Footprint: real-time web stats, for free

While Google Analytics is a great product, one of the most frustrating aspects of it is the lack of any data about what’s happening right now with your site’s traffic.

In these days of the real-time web, shouldn’t we have real-time web stats too? That’s where Footprint comes in.

Using a chunk of Javascript code on the pages you want to track, this service from a Netherlands-based team allows you to see information about what pages users are looking at in real-time. All the usual data that you would expect about their ISPs, operating systems and browsers is available for each user, as well as individual users’ paths through your content.

As a free product this is definitely worth a look, although it’s worth noting that Clicky offers a real-time tracking service as part of its paid-for full-featured analytics package. If you’re using Google, or another free stats service though, Footprint could be the perfect companion for when you’re feeling nosey about just what your visitors are doing.