Ask HN: Lets talk stats
We all know a good metrics driven analytic tool can be the backbone to any web business. What are some good tools that you use to learn, analyze and optimize your traffic and leads?
2 comments
Even though it is off sometimes by as much as 100% and has many shortcomings I have yet to find something better than Google Analytics, but I'm sure that you are already familiar with that.
I keep a spreadsheet on the side with most of the key indicators as well.
If the situation asks for it I'll write some quick and dirty script to analyze a chunk of the log files.
And long ago I had a little program that would send out a packet on a UDP port to my desktop pc, and a second program that would toggle the sound port every time a packet arrived at that port. That made for interesting sounds, it's amazing what you can pick up that way.
("Hey, we just got linked somewhere big")
I keep a spreadsheet on the side with most of the key indicators as well.
If the situation asks for it I'll write some quick and dirty script to analyze a chunk of the log files.
And long ago I had a little program that would send out a packet on a UDP port to my desktop pc, and a second program that would toggle the sound port every time a packet arrived at that port. That made for interesting sounds, it's amazing what you can pick up that way.
("Hey, we just got linked somewhere big")
I got a lot more out of Google Analytics after I discovered events and user defined values. For an app I have, someone passing a link to a friend is an event. If that app is used embedded in Facebook rather than MySpace, I can segment based on user defined values.