Best inexpensive log analyzer with "Path stats"?

Analog provides everything I need except path stats. Anyother suggestions?

[kilo]

Sorry if this question is repetitive to you guys. But I've been using Analog to track the site I work on and it provides everything we need except for the stats on the "most popular paths used" throughout the site.

My site is very large and obtains an average of 30,000 page requests daily. It looks like we cant use WebTrends Professional and we do not have the budget to get WT Enterprise. Can you recommend an inexpensive log analyzer with "path stats"?

[bill]

Analog is great for stats, but not for paths. I've heard good things about ClickTracks for what you're looking for, but I don't have any personal experience with them.

[storevalley]

Sawmill gives some pretty good options for path stats, and wasn't as expensive as WT last time I looked.

[mat]

Mach5 Analyzer (pro) will do that for you. Way, way cheaper than some of the big boys.

[Woz]

Weblog Expert does analyze paths to a certain degree. Whilst it may not be as detailed as some of the more expensive programs, it may do what you want it to.

Onya
Woz

[dragan djapic]

You can try Web Log Storming. It has full support for paths. Path report combined with some filters can give really valuable information.

[Matt Probert]

There is a VERY good reason why the excellent Analog doesn't provide path analysis.

Path analysis is a myth. You cannot do it (from log files alone). If someone sells you a solution that offers path analysis from log files alone, they are at best deceiving themself, and you, and at worse deliberately supplying you with a fake solution.

Read the Analog documentation. particularly the part about "how the web works" and you'll understand why path analysis is not possible from log files.

You could achieve some success with session cookies on the reader's computer, but even that is seriously flawed and fragile - consider shared computers, firewalls, proxy servers, internet cafes, ISP caches, and human nature!

Matt

[cgrantski]

Path analysis from logs is definitely not 100% correct or complete ... but are you throwing it out entirely, Matt?

[dragan djapic]

I think that you can extract very valuable information using path reports. Of course you'll have to narrow it down with filters to analyze particular page.

For instance, you may discover that large percent of your product page visitors go to demo flash movie and that they don't download your software product. Then you know that you'll have to improve that flash demo or remove it completely.

We all know that log files can't be 100% accurate, but when you get into details of single session you'll see that a lot of those sessions represent real people and their behavior.

[cfx211]

If you record all of your web traffic in an oracle database then you can use their connect by path function to write your own path analysis tool.

We have done it and find that it is very powerful because you can limit both the group of user's whose paths you want, and you can limit what parts of your site you want to look at.

This of course assumes that you log your own traffic in an oracle DB or load your traffic in there. There is a lot to be said for doing it this way, but you really need to have a large site to justify it.

[chanda7]

Funnel Web Analyer (free) will give you path info.