What is the best, free website traffic analyzer?
By far, I would have to say: Google Analytics. Much as it does seem that Google is slowly taking over the world (probably true), they offer some of the best web-based tools for free which splash mud in the competitors faces. Many webmasters use Anaytics, including ZylstraBlog.
Analytics uses javascript. Simply include the javascript code in each page that you want tracked; the best way is to just put the code into your template. If you host a forum or a blog, your web application is almost guaranteed to have a plugin available for including Anaytics.
The biggest features in Analytics for the average webmaster:
Benchmarking: showing your visits on an easy-to-use graph making your peak days stand out. You can see what parts of the month or week have the most visitors. (See Item 1, screenshot below)
Average user information: The usage information is broken down into the visits, pageviews, how many pages are accessed per visit, the bounce rate (the amount of visitors who view just one page, and then leave the site), the average time on the site, and the percentage of new visits.
Traffic sources: Broken down to the amount of traffic you get directly (people typing in your address), the amount of sites referring to your website (links going to you), the amount of search engines visiting your website
Location information: Where are your visitors coming from? What pages are visitors from those regions viewing?
System Information: What browser are your users using? What operating system? Can they use Flash Player? Java? You’ll know when using Analytics.
Network information: The service providers and the connection speeds that your visitors have is more important than you think — knowing how fast the average user’s connection is lets you know what kind of content you can or can’t put on your website.
Campaigns: Google Anaytics will allow you to set up campaigns to see what really “sells” your website. Create a new section of your website and test it to see how well it ends up working out. (See Item 2, below)
Analytics can help any webmaster know what content is popular on their website, and what isn’t. For example: We know that tips for Linux are our top subject, most of our frequently viewed pages have to do with PlayOnLinux and The Sims 3, Ubuntu Linux, or issues with certain hardware in Linux.
Analytics isn’t just for basic websites, it’s great for professional websites as well.
Item 1
Item 2
