When looking at web analytics, there is always the face-off, the showdown – which tracking method of the two to use should I use? Logfiles or Pagetags?

In recent years, logfiles seems to be getting less and less attention, less dedicated software solutions & less talk.  Most of big players now are all using Javatag solutions, with little to no mention of any logfiles.  Several years ago, this was a different story. With Javatags in their infancy, logfiles were a readily available method of tracking a site that anyone could work with, and there were some excellent software packages out there to analyse them.  The most widely recognised one left to my knowledge would be ClickTracks.

Outlined below is an overall comparison between the two methods of tracking.  There is no right or wrong one to choose, but their maybe a preferable method of tracking for you, based on your experience, setup, & resources.

Log Files

When you load a web page in your web browser (Internet Explorer etc.), a request for the page is made to a web server; the server then returns the page. Whenever the server does this and any other task, such as loading images or Flash content, it records the actions it takes in a log file. The log file stores data on who requested the page, what site referred them to your site, what time they made the request, what page/image/object was requested etc.

Logs can then be thoroughly processed through various pieces of software, which allow you to extract relevant information about your site, and to manipulate and filter this information.

Page Tags

Using a piece of JavaScript code in each page of your website allows tracking through software. Every time the page is requested the JavaScript automatically runs in the web browser and sends information to a log file or database stored on a remote server which can then be processed to reveal relevant information.

Page tagging also allows access to capture user data such as screen resolution, screen colour depth and the java version they are running (allowing you to see how user friendly your website is), etc.

Comparison

There is no right or wrong method, just simply two methods of measuring – different methods may suit different requirements of the user. Below is a simple comparison.




As you can see each has advantages and disadvantages, combining methods can be used, but results from these are not really comparable because of the differences in collection.

More and more vendors are providing flexible solutions to be able to filter and manipulate pagetag information in the same way that logfile analysis can be. It’s been a while coming and pagetag solutions have been playing catch-up, but they are getting closer. Coremetrics Explore, for example, allows detailed segmenting & filtering across endless data fields and reports, albeit in a slightly long winded way. Unfortunately, you are still tied into a vendor contract with no access to the physical data itself, but you do get a detailed pagetag solution with lots of extras.

When conducting any online analytics the most important aspect is to ensure all data being analysed is derived via the same method and is therefore robust and comparable.