Google Analytics is my reporting software of choice. It provides a lot of useful information and easily integrates with the Google AdSense program, but one thing it doesn’t do, and I so wish it did, is provide real time web analytics.
Enter Clicky
Clicky gathers much the same data as Google Analytics (and will work with it – just install the JavaScript code in your footer) but it is much easier to understand and has the major advantage of relaying data in real-time.
A really interesting feature of Clicky is the way it records bounce rates (read What is bounce rate?). Most tracking programs count a bounce as when a visitor views one page only then leaves, Clicky is hoping to redefine the bounce rate by adding another metric; if a visitor stays on a page for more than 30 seconds then leaves, it is not classed as a bounce.
This gives you a much more accurate overview of how engaging your content is.
There is a significant difference between a visitor with one pageview who spends less than 30 seconds on your site, and a visitor with one pageview who spends 5 minutes on your site. But no other analytics service will tell you about this difference – no matter how long any single-pageview visitors are on your site, they are all considered bounces. We think this is horribly broken and misleading, so we decided to redefine what a bounce is.
Don’t mind paying for real time web analytics?
A basic account with Clicky is free. With this account you can track one blog/website.
If you want to track more you can choose from one of the premium packages; the Blogger account for $4.99 per month monitors three sites, the Pro package tracks ten sites and costs $9.99 per month and for $19.99 a month you can track up to thirty sites in the Super Pro package (with each package there is a daily page view limit – 3,000/10,000/30,000/100,000 respectively).
Once you reach the 50 sites mark there are several custom packages to choose from, with the top of the tree coming in at 1,000 sites and 1,000,000 daily pages views for $499.99 per month.
I am using it here, but I don’t know if it is a service I’d pay for as I would spend too much time looking at the data! I only installed it a few hours ago after reading about it on the Hobo SEO blog, so I may change my mind once I have used it for a while.
Click the Clicky link to found out more or sign up.
I hope you enjoyed this post and found it useful. If so, please consider tweeting it or sharing it in another way.
Subscribe to the RSS feed
This site uses KeywordLuv. Enter YourName@YourKeywords in the Name field to take advantage.