Log file analyzer vs. OneStat Free

IT professionals are concerned when any change takes place on their web site. This page explains the technical details of how OneStat.com functions compared to log file analyzers. The method of tracking used by OneStat.com is more accurate and reliable than any method based on log file analysis, since it's completely browser-based.

Real-time tracking vs. log files

OneStat.com is remotely hosted, which means that our servers perform all tracking and reporting functions. Conventional software like log files used by other services does not have the capacity to perform real-time tracking and reporting; remote hosting allows us to track, compile and make your data available to you in real time as visitors come to your site. Plus, you can access your reports from anywhere simply by logging in.

Scalable to accommodate high-traffic sites

Our remote hosting provides the server and support infrastructure needed to accommodate the tracking of high-traffic sites as well as any rapidly growing sites. OneStat.com can accommodate large increases in traffic, allowing your company to reach any level of growth and still be accurately tracked.

No software to install or download like with a log file analyzer

Because OneStat.com is remotely hosted, there is no software for you to install or download. This means no wasted time installing, maintaining or analyzing complex log files required by other site tracking services such as a log file analyzer. You simply paste a section of HTML code into each page you wish to track; after that, your statistics will be instantly updated every time your page is loaded. Plus, you won't need to hire additional staff to analyze log files and run software applications like with a log file analyzer. We do all of that work for you.

The OneStat.com Data Capture Technology

The key to OneStat.com is our custom JavaScript code placed onto every web page to be tracked. Transparent for our professional web analytics services and visible for our free hit counter to site visitors, these unique, coded page markers convey visitor data to secure OneStat.com report servers. Registered subscribers log on for a real-time view of their site's activity and to access hundreds of detailed reports with insights into the effectiveness of marketing campaigns, eCommerce, and visitor/customer loyalty.

With all it powerful capabilities, the innovative technology behind OneStat.com remains transparent to users and site firewalls, poses no security vulnerabilities, and carries no visitor identity or privacy-related information.

Visitors are tracked based on IP address in combination with a cookie. When the cookie has been deleted we track visitors based on IP address in combination with a browser string. This is impossible with log files which mean they are less accurate.

1. Visitors access a web site subscribed to OneStatfree.com.
2. When visitors access individual site pages containing the OneStatfree.com Javascript code, the OneStatfree.com' servers measure the page activity
3. Non-sensitive non-privacy sensitive information relayed to OneStat.com' servers includes:
   - individual site visit data (pages viewed, paths taken, products ordered, etc.)
   - visitor's browser program
   - visitor's operating system
4. OneStat.com servers aggregate the information into total numbers (no information is collected about individual users)
5. Registered OneStat.com subscribers log on to browse and analyze scores of formatted reports on their site activity

The differences between the real-time method & log files analysis

The traditional methodology of server log analysis has been surpassed by a more accurate and meaningful method of measuring user behavior, regardless of the device used.

Log files have been the data source for visitor analysis tools ever since the first days of the Internet. However, did you know that log files were originally designed for IT personnel to trouble-shoot web server problems and NOT to solve marketing issues critical to your business? Log files can give you an idea of what is happening on your site, but fall short when it comes to giving you detailed, actionable marketing information. In fact, information from a log file can have up to a 100% error rate because no standardized method for customer identification is in place! OneStat.com's products eliminate this problem by integrating directly with your site, monitoring traffic from within a visitor's browser. This helps you understand your business from the customer perspective, not the log file perspective.

Server log files measure activity at the server, rather than at the client. The server logs are unable to pick up information relating to both PC and RAM cache and proxy servers. Server logs will also count all users behind a firewall as one user. All of the above mean that server log files fundamentally undercount site traffic

OneStat.com measurement avoids these difficulties by using a quantitative activity measurement technology, known as instrumentation, which allows activity to be measured from the browser. Our system requires the touch-point device (browser or wireless device) to actually view the whole page before it activates, meaning it doesn't count misleading activity from bots or spiders. This e-metrics functionality offers the most accurate measurement of activity available.

Current issues with analytical tools