Moz Q&A is closed.
After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.
AW Stats vs Google Analytics
-
Hey Moz Community,
I am looking to get opinions on the best practice for analytics/traffic analysis. From experience I know that AW Stats reads high and Google Analytics reads low for traffic for reason in this article http://www.smartz.com/blog/2009/01/23/analytic-confusion-%E2%80%93-awstats-vs-google-analytics/
It drives me a little nuts how far off both are for some pages. I have one article that shows 100 views (GA) and AW stats shows 5 times that number of views.
Any suggestions or systems you recommend? Thanks
-
I did a major overall on all my sites to the new tracking in July 2011. However, I'm not sure when the new tracking was released. Definitely in 2011.
-
Also you have to tell AW stats what types of file counts as a page view. For instance I had to be sure my IT guys told it to not count flash files as pageviews as the flash file we had on the home page at the time was doubling the numbers of views when someone hit the home page
-
Kyle do you mean a couple months ago as in February or so? I dont think the placement has changed since then eh?
-
As far as I can tell the tracker is placed properly..I think the diff is AW gives false counts for images loads as multiple page loads.
-
Thanks for the considered response Charles; good point about focusing on actual traffic increase vs. getting wrapped up in total accuracy.
-
Hands down I use GA much more than AW Stats.
AW Stats has it's place, but the segmentation of users, user defined variables, events, goal tracking, and e-commerce tracking all tied up with adwords data easily trumps AW Stats.
AW Stats is great for getting info on bots, 404 errors, bandwidth usage, and hits, but these are used more for diagnosis and less for business level decisions.
Also, the variations you are talking about between the two rarely matter unless you think the variation is due to large portions of your traffic not being tracked correctly by one or the other.
The reason why I say these variations don't matter is that both methods of tracking have their quirks, and what you are really using them for is to see the trending of the data.
As long as you know the data is as accurate as you can get it, and you know how/why you are getting the data you are getting, then that data becomes actionable based on the trends you see and not based on the explicit value of the number.
As an example lets say I see in GA 1,000 visitors this month, and 1,200 visitors next month, and I see in AW Stats 10,300 visitors and 12,500 visitors. I care less about the differences in the numbers in the systems and more about the 20% growth in that statistic. Considering I can find out the "why" easier and with more clarity in GA I usually don't even look at AW Stats for this type of data.
I also might take a look at AW stats when first setting up analytics to be sure it looks like key indicators are showing similar trends so I know I am not missing a huge chunk of the site or something similar.
-
Perhaps the GA code isn't executing in time? Do you have a slow loading page? Where is the GA tracking code placed within your page?
The numbers shouldn't be that far off, that's for sure.
-
I always go with what Adwords says in regards to clicks. That number will be recorded no matter what user level settings are. In regards to when someone navigates to your site there are many softwares and browser settings that can be done to defer or disable analytics tracking.
Edit: disregard my post - i miss read and thought you where talking about Adwords vs Analytics results not Analytics vs AWStats. THB brought up a good point in regards to load time. A couple months ago analytics came out with a new tracking code that goes in the of the document as well that way it gets called first rather than last.
Good luck! - Kyle
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Android Webview & Safari (in-app) without any referrer information in Google Analytics
I've got a client that gets a considerable amount of traffic that: Enters on an interior page (that we are running properly tagged ads for on various platforms) Bounces Has a browser of either Android Webview or Safari (in-app) which I believe indicates the website is being viewed within a mobile app Has no referrer data: (direct) / (none) We've tested several scenarios (Facebook app, Gmail app, etc.) and ruled them out. Anyone know what this might be? Thanks in advance!!
Reporting & Analytics | | SarahLK0 -
No-indexed pages are still showing up as landing pages in Google Analytics
Hello, My website is a local job board. I de-indexed all of the job listing pages on my site (anything that starts with http://www.localwisejobs.com/job/). When I search site:localwisejobs.com/job/, nothing shows up. So I think that means the pages are not being indexed. When I look in Google Analytics at Acquisition > Search Engine Optimization > Landing Pages, none of the job listing pages show up. But when I look at Acquisition > Channels > Organic and then click Landing Page as the primary dimension, the /job pages show up in there. Why am I seeing this discrepency in Organic Landing pages? And why would the /job pages be showing up as landing pages even though they aren't indexed?
Reporting & Analytics | | mztobias0 -
Google Analytics - Average Position
Hi Just trying to get some clarity on Google Analytics Average Positions in "Aquistions/Search Engine Optimisation". For a very competitive keyword Google Analytics is saying i am on average position of 6. Is this Page 6? I am assuming position six would be 1.6?
Reporting & Analytics | | Cocoonfxmedia0 -
Google Analytics and Bounce Rates Query - Should I block access from foreign countries ?
Hi , When I look at my google analytics for my UK Website, I can see alot of visits come from outside the UK , i.e Brazil and USA. Both of which give me almost 100% bounce rates from people visiting from there. I am wondering, if google looks at bounce rates with regards to ranking factors and should I therefore block access to my site from visitors outside the UK ?... Would this help increase my rankings ? Given that we only serve uk customers, I cant see any benefit of allowing non uk customers the ability to see the site . what does people think ? thanks pete
Reporting & Analytics | | PeteC121 -
How does switching to HTTPS effect Google Analytics?
We are looking at making our site HTTPS. We have been using the same Google Analytics account for years and I like having the historical data. All of our pages will be the same, we are just going to redirect from the http to https. Does anything need to be done with Google Analytics? What about other addons such as Optimizely, Crazy Egg, or Share this?
Reporting & Analytics | | EcommerceSite0 -
On google analytics what is Mozilla Compatible Agent under browser and OS?
On my Google Analytics (I know this is not SEOMOZ) I have a lot of visits from mozilla compatible agent with 100% bounce rate. Does anybody know what this is?
Reporting & Analytics | | essentialworld0 -
Google Analytics for multiple languages on multiple domains
Hi folks A quick question in regards to setting up Google Analytics for a website with multiple languages on multiple domains. The domains that needs to be tracked are: www.example.com -> English www.example.se -> Swedish www.example.dk -> Danish To my best knowledge this can be acheived in Google Analytids using 3 different setups: Different accounts Different properties Profiles What would you guys consider the best approach?
Reporting & Analytics | | Resultify
Pros and cons? Have a great day Fredrik0 -
Google Analytics: Difference Between Goal Conversions & Goal Completions
When using Google Analytics, what is the difference between total goal conversions and total goal completions? We have many goals set up in a lead generation environment. Therefore, the only element of conversion is submitted a lead and arriving on the "Thank You" page. THose thank you pages are tagged accordingly. When we run reports though, the number of "Total Goal Conversions" and "Total Goal Completions" never match up.
Reporting & Analytics | | eMagineSEO0