Tracking & Testing - Introducing "Statto" and "Testo"

Yes I know it's not likely to win creative product name of the year but Statto isn't about creativity, or pretty interfaces (sorry). Statto is about numbers. Accurate, realtime, IP-specific page-view-level numbers and nothing else.

Till recently Statto has been a priviledge reserved for my hosting customers, for whom it is, and probably always will be free.

However, recently I've had some situations where I've been forced to use it on other servers (i.e. not the same server as the statto system runs on) and whilst that does somewhat undermine the fundamental idea of having the maximum accuracy from being on the same server, the results were actually still pretty good, especially since everything happens in a single http call for maximum efficiency.

The info was certainly good enough to be able to draw useful conclusions from and that's actually all that matters here. So basically I decided to make Statto available as a hosted service for people not hosted on my servers.

I wrote the first version of Statto in 2003, long before analytics was made available by google. We're a few versions on by now but the basics principle still applies as well now as it did then, and perhaps the fact that it worked in the days of 33.6 modems means it runs super-well now.

It has remained called Statto 2004 as a reminder to from whence it came and to keep the main thing the main thing.

Compared to a phenomenal package like Analytics, Statto looks (and is) pretty basic and it's so far only been an in-house tool so it's definitely a bit low-tech here and there. The thing is that whilst Analytics is fantastic for the high-level stuff, it can't do realtime, pageview-level info. Statto does exactly that.

Statto is the hand-compass you use in a storm while your GPS is trying to find a signal. It won't plot a course for you but it'll tell you if you're facing the wrong way, and with new paid traffic campaigns or when beginning optimisation, that's normally the main thing that's needed.

Why do I need realtime, pageview level info?
When you're seeing your adwords dollars vanish at an alarming rate but have no idea why your visitors aren't buying, or what they're even doing on the site, then you could possibly do with Statto.

Many of my clients are just starting out in earnest with online paid advertising and to suddenly lose £20 on clicks in an hour can be pretty scary, so to then have no idea what actually happened to it, where it went or what the people we spent it on did (other than buy) just doesn't wash.

With Statto I can show them exactly what happened and normally we'll have learned something from that which means we can move forward towards profitability. If you're getting lots of bounces, perhaps the landing page needs re-working. The visitors all get to the checkout but nobody completes the process? Perhaps we need to check that the checkout works as it should. This and a hundred other questions are ones which cannot easily be answered accurately and *as it happens* in Analytics. They can with Statto. It's the only reason I still use it on ALL my sites (alongside Analytics).

I only recently realised that Statto is the common factor in practically every successful commercial site I've put together. It was what turned ECP from heamorraging cash in adwords quicker than we could count it out the door into a 8:1 ROI machine in a matter of weeks. It's what has allowed me to optimise the *hell* out of my Acidgfx mailer signup process which has meant I can grow my mailing list at a very nice rate indeed for not a lot of investment. No guessing, Tested, Tested and then Tested Again.

Won't server logs give me the same info?
Yes, server logs will also give you page-level specific data but there the problem is that you have too *much* data... after all, every little graphic and file is a valid http call so it gets logged. Yes you can get absolutely superb info from server logs and ultimately they are the *absolute* reference to what happened (vs a remote-call system like analytics or statto) but there the task is to filter out all the irrelevant stuff. If you only want to know whether blue or red headline works better then you really don't care about all the other stuff.

With Statto you just measure what you want and whilst not perfect, by now it's well and truly battle-tested and capable of being a seriously useful tool in the right hands...in fact that's actually why it's being made available, not because of it's awesome interface (sorry).

Statto also incorporates a simple but effective method for running split-tests on one or more pages on your site cunningly named "Testo".

Actually implementing Testo on a server-side script takes a little bit of know-how but I'm actually happy to help new signups since they're people who have realised the value of testing, which is something I respect since they are far too few in number. I've got working examples on both asp and php and even .net at a push. This site actually uses the new php implementation.

Statto's output is not dissimilar to "watching the matrix" and whilst it doesn't do awesome 3d charts, the very immediacy of the data means you can quickly get a feel for what's going on with your traffic.

This is particularly useful when entering or testing in aggressive PPC markets when trying to find that initial profitability.

If you're buying clicks at £2.50 each, damn-right you want to see what each visitor's doing until you know for sure you've got your marketing message right. *Then* you can worry about the high-level stuff in Analytics.

Using Statto/Testo It's possible to measure both server-side-script-testing variables as well as client-side-script-testing variables (at the same time if need be). So far I've only run this on sites I host since I believe remote call systems like this and analytics are susceptible to errors and can result in "lost" clicks which can lead to marketing decisions made on incorrect data.

Since Statto normally runs on the same server as the website itself the speed is as good as it can feasibly be for maximum tracking accuracy.

Don't let the fact that the "Testo" element involves a "post-it" as part of the results-tallying process put you off. This is about simplicity and what has proven itself in the heat of battle.

As it happens in a normal A/B test, on a 7x12cm post-it you can comfortably fit about 100 results per side. If you've got say 150 results of an action, that's enough info to start drawing conclusions...so why use something more complex?

So far in the situations where testo has been used in this way we opted to get the results of the test NOW by hand rather than wait till we'd had time to write a new feature to tally the results. Also practically everyone already knows how to work a post-it so explaining how to use it is a doddle.

Got bigger tests to run? Use Google's website optimiser (or wait till we finish the high-volume version of testo...coming soon).

One Caveat.. I'm only going to accept one client for Statto from each business sector. Since initially I'd have to assist in setting up the system and walk you through the first couple of tests it would be a conflict of interests for me to allow two competing companies to use the system and I don't even want to get involved in that mess. So if you apply and get turned down/refunded - it's because your competition are using it...sorry - too late.

Statto costs £10/month for up to 50k calls/month. Just buy for a month if you like, no notice required. Don't renew and it goes off at the end of the month. Please buy as many months as you like or book for a year and get a month free. For sites with over 50k/month calls needed please get in touch.

Statto : 1 month subscription


Statto : 12 month subscription (one month free)