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Compare Google Analytics with Urchin

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By evemurphy


Google Analytics is the child of a software called Urchin software.

Urchin is a software utility that will run on a local server (Unix and Windows) and which provides web analytics reports by analyzing web server logfiles - as well as HYBRID logfiles - which have greater accuracy.

Urchin is not as feature heavy as Google Analytics, but is basically the same technology that permits you to watch historical data over a customer-defined time period, as well as giving additional information that is not available in Google Analytics.

Uchin provides the following information which Google Analytics does not provide:

* gives error page/status code description

* provides bandwidth reports

* gives login name reports

* offers visitor history report - anonymously tracking individual visitors

* provides superior customisation - you decide how much data to view

* gives data that is saved locally on your server in the form of a mysql database - permits ad-hoc data queries


Differences in reporting between Google Analytics and Urchin :

* Google Analytics imports AdWords cost data easily.

The needed data is collected daily. For Urchin, however, this is a manual process

* The Google Analytics dashboard is completely customisable

Urchin summarization dashboards are fixed

* Google Analytics geographic overlay is excellent.

Urchin geographical overlay is more basic but not bad.

* Google Analytics is available in twenty-five languages whereas Urchin is available in twelve.

* Google Analytics has internal website search reports, but Urchin lacks this.

* Google Analytics has event tracking but Urchin is lacking this.

Toolkit Tip - Use Google Analytics to track your visitors


Thoughts on Google Bounce Rate in Analytics

  • Q: What is a good bounce rate in general? Currently my bounce rate is 62%, but it is sometimes 50% - that's not all that great really, or is it?
  • A: Understand that organic bounce rates are going to be considerably higher. From what I have seen, the typical bounce rate for PPC ads on a well performing campaign with an OPTIMIZED LANDING PAGE is somewhere around 30-40%. And that is not bad really.
  • A: I’ve heard alot of people obsessing over this analytics recently. So just to simplify a few things on what it is and what it isn’t. The bounce rate is the amount of visitors who leave your site immediately after first arrival. A high bounce rate can be the sign of many factors--so it is not a simple thing to really get perfect answers to.

    So if your site turns up on a search for “bananas” when you are selling “apples”. not much you can do about that, but don’t expect visitors to wait around. You may want to start growing a potential banana business by giving a page on your site about where the visitor can find them.

    Generally we make judgement calls on a person’s appearances within 30 seconds of seeing them, and usually much faster than that . But the lesson here is that the same is true online. A poorly thought out navigation system, or an ugly site, or one of a multitude of other factors affect the bounce rate. You really have to try changing things and then changing them again and again with an open mind and a creative thinking attitude if you want to track down and understand your site's bounce rate.


Should You Use Urchin or GA?

GA is of course free - but Urchin v.6 software costs money.

However Urchin has important advantages over Google Analytics. Case in point: data is recorded and saved by your web server instead of streamed to Google. What does this mean?

* You can store and view data for as long as you need to.

- Google Analytics presently commits to storing data for a minimum twenty months

* You can have your data scrutinzed by an autonomous third party such as ABCE

whereas Google Analytics will not pass data to any third party

* You can reprocess data if and when you wish - for example, to implement a filter retroactively

but Google Analytics currently will not reprocess data retroactively

* Urchin processes behind the firewall which make it suitable for Intranets

But Google Analytics can not process behind a closed firewall.

Urchin is offered free from Google now, but it is version 5.


Google Analytics vs Urchin Comparison Table

Links

Prevent Google Analytics from tracking your visit - Digital ...
How this works: Google Analytics downloads a small javascript urchin.js (Google Analytics Urchin Module) on the clients computer which reports the all the ...labnol.blogspot.com/.../prevent-google-analytics-from-tracking.html -


urchin.js
 pre//-- Google Analytics Urchin Module

Google Analytics - Urchin on Demand Tools for free - Digital ...
 Google Analytics Google is offering webmasters a full-featured, powerful analytics package from Urchin to determine how many people are visiting their sites .

Compare Google Analytics to Urchin - Actual Metrics
See a comparison of Google Analytics to Urchin v5 -- please note that Google Analytics is actually Urchin v6.

Google Analytics vs. Urchin 6 vs. Urchin 5 - Analytics Results ...
 25 Feb 2008 ... I have been asked about the differences between Google Analytics and Urchin on a couple of occasions during these workshops, so this post is ...

Google updates Analytics service, unveils Urchin beta
 Google plans to add new features to its Google Analytics service, and to appease a frustrated user base with updates to Version 5 of the Urchin analytics software.

CodeSnippets: Cache a local copy of Google Analytics urchin.js ...
 Cache a local copy of Google Analytics urchin.js (See related posts). Speed up your website by caching Googles urchin.js locally, and then refreshing it ...-

Google Analytics Blog: Urchin Software Beta Now Public
 Urchin Software from Google is a web analytics product similar in scope to ... system requirements, and differences between Urchin and Google Analytics. ...

Urchin Bandwidth Report

Do You Know What Google Analytics is?


Google Analytics vs Urchin in the News

  • Will Google Analytics Hurt My Google Rankings? Speed Issues?Search Engine Roundtable3 hours ago

    A Google Webmaster Help thread has one webmaster worried that Google will be using page speed as a ranking factor in 2010. But the reason he is worried is because the site performance feature in Webmaster Tools shows Google Analytics as needing some speeding up. The two suggestions this webmaster gets from Google is related to their own product, Google Analytics. The suggestions read: (1 ...

  • Google Launches More New Analytics FeaturesWebProNews25 hours ago

    Google announced a new set of features for Google Analytics at SES Chicago. New features include annotations, custom variables in advanced segments, custom variables in custom reports, a new analytics tracking code setup wizard, and a new version of the analytics API. The Annotations feature lets any user with access to a Google Analytics profile leave shared or private notes on the "over-time ...

  • Google updates Analytics productvnunet.com23 hours ago

    Rosalie Marshall, V3.co.uk , Tuesday 8 December 2009 at 17:19:00 New Annotations feature allows speedy explanation of traffic peaks and dips Google has released new features for its Analytics product at the Search Engine Strategies event taking place in Chicago this week. The announcements have since been rounded up in the company blog . Analysts using Analytics will now have the ability to ...

google analytics and urchin on Youtube

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