Although there are several website tracking tools, only a couple of these tools are heavily used by web administrators and internet marketers. Despite the competition, StatCounter has carved out a niche as one of the top free web statistics programs.
StatCounter Account Plans
StatCounter has a variety of free and paid services targeted at different users. The free version keeps a log of the last 100 pages visits which is good enough for comprehensive tracking on small websites. While 100 logs not a lot, it is useful enough to help you understand where your traffic is coming from. Beginners can also use the free version to have a working knowledge on how website tracking works and learn how they can use the initial data to develop a plan to increase traffic.
Paid accounts consist of three plans designed to cater to websites of different sizes. If you have a small website, you can consider the entry level that cost $9/month. At that price you can get comprehensive traffic analysis for 250,000 page loads per month. For larger websites, you can opt for the most expensive plans that offer higher page load thresholds.
Robust Website Tracking Program with StatCounter
Statcounter's tracking program is very robust. In addition to the essential tracking statistic found in other web tracking services, Statcounter also have features such as Magnify User, Drill Down, and Search Engine Wars. Many web administrators find the data from these categories very useful.
StatCounter also allows you to pierce through the summary data and break them down to make it more useful for web administrators. Statcounter's filter options allow you to display summary stats based on time period and specific date range. The summary stats also have bar and area graphs so that users can easily discern any quirks in the data, allowing them to respond to visitor trends quickly.
Another useful feature is 'Magnify User'. With this tool, you can receive a detailed report on individual visitors so you can understand what they did exactly with your website. The report includes where they are from, their system settings, and the website link that brought them to your page.
StatCounter also provide reports on the most popular page in your site, the top point of entry, and top exit point. By understanding how your readers interact with your content, you can adjust your website to keep the attention of your readers.
Bottomline
StatCounter's simple setup and easy access to data makes it ideal for anyone who wants a tool to track their sites. Although it does not bring anything different compared to Google Analytics or Clicky, StatCounter is an ideal secondary source of traffic data if you want to cover all bases.
