Urchin 6 is Now Google Analytics

Newfangled has been providing Urchin website traffic stats to our clients for several years. Our July 2004 newsletter, "Analyzing Website Traffic," provides an overview of how Urchin works and how to review its reports to glean important insights into a site's performance. This month's newsletter won't be a comprehensive review of Urchin 6 since all the standard information from Urchin 5 is still part of the new system.

Urchin provides a critical perspective on website traffic patters and trends. In contrast to Newfangled's custom tracking system, Urchin provides a bird's eye view of site trends. It offers a vast amount of information detailing overall site usage. (Newfangled's tracking system is a worm's eye view following particular instances and specific user sessions... see "Advanced Website Tracking Tools" for details).

Urchin 6 (now Google Analytics) was a long-awaited upgrade that was worth the wait. One basic improvement is live stats, which compile access logs on the fly rather than only compiling nightly. Many of Urchin's upgrades focus on tools that improve measuring return on investment for pay-per-click search engine ads and other online marketing campaigns. But because Newfangled is more intent on improving organic search engine results, I won't be reviewing the marketing and goal-setting features (though they are impressive). Instead, I'll be covering three new features that will be helpful to all websites, whether they purchase AdWords or not.