Statcounter Is Easy To Use
Nowadays, everyone seems to think that Google Analytics is the best, and only viable option for free website stats and analytics. Google Analytics however is a bit more complex for less technologically advanced Miva Merchant store owners, and even if you’re able to get it implemented, it is sometimes hard to navigate and make sense of all the data it collects.
Enter StatCounter.com. This service is far from new, and has been used by even advanced webmasters for many, many years, including us. However, many Miva Merchant store owners don’t even know it exists. This tool is easy to implement, and even more importantly, much easier to understand for those that just want “quick & dirty” stats regarding traffic, keyword activity, landing pages and so on.
Granted, in our experience, the information it provides is nowhere near as accurate as Google’s, however the main thing we use it for on ALL of our ecommerce properties is for quick hit Keyword Activity Report (shows you hits you get from all search engines, what keyword they searched, and allows you to view the search results page they came in from) & the Visitor Path Report (shows you the actual path a given visitor takes once inside your site, page by page, by page). The simplicity of these tools is nothing short of amazing, and even the most novice site owner can easily find his or her way to these reports, and understand them.
Even better, the stats are updated in real time, meaning you can actually track a visitors path through your website, while they’re browsing (although you do need to hit the update button to see the latest refreshed info).
Here’s a picture detailing the Keyword Activity Report. If you click on the links in the “Query” field, it will actually pop up a window like this one HERE (notice our site is #2). If you click the “Landing Page” link, it opens a window that shows the actual page within your site they hit.
Simple, yet effective. It’s not going to revolutionize the way you review your websites data by any means, but it can provide you with some QUICK & DIRTY info that is of interest, without the need to navigate through countless reports in Google Analytics that make no sense to the average man.
Ted Hust is the President of Aarc Media Group LLC which owns and operates AarcMediaGroup.com, BonitaJ.com and LaxFactor.com. Ted has been working in the web design world for 13 years and has specialized in Miva Merchant design and development for over 10 years.