One of the things I briefly mentioned during the large group meeting at Church Tech Camp : Dallas was the importance of collecting metrics and analytics

If I remember correctly my on-the-spot-scientific-poll revealed that only a handful actively used analytic tools…

How can you know who to target or how to best promote your ministry site or organization if you don’t know who you’re currently attracting (or not)…?

I’m not sure much preaching is required.  Here are 10 decent analytic tools that are absolutely free.

They are ChurchCrunch-certified to give you goodness:

1. Piwik

Piwik is an open-source Web analytics application developed using PHP and MySQL. Sitting nicely at less than 2.0 megs for download it’s fast.  Install a few plugins (or all of them) and you’re good to go.

2. FireStats

FireStats is simple, straightforward, and is also written in PHP and MySQL.  Supports a number of different platforms, including WordPress…!  Like API stuff?  It’s got that too.

3. Snoop

Snoop is a desktop app that runs on both the Mac and the PC.  It hangs out on your system tray or status bar and can notify you when things happen.  I like noises because I zone out a lot… it’s got that too.

4. Yahoo! Web Analytics

Yahoo! Web analytics is Yahoo!’s attempt at knocking down Google’s Analytics beast.  It’s robust and good looking, I have to give it that…!  I’d seriously give it a go.

5. BBClone

BBClone is simple: Detailed overviews of traffic and visitor data.  Doesn’t use any 3rd party services either.  It likes WordPress too.

6. Woopra

Woopra is getting a lot of attention these days, and I understand why.  It has a great interface, simple management system, and you can run multiple sites and domains on this bad boy.  You can even “chat” with your users.  See if you can get a BETA registration to rock it out.

7. JAWStats

JAWStats is a like AWStats.  It actually extends it by improving performance and makes the UI better.  Good stuff. Go for it.

8. 4Q

4Q helps you with not only the “what” but also the “why” of your user data.  Check this YouTube video for more info on how easy it is to set up 4Q.

9. MochiBot

MochiBot is designed for your Flash assets. Cool! You can see who’s viewing it, who’s sharing it, and tracking it for theft or piracy.  Installing it is easy peazy.

10. Grape Web Statistics

Grape Web Statistics is a simple, open-source app for those that might call themselves code-ninjas.  Clean UI and extensible API makes it a good choice.

So, what do you use?