WebTrends or G Analytics?

[tonynoriega]

I use G Analytics for most of my sites, but have a client who now uses WebTrends... i hear WT can get pretty deep and is customizable...

does anyone have any insight on the pros and cons of the two and what would cause someoene to use one over another?

i like Analytics, but dont know if this client should be dependent on G to gather their stats...

[peterdaly]

WebTrends can be as good, or better than GA, but it requires a lot of work to build up equivalent functionality.

WebTrends can get some very deep and business specific reporting if properly setup and integrated into the WebSite by someone who knew what they were doing.

[McElvoy]

A blog called Got Analytics did a two-part on Google Analytics (versus) WebTrends; try searching.

Since one is free and the other isn't, cost-benefit is probably your biggest consideration. What does the client's site do and will they make more money if they pay for analytics? (Of course, Google Analytics's labor cost should be taken into account. Google Analytics is not efficient for many purposes and you pay for it in extra hours.)

[edited by: McElvoy at 11:52 pm (utc) on Sep. 5, 2008]

[peterdaly]

Sounds like the client already owns WT, so price is a mute point.

[seodreamer]

I'd say Google analytics is pretty good for most peoples needs. Its free and easy to integrate. Also it fits nicely into AdWords if you also advertise you sites

[tonynoriega]

Well what i plan to do is a cost versus need analysis. What does it cost per month (WT) versus what reporting information is needed. If all the departments want to know is how many UV's or PV's they got in the past 90 days, then its a no brainer... go with GA.

Now if they want to know something in depth like how many people registered on our site that entered a zip code of #*$!XX in the zip code field on the new registration page over the past 90 days that used FireFox as their browser... then i might need WT.

I think with the usage, demand and feedback that GA team gets, they will consistently add more features and "perks" to the application. All of their webmaster tools and such have gotten better year after year.

[cgrantski]

Good plan. Not so sure about the assumption. Google has acquired many things and let them languish. They may be thinking this is good enough. What, really, is their incentive for improving it? Its contribution to their AdWords business (their only way of making money right now) may be maxed out.