HitsLink vs. Optimal

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
HitsLink
Score 9.0 out of 10
N/A
HitLinks is an inexpensive web analytics tools providing page view and unique visitor data to smaller site. Customers tend to be media sites with fairly simple analytics needs. The tools requires that some code be appended to all pages to be tracked, and does not offer any social media tracking.
$19.95
Optimal
Score 9.0 out of 10
N/A
Optimal Workshop, a company in New Zealand, offers their suite of user research tools on a subscription basis, including the Treejack information architecture tool, OptimalSort card sorting test, Chalkmark first-click testing, and other tools.
$2,388
per year
Pricing
HitsLinkOptimal
Editions & Modules
10,000 Page Views
$19.95
25,000 Page Views
$24.95
50,000 Page Views
$29.95
Starter
$2388
per year
Enterprise
Custom
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
HitsLinkOptimal
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
HitsLinkOptimal
Considered Both Products
HitsLink

No answer on this topic

Optimal
Chose Optimal
For the price as it is very convenient for first-time beginners, its intuitiveness both for the one who is designing the activities and for those who have to interact with them. The fact that it collects and gathers the data into insights of the overall responses collected by …
Chose Optimal
Optimal seems a little more friendly in terms of setting up tests. We do use UserTesting as well, but it felt like that experience has more in-depth workflows to blast a test. Optimal Workshop feels like it is easy to quickly set up one test and then launch it immediately.
Chose Optimal
Optimal Workshop has many different research study tools beyond just surveys.
Chose Optimal
Optimal Workshop is worse than its competitors, and I only tried it because of the price. Huge mistake.
Chose Optimal
Optimal Workshop was the best tool that provided just what we needed and not anything more. The price point was also perfect for us as it provided room to try it out and then jump into a bigger package.
Best Alternatives
HitsLinkOptimal
Small Businesses
StatCounter
StatCounter
Score 9.0 out of 10
Smartlook
Smartlook
Score 8.2 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Siteimprove
Siteimprove
Score 10.0 out of 10
Optimizely Web Experimentation
Optimizely Web Experimentation
Score 8.7 out of 10
Enterprises
Optimal
Optimal
Score 9.0 out of 10
Optimizely Web Experimentation
Optimizely Web Experimentation
Score 8.7 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
HitsLinkOptimal
Likelihood to Recommend
9.0
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
9.0
(0 ratings)
8.0
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
8.9
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
HitsLinkOptimal
Likelihood to Recommend
If you're looking for a comprehensive, user-friendly web analytics tool, you should definitely consider Hitslink. Before you subscribe to the software, take a test run on their Demo version of the site, as it behaves exactly like the full professional version. The biggest disadvantage is that Google+ registered users' search engine traffic data will be mostly (if not completely) blocked. However, this drawback is rarely a significant hindrance to analyzing your website's traffic, but it is something to be aware of.
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The tools are great for user researchers who have a solid foundation with IA research methods, or are willing to learn them while using the tools. However they don't magically create valid IA studies; someone with no IA research experience may struggle to use the tools and/or run studies resulting in poor quality data.
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Pros
  • View website traffic stats and trends in user-friendly charts, graphs, and lists.
  • Easily parses out website users by search engine, search term, geographic location, referral website, and other specific characteristics.
  • Shows which websites users are coming from, what pages on your site they've landed on and which ones they leave your site from.
  • Gives statistics on how long users are viewing specific pages, which allows for the analyzing of the effectiveness of each webpage on a website.
  • Easily view real-time as well as long-term traffic statistics
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  • Optimal Workshop's UI and UX are impeccable. It's incredibly easy to use and set up tests even for novices.
  • Optimal Workshop's test type offerings are fantastic. They have almost anything you could need within the platform.
  • Optimal Workshop's payment options are incredibly reasonable and useful whether you're doing very few tests or a lot of tests.
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Cons
  • Specific information such as search term and geographic location is blocked for users coming into your site through Google who are also signed into a Google+ account, making it increasingly more difficult to analyze trends as more and more people acquire Google+ accounts. This is part of Google's strategy to make companies pay them directly through their Google Analytics software, and it is working against services like Hitslink.
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  • The recruitment panelists are not professional, nor do they take the tasks seriously. You are going to get a lot of bad data.
  • They are HQ'd outside the US and must have a small team because the customer service is the absolute WORST I've experienced in their industry.
  • They pride themselves on documentation, but when they fail to document something they blame the customer for the mistake.
  • There are way too many limitations with the tool after you launch, limited integrations, and poor survey questionnaire options. The tool itself is far too basic for most sites, especially B2B.
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Likelihood to Renew
Hitslink is as useful as it is user-friendly. I haven't seen another website analytics tool as comprehensive and at the same time straightforward as this service. The only downside of Hitslink is Google's blocking of information from its registered Google+ users to the software. As Google+ continues to reign in more of the population, I can see this being a significant problem for Hitslink to overcome. However, there is still a vast majority of search engine users whose actions are visible through Hitslink, and as long as this stays the case, the service will be an invaluable tool for website administrators.
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No answers on this topic
Usability
The service is incredibly intuitive and very easy to learn. The only drawback is not having a mobile-optimized website to easily view website reports on the go. But on a PC or Mac, Hitslink is as user friendly as it gets. I have yet to see a navigation system on any SaaS website that makes a service that is this comprehensive seem so straight-forward.
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I would rate Optimal Workshop's overall usability 9 out of 10 due to several key factors. Firstly, the platform has a user-friendly interface makes navigation straightforward, even for first-time users. The tools and features are well-organized, ensuring users can quickly find what they need without unnecessary complexity. Secondly, the platform is highly intuitive, meaning users can easily understand how to perform tasks without extensive guidance. This is supported by clear and concise instructions throughout the application, reducing the learning curve significantly.
Additionally, the learnability of Optimal Workshop is exceptional. New users can become proficient in a short amount of time, thanks to its well-thought-out design and helpful onboarding materials. Even more advanced features are presented in a way that feels approachable and manageable. Finally, the platform supports a seamless workflow, allowing users to focus on their research or tasks rather than struggling with the software. These qualities collectively make Optimal Workshop a reliable and efficient tool for many projects, justifying its high usability rating.
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Support Rating
No answers on this topic
We’ve never had to use much of their support services since the platform is very easy to use, we have however needed to transfer ownership between team members due to people leaving or other circumstances. Under those situations, the support offered to us has been been very quick and efficient and we never had to nudge them much to get the job done.
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Alternatives Considered
No answers on this topic
Optimal Workshop was the best tool that provided just what we needed and not anything more. The price point was also perfect for us as it provided room to try it out and then jump into a bigger package
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Return on Investment
  • Faster lead conversion
  • Improvement of the effectiveness of landing pages (and all webpages on our sites for that matter)
  • Increased employee efficiency by allowing us to make targeted changes to webpages in real time
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  • Optimal Workshop has provided a very low-risk, quick testing ground for navigation menus. So while the full impact cannot be determined, we are happy we are using Optimal Workshop, and are gaining benefits from it.
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ScreenShots