I found this post on Snydney Sense today about actionable analytics and I have to chime in with total agreement. Just looking at pageviews or visitors is nice, but it tells you very little about your site and gives you nothing to do to improve or manage your site. As Dave puts it:
What do you do once you know your visitor count? Try to get more? What does that mean to conversion and revenue?Using your analytics to test theories and improve your site is a much better use of the numbers than just proudly thinking "I got 1000 more pageviews this week" or morosely crying "I got 500 fewer visitors this week". When you think of your analytics in terms of actions (both that you take in reference to the numbers and the actions your customers take) you'll have a marketing tool rather than a pile of numbers.
I also have found that different stat sites leave different page views or unique visitors and it can be helpful to host more then one stat counter on your site.
I appreciate your comment left on my site today regarding my view on uniques.
trisha
http://www.momdot.com
That’s a great point, Trisha. By using multiple analytics programs, you increase your accuracy, and it can help you find inconsistencies.