Get Clicky Website Analytics And Monitor Visitor Trends Like A Pro
Today I want to share with you one of my favourite web analytic packages, Clicky Web Analytics.
There are two types of people that this web analytics package is especially useful for, newbies and geeks (and yes, this does apply to me as I am a self-confessed geek).
Clicky is ideal for the newbie who has discovered the importance of visitor tracking and is finding Google Analytics too complicated.
The more experienced stat geek (I love my stats) will also love Clicky because they track more elements than Google Analytics. They even provide the stats in such a user-friendly way that you can get a stat fix with just a quick glance (this can seriously increase your general productivity, I have lost too much time reading through my website data!).
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not coming down on the big G, their Analytics program is amazing, is packed full of features, is better than 99% of website analytic packages on the market, and ultimately, is free.
But, and this really is a big ‘but’, the learning curve is very steep for someone who can be considered a ‘newbie’. Additionally, quite a few people who are running a small business and have an accompanying website do not always have the time to work through the given ‘how to’ pages that Google has kindly put together.
So, why is Clicky a more powerful alternative?
Clicky Web Analytics has the traditional features you’d expect but let me share with you a few of the additional features that have me excited!
- Juicy Visitor Details
- Twitter Analytics
- Dedicated iPhone Clicky Analytics
- URL Shortener Integration
If that still hasn’t whetted your appetite, how does this sound:
- Dedicated WordPress plugin (yes, you can track you stats directly from your WordPress dashboard)
- Spy on your visitors
The WordPress plugin is for self-hosted WordPress blog users and has recently been updated by Joost De Valk, over at Yoast.com. You can download the plugin directly from the Clicky website.
A great additional feature of the plugin is it can also be configured to update your Twitter account each time you upload a new blog post; this also includes a URL shortener. as stated above, and tracks your links.
The ‘real time visitor tracking’ [*] is what gets me really excited! This feature allows you to literally spy on what your visitors are doing on your website as they are actually doing it. This is a bit like watching a Twitter stream but instead of tweets, you are watching the pages of your website update as your visitors navigate from page-to-page.
All you need to do now is head on over to the Clicky website and sign-up for an account. You’ll gain instant access to a trial period of a pro account (no credit card required to gain access) and will be downgraded to a free account when the trial comes to an end.
To get the complete access to the full range of services I recommend you take them up on their pro account offer, it only costs $59.99 for a whole year giving you a whole 6 months for free.
They do have other packages so I recommend you visit their site now to see what is the best fit for your website.
Here’s the link again: www.GetClicky.com
To your success,
Karl Foxley
[*] For real time visitor tracking that is recording using screencast technology visit Clixpy.com.
9 Comments
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I think you hit the nail on the head, the same is true of all free solutions, the support is never there on a level that would make you confident using it as an enterprise level solution
Thanks for the great looking resource. I’m Google Analytics illiterate so I’ll take a look at the demo and consider signing up.
Hey Angela, if you do use it be sure to let me know how you get on.
Karl
Karl,
The iPhone option really intrigues me. I am pretty happy with Google Analytics, but I would really love to start doing more functions on my iPhone so I can be more mobile with my blogging. This might be a great option.
Thanks for the info.
Brad
.-= Brad Harmon“s amazing last blog ..My, What Great Pics You Have! =-.
If you do end up trialling the iPhone option Brad I’d love to get some feedback from you.
Karl
Hey Karl
Thanks for letting me know about Clicky. Now I can use Clicky to track my website more efficiently (with more information). Even though I have installed Clicky, I am not going to uninstall Google. I can use both of them at the same time.
Thanks again…
I’m using both. I have ‘goals’ set up in Google Analytics that I wouldn’t do without but I do think their is a step learning curve for those wanting to get that bit more out of Analytics.
Glad I could be of help Jeevan. Are you using the WordPress plugin?
Hi Karl
I am using Blogger.com for my site. I once switched and had problems setting it up. So I switched back to blogger.
Thanks for replying…
Jeevan
Hey Jeevan,
I’m curious to know what difficulties you had when porting to WP, if you don’t mind sharing here or sending me a direct email from the contact us page it would be great to hear from you!
Karl