I really liked the Urchin reports for the amount of finite detail they provided but GA offers a lot of easy, built in functionality. At one point I was using both to try and figure out what was really happening on our web sites. Eva, You can do "Event" tracking for reporting PDF and document downloads. We use it to track when someone clicks an outbound link from our site. I found this page<http://www.blastam.com/blog/index.php/2011/04/how-to-track-downloads-in-google-analytics/>which walks you through creating an event for downloads: On Thu, Apr 25, 2013 at 3:52 PM, Eva C Young <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > In general I like Google analytics better - except for the inability to > obtain accurate reports on hosted pdfs, word documents, excel documents and > power point documents. > > Eva > > > On Thu, Apr 25, 2013 at 3:41 PM, Andria Waclawski <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > >> As I understand it (and I know some of you out there know much more than >> I do), a key difference lies in Urchin’s analysis of server log files and >> GA's javascript tagging. While Urchin may give richer results (because it >> can access more data), GA allows for advanced segmentation, benchmark >> analysis, and event tracking. >> >> Maybe that doesn't help with the interpreting discrepancies part... >> >> /Andria >> >> >> On Thu, Apr 25, 2013 at 3:23 PM, Ann Nordby <[log in to unmask]> wrote: >> >>> Hi: >>> Can anyone advise me on how to interpret Google Analytics numbers versus >>> Urchin? >>> >>> Urchin is telling me that our website's visit numbers dropped >>> significantly over the past year, while GA says we had significant growth. >>> GA's absolute numbers are lower, of course, but the trends are totally >>> different. >>> >>> Can anyone advise on which to believe, how to interpret, etc? >>> >>> Apologies for cross posts; I know both groups use these tools. >>> Thanks. >>> Ann >>> -- >>> >>> *Ann Nordby* >>> Web Manager >>> *University of Minnesota | *Extension Center for Youth Development >>> 1-612-624-9343 >>> [log in to unmask] >>> extension.umn.edu/youth <http://www1.extension.umn.edu/youth> >>> Read our blog! Youth Development Insight<http://www1.extension.umn.edu/youth/research/> >>> >>> >>> >> >> >> -- >> *Andria **Waclawski* >> Creative Services Lead >> Office of the VP for Research <http://www.research.umn.edu/> >> University of Minnesota >> [log in to unmask] >> 612.625.6093 >> >> *Stay connected via our >> research blog <http://researchumn.com/> & business blog<http://businessumn.com/> >> * >> > > > > -- > Eva C Young > Policy Librarian > University Policy Office > Office of Institutional Compliance > Voice: 612-624-4372 > Email: [log in to unmask] > Web: http://www.policy.umn.edu > -- .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .... .. .. .. .. .. Theresa Tichich Web and Multimedia Services Manager College of Design University of Minnesota 32 McNeal Hall St. Paul, MN 55108 612-626-5968 [log in to unmask] *"That's impossible. Let's do it!" *Robert Noyce