Analytics — as in Google Analytics. Used it for years but actually never used it. Meaning, I couldn’t make sense of the data. Not that there isn’t sufficient educational resources out there to teach me how to make sense of GA but it made my head spin. I know, that’s probably not the thing to admit as a web designer but truth.
Then a few weeks ago, I started using Clicky and immediately fell in love. Didn’t have to spend hours learning how to use and decipher the data; it just made sense. Accessible, meaningful and intuitively organized. Now, I actually enjoy reviewing activity on my site. Do it first thing every morning.
And, with the Clicky Analytics plugin installed, my entire Clicky Analytics dashboard and data load within my WordPress dashboard!
Even if you are a Google Analytics Geek, here a few reasons you may want to consider switching to, or adding, Clicky Analytics to your analytics arsenal.
Real-time, on-site analytics
That’s right, real-time data. Google Analytics can take an entire day to populate traffic and visitor information. Clicky provides up-to-the-minute analytics, allowing you to view, analyze and react to visitor events as they happen.
Individual visitor information
Unlike Google Analytics, Clicky provides detailed information on each individual user — IP addresses, Internet service provider (ISP), location, operating system, Web browser, referrer, visit length, sessions and actions during a specific visit, and more. If you have a membership site or require users to log in to your site, you can also include usernames and emails in your tracking data, thus allowing you track membership activity.
Detailed heat mapping
And how cool is this! Heat-mapping capabilities, which give you a holistic view of what visitors are doing and whether your website is meeting its traffic goals. The heat-map feature shows information like where visitors are clicking on pages, and can be segmented by goal or visitor sessions. You can also go to any Web page and view heat maps in real time, right on the page being viewed.
On-site Analytics
On-site analytics embeds a widget on the bottom right corner of your web site so you can view information about your visitors who are on your web site right now. Only you can see this and only when you are logged into your WordPress dashboard.
Alerts
Another notable feature is Clicky’s alert system. This feature notifies you of specific events, based on triggers, so you never miss out on important information. Triggers include new visitors, goals, campaigns, searches, referrers, IP tags and custom data.
Cost
Clicky is free to use for one website, but is limited to basic features and 3,000 total daily page views. A Pro Plus account, starting at $9.99 a month or $79.99 per year, is required to track additional websites and access on-site analytics, heat maps and other premium features.
While Google Analytics may be free, it just doesn’t work for me. I’m happy to pay for Clicky Pro and I think, after seeing what Clicky provides, you may be as well.
p.s. not an affiliate link! I just love Clicky and think you may as well.
