Without even discussing Pay Per Click advertising or talented staffing, you can still easily spend fifty to a hundred thousand dollars on Web Analytics in the course of a year. In some cases, it’s worth the investment.

The question is, is that approach right for YOUR business?

WDDX.NET already provides SmarterStats for your website hosting account, an Enterprise Class Log-Based Analytics software package. Combine this with a Code-Based Analytic tool like Google Analytics or Yahoo! Web Analytics (and an effective website developer) and you’ll find yourself very well equipped for effective data mining - at a fraction of the cost.

The two most common methods for harvesting data from the "clickstream" are Code Based Analytics and Log Based Analytics. Some would tell you that they compete with each other. The truth is, they complement each other.

Code Based Analytics see the clickstream from the perspective of the browser, but don’t really see what is happening on the server. Because of this, Code Based Analytics miss out on seeing the things they have no access to: error pages, spiders and bots, visitors with privacy software, simpler mobile platforms and non-html resources to name a prominent few. Because they only record data when the Analytics code is loaded and executed from a web page, they miss out on a lot of useful clickstream data, but are able to deploy browser cookies to track individual and repeat visitors with great accuracy. They can be triggered to track extremely specific events, making them invaluable to marketing campaigns and are even deployable in the most intricate Flash environments. These things make Code Based Analytics an invaluable resource, but even more so when leveraged with a matching vendor’s ad campaign. (e.g., Google Analytics + Google Ads)

Log Based Analytics (like SmarterStats for the Enterprise) see the clickstream from the perspective of the server, but don’t really see what is happening in the browser. Because of this, Log Based Analytics miss out on seeing the details of the browser environment that Code Based Analytics can see, such as screen size, browser depth and visitors navigating through a flash website. Because they record each and every request made to the web server however, they excel at tracking the kinds of non-standard resources Code Based Analytics cannot see, making them very useful for tracking spiders and bots. Knowing what spiders are visiting what pages at what times can help you better execute an effective landing page or introduce new content. Log Based Analytics are also unaffected by privacy software and aren’t dependant on any kid of code being properly executed by a browser.

Both methods of capturing clickstream data have their strengths and weakness. By deploying and evaluating both toolsets, you’ll be information rich.

Code Based Analytics should be strategically deployed by your web developer. Log Based Analytics are something your Hosting Provider should offer. That’s us! ...and we’re confident that you’ll be impressed with SmarterStats for the Enterprise.

As much as 15% of the traffic on larger sites—and up to 50% of the traffic on smaller sites—may be directly related to automated hits generated by spiders and bots as they index a website. Unlike many Web log analytics tools, SmarterStats separates real traffic from spider and bot traffic, providing companies with true website statistics that reflect actual customer behavior.

SmarterStats combines spider and bot detection with detailed summary and trend reporting and nearly 100 report items to help businesses understand real traffic, improve the results of marketing campaigns, evaluate SEO campaigns, and better understand visitor habits. Users can filter report items, create custom report items, save reports as favorites for quick reference, and email reports on a regularly scheduled basis to a targeted audience.

The success or failure of a website is directly correlated to its search engine performance, and the ability to isolate and separate spider traffic gives organizations the power to see into search engine methods. With SmarterStats’ spider and bot detection, users create reports that effectively and accurately determine which website pages search engines are indexing and when. To aid SEO efforts, SmarterStats tracks keyword performance and search engine ranking in the Google, Yahoo!, Bing, and Ask search engines