Packet Sniffers - The X-Ray Glasses of Web Analytics

One tool in a web analyst’s belt that is critical in the implementation of a web analytics solution is a packet sniffer.  A packet sniffer allows you to view the data that is being collected from your site and sent to the analytics tool’s servers.  This tool allows you to not only troubleshoot your implementation by viewing that data is currently sent, but it gives you a ton of insight as to what behavior is dependent to the type of data that is collected.    

I understand that packet sniffers have been criticized for displaying too much information, or that you must be of the “technical type” in order to decipher the image request.  There are plenty of packet sniffers available that offer a diverse amount of features that anyone can use.  In order to ease the learning curve, and to convince those of you who might be reading this with a raised brow, here are some tips that I’ve learned during the years:

Get the right packet sniffer for you – I always hear the argument that the packet sniffer is too complicated.  There are packet sniffers that offer as little as the actual request from the analytics tool or as much as the “kitchen sink.”  The idea is to match your needs with the capabilities of the tool.

Find a list of variable parameters – Another point of confusion when reading data from an image request is that the parameters don’t match the variables in the code.  You can find list of parameters with the variable that it matches from the vendor.  You can use the list to familiarize yourself with the data that is collected when you travel from page to page on your site. 

Learn how to filter your requests – Each analytics tool uses a unique identifier in their requests that can be used to filter them from other requests.  Here’s a list of the most popular tools:

·         Omniture SiteCatalyst – b/ss

·         Omniture HBX – HG

·         Google Analytics – utm

·         Webtrends – /dcsd

·         Coremetrics – /cm?

A packet sniffer not only displays what information is sent from your site, but also displays other information that can help you learn more about how your analytics solution behaves and how to improve it.  The answers might not be as polished as you may like, but that’s part of the fun.  So, what do you think, have I convinced you or confused you?