We all know a good metrics driven analytic tool can be the backbone to any web business. What are some good tools that you use to learn, analyze and optimize your traffic and leads?
Even though it is off sometimes by as much as 100% and has many shortcomings I have yet to find something better than Google Analytics, but I'm sure that you are already familiar with that.
I keep a spreadsheet on the side with most of the key indicators as well.
If the situation asks for it I'll write some quick and dirty script to analyze a chunk of the log files.
And long ago I had a little program that would send out a packet on a UDP port to my desktop pc, and a second program that would toggle the sound port every time a packet arrived at that port. That made for interesting sounds, it's amazing what you can pick up that way.
I got a lot more out of Google Analytics after I discovered events and user defined values. For an app I have, someone passing a link to a friend is an event. If that app is used embedded in Facebook rather than MySpace, I can segment based on user defined values.
I keep a spreadsheet on the side with most of the key indicators as well.
If the situation asks for it I'll write some quick and dirty script to analyze a chunk of the log files.
And long ago I had a little program that would send out a packet on a UDP port to my desktop pc, and a second program that would toggle the sound port every time a packet arrived at that port. That made for interesting sounds, it's amazing what you can pick up that way.
("Hey, we just got linked somewhere big")