If you are planning an ad campaign or want to compare your site success to your online competitors, you should take a look at 4 free web tools that can be called Google Analytics alternatives: Alexa, Quantcast, Google AdPlanner, SmartViper. They measure overall traffic, explore audience portrait and highlight key site points beyond your Google Analytics reports.
Alexa
Free traffic metrics, search analytics, demographics, and more for websites
Alexa shows a site traffic rank, splits audience by geo and demographic criteria. Moreover, it displays similar sites and traffic sources. Type in your domain name and click Find button to get site analysis.
Pros: ideal for a fast research; huge indexed site database; suitable for international sites.
Cons: rather unclear traffic rank numbers
Quantcast
Measure and reach your audience like never before. Gain key audience insights
Quantcast is a great tool for both market researchers and website owners. It shows traffic, provides audience picture. For researchers, Quantcast allows to create an account to search for a certain audience type. For webmasters, it helps to index a site directly and double-check your traffic with Quantcast.
Pros: clear traffic numbers, ideal for US site research; web account availability.
Cons: inappropriate for non-US sites.
Google AdPlanner/DoubleClick AdPlanner
Create lists of websites where you’d like to advertise. Generate aggregated website statistics for your media plan.
AdPlanner is a Google tool to analyze websites. It shows clear and sufficient site traffic information. You can see a site audience, geo origins, related sub-domains and top keyword searches for the site.
Pros: clear traffic numbers, huge indexed site database, ideal analytics tool for all countries.
Cons: not much info about new or small traffic sites.
SmartViper
SmartViper – a web service that collects and analyzes any data about domains and keywords they are optimized for.
SmartViper is an awesome tool for a deep analysis. Enter a domain name, click Search button and go to your site page from the suggested sites list. You will be surprised by detailed tables, charts, keywords lists, homepage click map, SEO ranks.
Pros: ideal for deep researches and analysis, huge indexed site database
Cons: not much info about new or small traffic sites.
You keep it up now, understand? Really good to know.