No one likes to be scammed, yet we all like to take advantage of free services that benefit us in some way.  It is important not to let the idea of saving money cloud our vision. One of the newest trends on the web is to offer free website monitoring or free uptime reports. These "solutions" offer to monitor your website in exchange for your email address and the website address. The idea is that the solution provider will randomly check on your website to make sure it is available and accessible, then they will send a report. In theory this is a great idea and seems very plausible.

Here is the reality. The Diva has an associate that tried the free service. It seemed to work great at first and all was well. About four weeks ago my associate took down her website to update and add content. My associate forgot to cancel the service but didn't realize it until the free uptime report came. Unbelievably, the report showed 100% uptime. My associate was intrigued so instead of canceling the free service she continued to allow the free uptime reports to arrive in here inbox. She has received four reports all claiming that the site is working fine and has experienced and average of 99.99% uptime. This is impossible! The website is not parked or under construction it is completely unavailable and doesn't come up at all!

When you are starting a business it is important to remember that free doesn't always equal a good deal. The website monitoring service seemed invaluable since it could be accessed from the web at anytime. If you are interested in monitoring your website traffic and uptime there are a variety of reputable options that offer free and paid services and free trials.

Here are some tools to investigate:


Google Analytics

Visitorville

Stat Counter

OneStat


In addition it is important to check on the services that your hosting provider offers. Go Daddy offers a variety of tools and depending on the website hosting package you have many of the analytics are included. Of course there is never any harm in getting a second opinion and comparing the information.