Analyzing Web Logs with AWStats, Part 2
Pages: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Known Robots

• Robots listing from robotstxt.org
• Alternative robots listing from jafsoft.com

Web Caching

Improper cache management, all too common, can affect both correct content delivery and web statistics.

• Caching tutorial for web authors and webmasters
• Brian D. Davison's web caching and content delivery resources
• Mozilla link prefetching FAQ
• Microsoft post- and pre-check cache commands
• Google's Web Accelerator cache
• Web Caching by Duane Wessels

Alternative Open Source Web Log Analysis Tools

There are two significant open source alternatives to AWStats.

• Analog is an excellent technical tool offering a wealth of reporting options for a technical audience. It does not support the concept of a visitor, which makes it of little interest for business analysis.
• Webalizer is popular among many ISPs, as it is fast and simple. It has a smaller set of features than AWStats. Development appears to have stopped in 2002, leading to many problems. For example, it counts Firefox browsers as Netscape.

None of the leading open source web analytics tools includes clickstream (path) analysis, a feature usually found in "enterprise-class" commercial solutions. StatViz, available for multiple platforms, may help fill this void. I have written rudimentary StatViz installation and configuration instructions for Linux to facilitate StatViz evaluation.

AWStats is Thanks to ...

AWStats' principal author is Laurent Destailleur, eldy@users.sourceforge.net. To ensure that he maximizes his time dedicated to improving AWStats, you should use the community email addresses rather than writing him directly.

Sean Carlos is president of Antezeta, an internet consultancy focusing on Merit-Based™ search engine optimization, search engine marketing, web analytics, and web site usability.

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