A comparison of Google Analytics and Mint
If you’re interested in finding out how many people visit your website, you have an almost daunting array of options. Google Analytics and Mint are some of the best available at the moment, but are very different in their scope and accuracy. I have both tracking Thunderbolt, so I can compare them side by side.
Google Analytics is the behemoth of the site statistics world and best of all, it’s free. Once you register, all you have to do is add a bit of code to each page you wish to track and then wait for the data to pour in. Analytics’ real strength comes from it’s ability to delve into the fine details of who’s visiting your site and what they’re up to. Want to know what browsers Texans are using or how long people using Firefox stay on the site compared to IE? It’s all there, recorded forever. Google Analytics also benefits from superb design, which makes finding and comparing data sets remarkably easy.
Mint is a different kind of statistics package; it sits on your server instead of living somewhere else like Google Analytics. Not only do you have to add code to each page, but you have to install the Mint software on your website too. This is easily done, but it’s an extra hurdle that some less experienced users may find a little daunting. The software also costs $30 per site, doesn’t support multiple users and has much less analytical ability than Google’s equivalent. Despite this though, Mint proves extremely valuable.
The tale of the lost visitors
Because it sits server-side, Mint never misses a thing. I assumed that Google would see every visitor and hit, but it turns out that there’s a huge difference between what Analytics reports and what Mint records. Take a look at the figures for last month:
If we assume that Mint is tracking accurately – and it should because of the way it works – then Google is losing a lot of data!
To conclude
If you’re on a budget, then Google Analytics is a fine application, but be aware that it may not be as accurate as you think. It is superb for analysing trends and identifying demographics, but for sheer accuracy, then Mint is best. Ideally you should employ both, but if you have to pick one, then at least be aware of its pitfalls.
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