Search Engine Optimization NEWS

We’re often asked what the difference is between Awstats (included in cPanel) and Google Analytics (a third party plugin that you can add to your site). Aside from them working differently they may also give different results that may confuse users.

Here is the technical answer to their differences:

There are two main technological approaches to collecting web analytics data. The first method, logfile analysis (used by awstats), reads the logfiles in which the web server records all its transactions. The second method, page tagging (google analytics), uses JavaScript on each page to notify a third-party server when a page is rendered by a web browser. the differences you see between the two solutions is due to two main factors:

File caching: if a returning visitor has file caching enabled on his web browser (usually it is the case) the request for the file he already viewed will not be sent to the web server, and he will view a local copy, so Awstats will not detect multiple visits some times.

Page tagging relies on the client (visitor) browser voluntarily providing the analytical information requested. Some browsers disable so me data collection for security reasons.

The main advantages of logfile analysis are the fact that the data is already logged by your webserver. every transaction is recorded by the webserver reguardless of the visitors browser. and this data is on your server directly in standard format so you don’t rely on a third party server. Anoher advantage is the fact that logfiles provides information about visits from search engine spiders and bots, failed requests which is really important if you want to optimize your website.

The main advantages of pagetagging is that the javascript is called every time the page is loaded so you can track precisely your visitors behaviors even if they are loading the web pages locally from their cache. it can also report on events which do not involve a request to the web server (flash action script…). Page tagging is adequate if you run ebusiness websites, or if you need to track your visitors behavior.

i guess you can continue using both in complementary approach!