StatCounter Review

StatCounter has quickly become one of the top javascript based web statistics programs. The reasons behind its climb are threefold.

First, it offers a version of its service for free.

Second, it offers charts and graphs to help users visualize their statistics.

Third, the stats are invisible. There is no need for webmasters to place a little icon somewhere on their website.

For beginners, StatCounter is ideal. The price can’t be beat. The limitation to the free service is the amount of detail that is preserved. The free service retains a log of the last 100 page loads. True, that is not a lot. However, it is enough for beginners to learn and understand the value of the statistics. Keep in mind that is only the details that are not preserved. The summary counts are preserved so reports can be run over a large span of time to see growth/decline/differences.

Many web application providers have been slow to provide a free version of their service. A free version allows users to try/experiment/use. In fact, free versions presell the paid versions. Users are more willing to buy if they are comfortable with the stability and usability of the free version. It is a credit to StatCounter to provide a free version of their service. Upgrading to 1000 pageloads costs $9/month, 10,000 pageloads is $19/month, and 25,000 pageloads is $29/month.

The charts and graphs help beginners understand the statistics. Many statistics programs remain textbased. Of course, the text version of any report is important. However, graphs and charts provide easy visual clues to successes and problems. In the case of StatCounter, I love being able to see visitors, page loads, and returning visitors indicated on the same chart. If a gap exists between visitors and pageloads then I know that my visitors are clicking around the site. I want visitors who click multiple times. However, if I see that there is no gap between my visitors and pageloads I know that visitors are hitting a page and then clicking away. If that happens, I am able to investigate which pages users are clicking away from.

StatCounter provides drilldown functionality in many of its reports. For example, the Keyword Analysis report allows me to see which words users used to find my site. I can click the little triangle next to each word to drilldown and see each user. I can then drilldown on each user and see their entire click trail through my site. Many of the reports use this drilldown functionality.

StatCounter allows users to set up multiple projects. Have many websites? All that is needed is one user account. Set up a new project for each website. This is great for seeing all the websites at a glance. Makes managing those websites that much more easier. Who wants to login and logoff for each and every website that is being tracked? Keep in my mind that the upgrade packages are applicable to individual projects not to the whole user account. If the 1000 pageload tracking is needed for 5 websites, then it will cost $45/month (5 * $9.00).

The most common reports I use are the following:

Summary
Popular Pages
Came From (Referrers)
Keyword Analysis
Recent Keyword Analysis
Search Engine Wars
Visit Length
Recent Visitor Activity

There are probably some reports that are missing from StatCounter that would be useful to more advanced users. For example, there is no bounce rate report. Plus, the price for keeping the logs of those extra pageloads might be too expensive for advance users. There are other paid web statistic programs which cost less than the StatCounter 25,000 pageload service. Some of these services even offer unlimited pageload logs.

It looks like StatCounter is looking to remedy its position with the advanced users and become more competitive. StatCounter’s paid service will be moving from a pageload/month service model to a different kind of model. Coming soon is an Advanced Service which will offer Exit Link Tracking, Download Tracking, and Unlimited Log Size. An E-Commerce version is also planned that will included Campaign Tracking and Overture/Adwords Tracking.

For the beginner, there is no better place to start than with StatCounter. They do not have to outlay any money to provide overhead for a website that is not yet generating income. As beginners learn and understand the various statistics, they can use StatCounter as a standard by which to evaluate other programs and services. There is no reason to pay top dollar for a service that is not understood. Taking the time to learn with StatCounter enables users to make a sound decision in the future regarding their web statistic needs.