If it’s not worth measuring, it’s not worth doing.

Data. Numbers. Analytics – Keeping a track of it all can be one tedious, overwhelming process.

But thanks to some really powerful and robust Web Analytics Tools, number-crunching and making sense of data has become quite simple!

What used to be the exclusive sidekick of Data Scientists has now become a friend of every digital marketer. Web Analytics is about figuring out what works and what does not. It helps figure out actionable tactics and aids in making informed decisions while planning the next move.

Let’s take a look at some of the best web analytics tools you ought to be using for your business.

Google Analytics

The analytic tool that most people start with, and for good reason: it’s commanding, it gives highly relevant information and it’s free!

We’d like to add a disclaimer here that we would not recommend this tool for affiliate sites, and we would only use it for blogs or authority sites. Why? Because Google doesn’t like sites looking to only make affiliate sales and you are pretty much handing over the info about your site to them by using this tool.

That aside, this is the go to starter tool for measuring data on your site, and if you are not at least running this on your site, you definitely should be, and we would recommend running it in cohesion with Google Webmaster Tools.

Clicky

Clicky Analytics (located at GetClicky.com) has been making waves in the analytics biz since it was released, and is often the first tool that users migrate over to from Google Analytics.

The key difference here is in the delay of Google Analytics: you get information for the day before whereas the information from Clicky is in real time, which can be essential if you get spike in visitors from some outside source (think the traffic flow from StumbleUpon and other bookmarking sites).

All in all, if you want an overall analytics package which offers access to real time data, we can’t recommend another choice over Clicky at the moment.

Mint

Located at HaveAMint.com, Mint charges an upfront fee of $30 per site, but with no recurring costs afterwards. This definitely beats out other tools that even charge a low monthly rate, if you plan on sticking with Mint, because the long term cost would add up to over $30 after only a year.

Not only does it have this great price incentive, the actual product is excellent, it comes with a really fresh layout, with clean and easy to understand charts that display the info that you need to know.

Mint is largely comparable to the other overall analytic tools on this list that cover a bit of a premium price, but is the only one that features a upfront cost with no recurring fees.

Chruch Analytics

Created by one of the original developers of the Standard Theme Framework,  this analytics tool has one of the most beautiful interfaces that we’ve seen. Priding itself on providing the information you really need without the vanity data that won’t help your site, Church Analytics is a relatively new competitor on the scene, but it is definitely a solid system built by people who know what they are doing.

We like that the navigation (in the dashboard) is really easy to follow, it is important for a new analytics system to be easy to use, as those who might be willing to try it out need to be won over quickly, given the numerous great options out there.

KISSmetrics

KISSmetrics offers a great system for getting to know your visitors, although we would place it more in line for online commerce businesses over blogs.

Not to say that it cannot be used for blogs, especially blogs that have products to offer, and it is especially great to use in conjunction with KISSinisghts, but the tools that it has in place are definitely made for commerce sites, and we would recommend them over other tools for those sites above all else.

KISSmetrics

Open Web Analytics focuses on the simplicity of their tool and the open source nature of it as well. From their own site:

Open Web Analytics (OWA) is open source web analytics software that you can use to track and analyze how people use your web sites and applications.

If you are looking for something free, something effective, and enjoy working with open source software, Open Web Analytics is the way to go. It is easily comparable to Google Analytics, but again, if you like to use open source projects, this is one of the best serious alternatives.

In conclusion…

It is important for you to keep track of your site and your traffic. So find a good analytics tool from one of the above, try it out, measure your success with the information provided, change and tweak if needed, and keep your site moving in the right direction.

The post Check Out These Top 6 Web Analytics Tools For Your Business appeared first on Digital Leadership Institute.