Using Webalizer and AWStats in cPanel for Traffic Analysis
When you want to understand how many people are visiting your website, where they’re coming from, and what they’re doing on your site, cPanel offers two handy tools: Webalizer and AWStats. Both are web analytics programs, but each has its own style and strengths.
1. Webalizer
Webalizer gives you a visual breakdown of your website’s traffic. It’s fast and straightforward, showing you graphs, charts, and tables that summarize your site activity.
How to Use Webalizer:
- Log into cPanel.
- Scroll to the Metrics section and click on Webalizer.
- You’ll see a list of your domains. Click View next to the domain you want to analyze.
- Webalizer will show you:
- Monthly/ daily visits
- Number of hits
- Bandwidth usage
- Top URLs, referrers, and search strings
- Visitor countries
- Click on any month to drill down into more detail for that period.
Tip: Look for spikes or trends—Webalizer’s colorful graphs make it easy to spot changes over time.
2. AWStats
AWStats offers a more detailed breakdown of your web traffic, with a focus on clarity and depth. It’s great for digging deeper into your stats, such as user agents, visit duration, and how people found your site.
How to Use AWStats:
- Log into cPanel.
- In the Metrics section, click on AWStats.
- Choose the domain you want to review and click the corresponding View button.
- AWStats provides:
- Number of unique and returning visitors
- Monthly, daily, and hourly traffic breakdowns
- Most viewed pages
- Countries of your visitors
- Search engine queries and keywords
- Browsers and operating systems used
- Error reports (like 404 errors)
- You can click on different sections (like “Countries” or “Pages-URL”) to see more details.
Tip: Use AWStats to find out which content is most popular and which keywords are bringing you traffic from search engines.
Which One Should You Use?
- Webalizer is great for a quick overview, especially if you like graphs and charts.
- AWStats is your go-to for deeper, more granular details and if you want to know exactly how people are interacting with your site.
A Couple of Notes:
- Both tools analyze your server’s access logs, so stats are based on all requests (including bots).
- Neither tool filters out automated traffic by default—keep that in mind for accuracy.
- Stats are updated periodically (often daily), so real-time data might not always be available.
In summary:
Both Webalizer and AWStats are built right into cPanel to help you make sense of your website’s traffic. Log in, pick your tool, and start exploring the numbers—they can show you what’s working, what’s not, and help you make better decisions for your website’s growth!
