I often get asked why I always choose server logs over data from Google Analytics. But let me clarify.

I don’t always do this and I don’t discount Google Analytics either. The reason why I like to use both and much prefer server logs than Google Analytics is that the data from a server is always going to be the most accurate. Google Analytics is known to miss a few things and is more useful in identifying trends.

Server logs gives you raw data which is useful for quick facts. Google Analytics makes it all pretty and gives you more readable data, or rather, data that is more accessible to the lay public.

Google Analytics is a great tool that is also free but I don’t recommend that you discount server logs altogether.