AWStats is a web analytics tool built into cPanel that shows you how many visitors your website receives, which pages they view, where they come from, and more. This guide explains how to access and understand your website statistics.
Step 1: Open AWStats
- Log in to your cPanel account.
- In the Metrics section, click AWStats.
- Select your domain from the list.
- AWStats will open with your website's statistics.
Step 2: Understanding the Key Metrics
- Unique Visitors: Number of individual people who visited your site.
- Number of Visits: Total sessions (one person may visit multiple times).
- Pages: Total pages viewed (hits minus images and files).
- Bandwidth: Total data transferred (in MB or GB).
- Top Pages: Most visited pages on your site — useful for understanding what content is popular.
- Referrers: Websites that linked to your site and sent visitors.
- Search Keywords: Terms people searched for to find your site (if available).
- Browsers and OS: Which browsers and operating systems your visitors use.
- Countries: Geographic location of your visitors.
Step 3: Update Your Statistics
- AWStats updates once per day (typically around midnight server time).
- To force an update: click the Update now link at the top of the AWStats page (if available).
- Today's statistics may not appear until tomorrow's update runs.
Step 4: Enable/Disable AWStats
If AWStats is not available for your domain, ask your hosting provider (via support ticket) to enable it. It is controlled at the WHM level under Tweak Settings → Stats Programs.
Important Notes
- AWStats data starts collecting from the day your account was created. Historical data before that is not available.
- AWStats tracks server log data — it does not use JavaScript tracking (unlike Google Analytics). This means it captures all requests, including bots and crawlers.
- If you use Cloudflare or another CDN, some visits may not appear in AWStats because they are served from the CDN cache without hitting your server. Use Cloudflare's analytics for complete data.
- AWStats is available per domain and per subdomain.
- Statistics are processed at a specific time set by your hosting provider. Check with support if you are unsure when updates occur.
Troubleshooting
- AWStats icon is missing in cPanel: Your hosting provider may have disabled AWStats for your account. Contact support to have it enabled.
- Statistics show 0 visitors: AWStats may not have processed your logs yet. Wait until after midnight server time and check again. Also verify your website is accessible and receiving traffic.
- Statistics seem too high (inflated numbers): AWStats counts all requests including bots, crawlers, and image requests. The "Unique Visitors" metric is more reliable than "Pages" or "Hits".
- Cannot see today's data: AWStats processes logs once daily. Today's data will appear after the next update cycle (usually overnight). Click "Update now" if available for an immediate refresh.
- Want more detailed analytics: Consider using Google Analytics for visitor-level tracking, or Cloudflare Analytics if you use Cloudflare. These provide more granular data than AWStats.
Need help? Contact our support team.
