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70sFlashback
Joined: 23 Oct 2004 Posts: 40
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Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2005 6:31 pm Post subject: Reporting and Stats |
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Hey John,
Question...I was thinking about "burning" my feed for alternate stats but was wondering if it's worth the effort considering that BlogHarbor may be coming out with upgraded reporting stats (is that true?), is that something I should consider?
Since I get significant reads via RSS I it was a consideration then I would need to hack the base template and such for the AutoDiscovery tag config and hack the Dymanic RSS component.
What do you think?
Regards,
TL |
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Roaring Tiger Guest
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Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2005 7:14 pm Post subject: great question |
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There's a lot I like about BlogHarbor's stats but I'm also using a third-party stats service because of some of BlogHarbor's limitations. What I like from 3dStats, my provider is:
* The ability to track web pages I create and also file downloads (I have some PDFs on my site).
* Reporting period flexibility (day, week, month, year, and also any period I stipulate).
* Graphs.
* More detailed user and referrer information.
* No referral spam junking up my stats.
* Ability to make estimates on future traffic based on past performance.
* Page navigation information.
What frustrates me about 3dStats though, is no info on the RSS feeds so their stats are incomplete.
Don't get me wrong...love ya lots, John...but would like to either see BlogHarbor grow its own stats (and I'd be willing to pay a little more for the detail), or else form an alliance with a stats provider that could deliver the details including RSS.
RT |
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john Site Admin
Joined: 16 Mar 2004 Posts: 3434
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Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2005 8:09 pm Post subject: Re: Reporting and Stats |
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70sFlashback wrote: | Question...I was thinking about "burning" my feed for alternate stats but was wondering if it's worth the effort considering that BlogHarbor may be coming out with upgraded reporting stats (is that true?), is that something I should consider? |
By "burning" my feed you mean using the FeedBurner service to augment your stats, correct? While we will be upgrading the site stats, FeedBurner does offer some features which you may find useful and which we are not likely to provide.
70sFlashback wrote: | What do you think? |
I think there couldn't possibly be any harm in trying the service and seeing what you think of it. I would however, make sure I have read their terms of service and understand the implications of it before implementing it on your site. Check the parts about Termination and Advertising Participation; not saying anything except that you should be aware of what you are agreeing to by using their service. |
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john Site Admin
Joined: 16 Mar 2004 Posts: 3434
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Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2005 8:20 pm Post subject: Re: great question |
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Roaring Tiger wrote: | There's a lot I like about BlogHarbor's stats but I'm also using a third-party stats service because of some of BlogHarbor's limitations. |
That's great. There will always be room for third party services which either enhance your experience or fit your style better. Blogging clients, stats services, comment or trackback services, all sorts of things. It's a big blogosphere and we certainly don't think we can be all things to everybody.
Roaring Tiger wrote: | * The ability to track web pages I create and also file downloads (I have some PDFs on my site). |
That one I have a question about... Most third party web stats ask you to place an image or Javascript code on your HTML pages, which is triggered when visitors acccess your pages. In this manner, the web stats service has literally become the third party in what was previously a two party transaction between the server which served the HTML page and the client.
This is why, in general, these services do not offer and information about your images, CSS files, RSS, etc.; they have no way to get in the middle of the transaction. So how are they able to track downloads of PDF files on your site, are you using some sort of redirect link for the downloads to bring them in on the transaction? |
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70sFlashback
Joined: 23 Oct 2004 Posts: 40
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Posted: Sat Mar 12, 2005 10:23 pm Post subject: Thanks John and also... |
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Thanks John for answering my question. But your response to the second post may have answered another question I was about to ask and that was about 3rd party tracking code like sitemeter or statscounter.
I was going to ask which page templates should code be added to in order get accurate stats but it sounds like there are limitations anyway. I use Statcounter mainly to track which keywords are sending me traffic, additional insight into referrals and a few other things like "retention". What these services don't do is accurately track the traffic for "unique visitors". Statcounter is off by several thousand even though I can get resonable feedback on how my blog is being reached.
I just added sitemeter about 4 days ago or so to see how it would do and it's just not even close.
Are there additional page templates that should have tracking code added besides "base" to get accurate tracking or is situation that it really doesn't matter because these sevices can never fully capture the "two party" interaction between your servers and unique visitors?
Thanks!
~TL |
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john Site Admin
Joined: 16 Mar 2004 Posts: 3434
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Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2005 10:46 am Post subject: Re: Thanks John and also... |
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As I have said before, web stats reporting is as much an art as it is a science for the reason that the http protocol is a stateless protocol. When a browser requests a file from a web server, once the file is sent the transaction is finished. Any subsequent requests from the browser are completely independent and have nothing to do with previous requests. Server logs show a series of discrete requests, but interpreting those requests can be very subjective even when the interpreting is done by software.
Are there additional page templates that should have tracking code added besides "base" to get accurate tracking
Every page is served with the base template, so you really only need to modify the base template to add a third party javascript or image. You don't even have to do that, you can just create a custom component and add it to your sidebar, header, or footer.
...these sevices can never fully capture the "two party" interaction between your servers and unique visitors
Third party services all do just fine tracking HTML requests when the HTML request itself triggers an action like the load of a Javascript or an image. But an image load by itself can not trigger another action, so when the browser requests an image, the only service that can hear that request is the web server to whom the request is made.
Last edited by john on Mon Apr 25, 2005 7:25 am; edited 1 time in total |
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70sFlashback
Joined: 23 Oct 2004 Posts: 40
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Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2005 12:09 pm Post subject: Thanks! |
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Thank you. |
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roaring tiger Guest
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Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2005 4:44 pm Post subject: answer to pdf tracking question by john |
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Hi John,
Hadn't cycled back recently to this thread and just saw your question.
To track pdf files, 3dStats converts my web page link generated in BlogHarbor and converts it to a 3dStats link code. I then reinsert the new file link into my web page code.
It's been slick for me since I had a blog with numerous pdf files and wanted to track downloads.
If anyone is looking for a third-party tracker, I recommend 3dStats. I've tried StatsCounter and FreeStats and didn't like either. You've got to pay for 3dStats but it's only $9 per month until you get to 20k page loads. Another free option is Site Meter. |
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70sFlashback
Joined: 23 Oct 2004 Posts: 40
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Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2005 5:35 pm Post subject: Thanks |
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Thanks, I'll check it out. |
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