Copahost Forum

[Andrew]

Just wondering what you guys use for your website stats?

[irfansblog]

I'm using google analytics for all of mine blogs and sites from starting only but using a tool geo visitor of digitalpoint also.

[Jhon Kelly]

I wouldn't choose a clear winner there. Because both of them uses different approach to prepare the stats.
Google uses page tagging method to generate the stats which will not track the users who has disabled JS on their browsers,some of the bots and crawlers also pass the JS code.It has got the graphical interface which makes the analysis work easy for not too technical users.
AW stats uses log file analysis method to generate the stats. It will show you bot access and other automated accesses to the site.
If you want to have a clear picture, you should be able to make use of both the tools to compliment each other.
If you are just an average user, I guess Google is better suited to your needs.
If you really want to dig into your visitors, then go for AW stats and use Google together.

[Beaten Rice]

Google analytics of course. Everything made by Google must be the best! In fact, I have never heard of awstats, but many sites use Google Alalytics. That probably means it's better.

[Jhon Kelly]

There are advantages and disadvantages to either. But since you're asking about accuracy, I'm going to address that first: Either one is only as accurate as you set them up to be, really. With GA, you have to make sure you add the required JavaScript to each page you desire to be tracked. With Awstats, you'll have to make sure you exclude any web pages that you don't want tracked.

As an e-commerce developer, I personally prefer GA, because of it's more in depth e-commerce tracking functionality (you can track individual products sold, etc). Awstats may be capable of doing the same now, but I'm not sure. Another reason I chose GA is they're constantly updating it and adding more features and reports. If I were to use something like Awstats, I would have to maintain the updates myself. It can also be linked to your pay per click Adwords campaigns. IMO, it has a bit better support and documentation too.