While deciding between the hundreds of web analytical tools now available; a webmaster will be faced with a tough choice because each is as competitive as the other. Aside from Google Analytics, which has remained a top contender in all business circles, website owners choose at least two to three analytical tools that are used in conjunction with Google Analytics to arrive at highly comprehensive results.
Since Google Analytics is the most detailed and yes, the most popular tool that is available for free, The following is a list of the top eight analytical tools that can be used along with Google Analytics to measure the performance of a business website with multiple metrics.
1) Woopra
Woopra is a desktop application that does a great analytics job for a website. One of its strongest points is real time tracking, through which the application records website activities as and when they happen. With the help of basic and advanced web analytics tools, Woopra is a reliable option to gauge the performance of a website and pinpoint problem areas.
Woopra renders information related to:
• Stats about number of visits and visitors
• Information related to the source, web browser used, geographic location and
referring website
• Activities performed on the website
A live chat option makes this paid service a great way to track e-commerce success.
2) Spring Metrics
Spring Metrics is a very simple analytical tool for beginners. It tracks a visitor’s path right from the time he lands on the website, untilthe visitor leaves it from a certain page. Some of the most useful features of this tool are:
• Real time analytics
• Keyword assessments
• Email performance reports
• Sources that lead to top conversions
• Point to click configuration
Spring Metrics is a paid analytical tool with a 14-day trial period. For a standard monthly fee of $49 per month, a webmaster can get access to web analytics features that are easy to use and understand.
3) Clicky
Another good choice of an analytical tool is Clicky. A few versions of this tool are available for free if only one website is to be tracked. For multiple websites and advanced features, a pro version has to be subscribed to.
Clicky has its very own real time tracking software called the SpyView. Using this application, webmasters can observe what visitors are doing, how they are reacting and whether they leave the website mid-way in a session or follow through to the end of a transaction.
Being an innovative application,Skyview is a great way to unearth the reasons behind the way visitors react and interact on the website. Apart from this, Clicky Dashboard is a very simple yet comprehensive summary of the most important metrics needed by analysts.
4) Crazy Egg
A very innovative feature of this analytical tool is the visualization of what customers and visitors are doing on a website. Using Heatmap Technology, Crazy Egg lets webmasters keep a track of visitors on the basis of each and every click to determine which part of the website they are at and where they are headed.
It goes a step further to give insights like ‘where visitors are keeping their mouse and where they are actually looking.’ Such in-depth analysis makes a very compelling argument when deciding which areas of a website catch the most attention and interaction.
Crazy Egg gives its users a free 30-day trial, after which it charges $9 per 10 heatmaps.
5) Kissmetrics
Another analytical tool that is being used by website owners, who want to watch even the smallest action and movement of the visitors, is called Kissmetrics
Kissmetrics is ideal for event tracking. It details information of visitor activity in the form of a timeline, which makes it very easy for analysts to understand and decipher. The timeline view identifies patterns and pinpoints changes and trends in movements over time. This feature is a very unique way of displaying the various events that a visitor goes through in a single session.
Kissmetrics is available for free during a 30-day trial period, after which the service has to be purchased for $149 a month.
6) UserTesting
UserTesting takes web analytics to a whole new level. It operates on the premise that the responses of visitors to a website should be recorded on video instead of simply displayed via stats and straight lines. Users of this tool pay for a group of participants to perform activities on their website. These activities are recorded and the website owner is given feedback in about an hour.
Once this feedback is received, decisions and conclusion can be drawn based on the evidence from the videos in which the visitors’ thoughts can actually be heard. Anywhere from 1 to 100 testers can be hired, with each participant costs around $39.
7) Mint
Mint is one of the most affordable options in paid web analytics services. Since it is a selfhosted service; for each website, the cost of analysis is $30 only. Within this cost, the following services will be available:
• Real time statistics regarding number of visitors, their activities and conversion
rates.
• Sources from which the traffic is being received.
• The pages they are viewing and the ones they leave immediately.
Moreover, Mint is also customizable according to the type of website for which analysis is needed.
8) Mouseflow
Mouseflow combines various technologies to give users a very detailed and comprehensive analysis. It allows webmasters to view heat maps from different time periods showing user activity. This gives a very clear picture of how visitors react to the many changes made to a website to increase conversion rates.
With a version for mobile apps, this analytical tool is one of the most famous ones around. Moreover, videographing the visitors is another service available that records the activities and session durations of web traffic to analyze every mouse click, scroll and keystroke. Therefore, this tool is a cross between Crazy Egg and User Testing. For a single website and 100 video sessions, Mouseflow services are available for free.
The analytical tools discussed above are only a few from a list that goes on and on for pages! Owing to the ease of availability of the internet, hundreds of analytical tools have been designed keeping in mind the various unique needs of every business. Choosing one that is the most suitable for your business is then a decision best made by those conducting the analysis.
