cheers,
Tom
--------------------
Thomas A Goskar MSc
Archaeological Multimedia Developer
Wessex Archaeology
Portway House, Old Sarum Park, Salisbury, Wilts. SP4 6EB Direct Line: +44
(0)1722 343432
Switchboard: +44 (0)1722 326867
Fax: +44 (0)1722 337562
Website: http://www.wessexarch.co.uk/
Wessex Archaeology Limited is a company with limited liability registered in
England No 1712772, a registered Charity No. 287786 and is registered as an
archaeological organisation with the Institute of Field Archaeologists.
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---------------------------
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Museums Computer Group [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
> Daniel Pett
> Sent: 05 October 2006 16:14
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Web log file and analytics software use
>
> Dear all,
>
> I'm just doing some research into statistical analysis of website logs via
> log file analysers and analytical software. I'm currently using awstats
> and
> google analytics on a range of sites, and I'm interested to see what other
> people are using in cultural institutions. This should provide a stimulus
> for enhancing the visitor's experience.
>
> For example are people using a combination of log file analysers and
> script
> based data capture? There seems to be quite a difference between analytics
> and log file analysis software, for a variety of reasons.
>
> I've looked at the following products:
>
> visistat
> urchin
> hbx analytics
> webtrends
> onestat
> metasun
> summary
> awstats
> Faststats
>
> There's also some interesting comparisons provided in this document:
> http://www.omegadm.co.uk/web-analytics-methods.pdf
> Anyone else using the above, what sort of information are you finding you
> can glean from these tools, or can you recommend any other tools?
> Any information on or offlist would be great.
>
> Yours
>
> DEJ Pett
> ICT Adviser
> The British Museum, Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3DG
> W: http://www.finds.org.uk
>
> Don't forget the Autumn meeting: 16 November, Natural History Museum,
> London
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> website at http://www.museumscomputergroup.org.uk
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