There are more than 100 Web analytics vendors on the market today. While they may seem to produce similar results -- colorful graphs, charts, top 10 lists and plenty of stats -- each boasts a unique value proposition.

Indeed, across the Web analytics market you'll find varied technological capabilities, price points, and levels of customer support. Some are free, others offer distinguishing innovations, and still others meet specific server or host requirements.

Price, then, is only one factor to consider when trying to find your Web analytics tool of choice. You also need to decide whether you prefer a client-side, server-side or hosted solution, which we discussed in an earlier article. You can narrow the field substantially by making that single decision. From there, it's a matter of comparing what each vendor can offer your individual business.

Goals and Metrics

Before you begin your quest for the right Web analytics vendor, determine your business goals and decide which metrics you need to assess in order to make smart Web optimization moves.

But don't stop there. Find out the tech requirements of your site to make sure your short-list of vendors offers compatible software. Of course, you'll want to get customer referrals and review contract terms.

Those steps are just the baseline of your decision-making, though. The bottom line is that the bells and whistles don't matter as much as the software's ability to solve your individual business problems, whether it's measuring sophisticated marketing campaigns from multiple angles, analyzing content preferences and affinities at an information portal, or reducing shopping cart abandonment on an e-commerce site.

"Selecting a Web analytics vendor is easy," insists Doug Judson, director of sales and marketing for WebStat, makers of NextStat Web intelligence software. "Just find the one that most closely fits your business needs, your corporate culture and your comfort needs. Fortunately, there are lots of vendors to choose from and they are all pretty good at giving you answers."

The Trial Run?

Many vendors offer a free trial run, or at least a demo, to prove they are "pretty good at giving you answers." Enterprises should begin their search for the right application by selecting a handful of vendors and requesting a demo or a standard pitch of each program's capabilities, according to Steve O'Brien, vice president of Internet Solutions Marketing at Unica Corporation, makers of NetInsight analytics. (continued...)

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