Weblog Expert Options

[dzinerbear]

Hi guys,

I've been using Web Log Expert Lite to monitor a couple of sites I run. And I've been considering upgrading to the paid version because a couple of my design clients are starting to ask for stat analysis about their sites.

I'm just wondering if anyone has the paid version and did they find the upgrade was worth the money.

On the one hand, I think WLE Lite is giving me invaluable information and I should support them by purchasing a paid copy, but on the other, money is reeeeeeeally tight at the moment.

Thoughts?
Dzinerbear

[Jill]

Welcome, dzinerbear! (IMG:http://www.highrankings.com/forum/style_emoticons/default/bye1.gif)

I've never heard of Web Log Expert so not much help from me. Generally I've found over the years that paying for the stuff we find helpful, pays off down the road. It often takes money to make money, so just keep that in mind! (IMG:http://www.highrankings.com/forum/style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

Jill

[dragonlady7]

My boss won't pay for anything he can get anything like for free. (At work, that is. I heard him bragging about the new navigation system for his car the other day, and I thought y'know, maps have always been fine for me? I guess he feels differently about professional and personal things!)
So, we're never going to get the paid versions of anything. But I've made a promise to myself that if I ever get off the ground with my home business idea, I *will* buy the paid versions of all the great free things I've been mooching. It just feels good to pay for something so wonderfully useful.

[meta]

Since you have clients asking for the information, it is reasonable to ask to be paid for providing it. You should be able to cover the cost of software and your time.

Meta

[dontunderstand]

What is the paid program suppose to offer? I use the same free one, and it seems to offer some benefits, does the paid version offer, where the quires came from like google, yahoo and stuff?

[dzinerbear]

There are some definite advantages to having the full version of WebLog Expert.

1. You do get more information and reports with the full version

2. It's completely customizable. So, you can set it up to include or exclude whatever you'd like. You can set it up one way for one client and a completely different way for another.

3. It has a "look up DNS Names" feature.

4. You have much more flexibility to generate reports for based on time periods you determine: this week, last week, the whole month, the past four days, whatever.

5. It sorts keyword searches by search engine, as well as giving you an overall report.

If you go to their website, you can download a fully functioning trial version. It'll work for 30 days. I'm about halfway through my trial period and I've found the full version extremely useful.

Dzinerbear

[skarraman]

I don't think it is a good idea to expect the client to pay or to pay for some of the piece of software that is needed unless it is for a once of occasion that you should have allowed for in the estimation/proposal.

Quite often the extra service that the software can provide will help clinch the deal and will keep your customers happy .

I agree with Jill in that you must invest in yourself and your business.

[JamesW]

Have you tried FastStats Analyzer?

[Matt B]

WebLog Expert looks vaguely like Webtrends - and probably a fraction of the price. It has some nice features, but what I didn’t like about it wad the emphasis on server info and not enough user analysis. What I mean by that is that the main summary page provides the following:
1. Hits - not really important
2. Page Views - somewhat important, but not really necessary
3. Visitors - now here's where you expect to see some "meat", but it only gives you total visitors, avg per day, and unique IP's. Not really the best info, or the most detailed, but enough to give you some trending information.

The rest of the stats are good - the breakout by search engine referral term, and site referrals. It is definitely good enough to get the job done, but lacks some vital features for tracking user behavior.

I would recommend testing a couple other evaluations versions of different stat packages and also evaluate what type of information is critical for your tracking and evaluation. The more you know what you want, the better you can make an evaluation of the type of analysis software you need.

[dzinerbear]

WebLog Expert looks vaguely like Webtrends ... 3.  Visitors - now here's where you expect to see some "meat", but it only gives you total visitors, avg per day, and unique IP's.  Not really the best info, or the most detailed, but enough to give you some trending information.

Without writing a book, can you tell us what other kinds of user stats you might be looking for. I'm interested because I'm wondering if there's something I'm missing.

WebLog Expert also breaks down your traffic by its country of origin, which is useful for me because I have a number of pages translated into different languages.

It also tracks the top 50 paths through the site, and gives stats on entry and exit pages. As well as what browsers and operating systems people are using.

As far as I can see, it's bordering on anyalysis paralysis, so I'm wondering if I'm missing looking at more important information.

Another reason that I'm leaning towards buying the full version is that it's only $74.95. At the moment, I can't afford the couple of grand price of some of the other software.

Thanks
Dzinerbear

[Matt B]

Without writing a book, can you tell us what other kinds of user stats you might be looking for.

Sorry if i was a little long winded in my previous post, those who know me know that I don't have a short answer to anything. (IMG:http://www.highrankings.com/forum/style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)

The basic info i like to see in an analysis program is the unique visitors (by cookie, not IP), returning visitors, single session visitors, total user sessions, avg. time on site, and depending upon the client, international visitors and the break-out information. Following that is all of the SE and referrer information like keywords, keywords by engine, total referrals, etc.

I also like to use multiple stats programs, as the filtering technology seems to be different among them. Some to a great job of filtering robot visits from the user information, others lump it all together and skew the entire analysis as a result.

The international stuff is why I like Webtrends, but this seems to do much of the same reporting - a bargain for $75 compared to what WT charges.

The top 50 paths through the site is good - i like more of a visual interface, which is why i like Clicktracks and the ability to track those paths by how the visitor came to the site (engine, keyword, conversion, etc). The paths and exits are good to know, but i like to know who is using those paths. It is very helpful to analyze paths by the keyword they used to find the site, as you can see some good trends and evaluate if the user found the information they needed.

Matt

[Crifer]

Have you looked trough the open sorce software on the market? The development of software is so fast today. People usually forget about open sorce software that is first of alla free and give the same or better result as any other software. If your a skilled developer you can even change the code.

Look at http://sourceforge.net/
The site was down when i wrote this post, else i would looked some software up for you. I can almost bet that you will find some good user tracking system there.

I can also recommend open office it's much better then M$ office. It's also open sorce and totaly free. http://www.openoffice.org

This post has been edited by Crifer: Aug 24 2003, 02:25 AM

[skarraman]

I am a big fan of open source technologies and am not sure why anybody would not look there first.

[Crifer]

Yeah, you can easily forget about it..

Here's a link to phpOpenTracker on sourceforge
http://sourceforge.net/projects/phpopencounter/