Site-Analysis Service Upgraded With Real-Time FeaturesSite-Analysis Service Upgraded With Real-Time Features

WebSideStory Inc. has upgraded its HitBox Enterprise site-analysis service with real-time reporting tailored to a company's business model and to employees' specific jobs. Other enhancements are designed to make the service easier to use.

WebSideStory's hosted apps collect and analyze data about site visitors and online customers and provide analytical reports about site traffic. More businesses are opting to use hosted site analysis rather than use in-house software. Often, the chore is left to teams that manage Web sites, and those teams don't want the hassle, says Kurt Schlegel, a Meta Group analyst.

Hosted options are becoming more popular also because most site-analysis service firms, including WebSideStory, use a process called "page beaconing," which relies on bits of code embedded in Web pages to collect data. This process, Schlegel says, is more efficient than pulling data from server-based Web logs.

HitBox Enterprise 9 includes a customizable dashboard interface that shows real-time site stats. The new release has a browser plug-in that enables users to query Web-analysis data directly from a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. Other enhancements are designed to make it easier to implement the service and link it to a company's site.

HitBox Enterprise 9 is available now, priced starting at $15,000 per year, based on the number of page views and accounts and other factors. WebSideStory is also working on new hosted Web-analysis software code-named "carnivore" for debut by the end of the year with a more-flexible, -extensible architecture and the ability to deliver more detailed reports.