MARKETING

Why You Should Be Considering a Google Analytics Alternative   Are you struggling to navigate the complexities of Google Analytics 4 just to understand where your website traffic is coming from? According to reddit, you’re not alone. The shift to GA4 has left many marketers feeling lost in a sea of confusing interfaces and less intuitive data, making what should be simple analyses feel like deciphering an ancient script. This frustration is widely shared, as users grapple with the steep learning curve and lack of straightforward reporting that was once a staple of its predecessor. Enter Abralytics—a streamlined, Google Analytics alternative designed to cut through the complexity and bring clarity to your analytics efforts. Imagine GA4 alternative that not only simplifies your data but also enhances your ability to act on it, all without the hassle of endless configuration. With Abralytics, you’re not just overcoming the limitations of GA4; you’re setting a new standard for how data drives your business decisions.   The Case for an Alternative to Google Analytics 4 ‍ Users have become frustrated with GA4, and I don’t blame them‍   The transition to Google Analytics 4 (GA4) has not been smooth for many businesses. While GA4 promises advanced features and insights, the reality for most users is a platform that feels more like a step back than a leap forward. This is not just about nostalgia for the old ways; it’s about practicality, efficiency, and accessibility in data analytics. In this blog post, we will delve into several key areas where GA4 may fall short for businesses, and how an alternative like Abralytics could bridge that gap: Complex Setup and Learning Curve: We’ll explore why GA4’s setup and learning curve can be prohibitive for many, especially for those without technical expertise. Data Accessibility and Reporting Issues: Discuss the challenges with data granularity and the creation of meaningful reports in GA4. Privacy and Compliance Concerns: Examine how GA4’s approach to data privacy may not align with all business needs or regulatory requirements. Abralytics as a User-Friendly Alternative: Highlight how Abralytics addresses these issues with its intuitive design and user-centric features. Following these topics, we’ll dive deep into the nuts and bolts of why choosing an alternative might not just be a preference but a strategic necessity for many businesses. Get ready to see how Abralytics can turn the tide on analytics frustrations, offering a clearer, more efficient, and more compliant way to understand your data.   Tackling the Steep Learning Curve of Google Analytics 4 ‍ Google Analytics 4 represents a significant departure from its predecessor, Universal Analytics, in both functionality and user interface. This shift brings with it a set of challenges that can be especially daunting for users without a strong technical background. ‍Completely New Interface: GA4 introduces a completely redesigned interface that, while powerful, is substantially different from what users have grown accustomed to in Universal Analytics. The navigation paths, menu layouts, and even the terminology used are new. This unfamiliarity requires users to essentially relearn the system from scratch, which can be a time-consuming and frustrating experience. Event-Based Tracking Model: Unlike the more straightforward session-based model used by Universal Analytics, GA4 operates on an event-based data model. This means that interactions are tracked as individual events, which offers greater flexibility but also adds complexity. Users must now set up and customize events to track specific interactions, a process that requires a deeper understanding of both the platform and the underlying analytics concepts. Advanced Tagging and Configuration Needs: Setting up GA4 often involves advanced tagging setups using Google Tag Manager or modifying website code to track the correct data. This level of configuration demands technical skills that not all users possess, potentially leading to incomplete or incorrect data collection if not implemented properly. The combination of a new interface, a complex event-based tracking system, and advanced configuration requirements, makes GA4’s setup and learning curve prohibitive for many users, particularly those without technical expertise. This can lead to frustration and potential disengagement with the analytics tool, impacting the ability of businesses to effectively monitor and analyze their online traffic and performance. A google analytics alternative like Abralytics can mitigate this frustration ‍ “Google Analytics was too complicated. I save 2 hours every week with Abralytics.”   Ryan McK – Founder of Subversive Design Agency Start your 30-day free trial No credit card required Cancel anytime Navigating the Complexities of Data Accessibility and Reporting in GA4 Diving into Google Analytics 4 can feel like stepping into a thick fog, where clarity and detail are obscured by complexity. This shift has introduced several significant challenges that impact how users access and report on their data. Reduced Data Granularity: GA4 has moved away from the session-based data model familiar to many users, opting instead for an event-based model. This change, while flexible, often results in less granular data. Users find themselves unable to access the same detailed level of user behavior metrics they depended on in Universal Analytics. The aggregated nature of GA4’s reporting complicates the task of drilling down into the specifics of individual user actions or page-level interactions.‍ Complex Reporting Interface: The interface of GA4 is not just different; it’s more complex. Users accustomed to the straightforward, intuitive reports of Universal Analytics are now met with a platform that requires navigating through a more complicated setup to create meaningful reports. This complexity can be a barrier, especially for those who are not deeply versed in analytics, making it difficult to quickly pull out the insights needed to inform business decisions.‍ Custom Report Creation: While GA4 offers customization in reporting with explorations, this feature is a double-edged sword. The ability to create custom reports, although powerful, demands a higher level of expertise and a deeper understanding of the system. For many users, this means either a steep learning curve or the need to rely on experts, which can delay access to critical data and insights necessary for agile business operations.‍ Inadequate Historical Data Comparison: One of

  In order to analyze the success of your website, you need a reliable analytics tool to track a visitor’s engagement across your site and products. The big question, though, is, which analytics tool is right for you? Before making potentially costly decisions, ensure you’ve found the best analytics solution for your business.  There are a few key considerations. The analytics solution must:  suit your business goals,  be price-friendly relative to your business size, offer advanced analytics solutions relevant to your needs, Allow mutual integration with tons of other marketing tools, comply with data privacy requirements, and  feature an easy-to-use interface.  So, if you’re looking for a top-tier analytics platform and want to compare Piwik with OWA before making a decision, keep reading. ‍ This article compares the two tools and focuses on their similarities, core differences, and which is the best tool for various audience types.   What Is Piwik Analytics (now Matomo)?‍ To begin, the important thing to note is that Piwik is now called Matomo, and “Piwik Pro” is a separate product. In this article, we will focus on Matomo, an open source analytics platform that uses PHP and MySQL to provide extensive information about your website and its visitors. The report also provides: user demographic data browsing patterns interactions with your site’s content the source of your traffic conversion rates (or bounce rates). With this, you can examine what in your marketing funnel increases conversions and what doesn’t. ‍ In addition, Piwik grants you full ownership of the data on your website, so nobody else can access your website’s data without your permission.   Source: Matomo ‍ What Is Open Web Analytics (OWA)?  Open Web Analytics, or OWA, is free, open-source software that lets you track and monitor how users interact with your websites and applications. Besides, OWA offers website owners and developers simple JavaScript, PHP, or REST-based APIs that make it simple to integrate web analytics into their websites. Additionally, the analytics platform has built-in support for tracking websites created using well-known content management systems like WordPress and MediaWiki.   The Core Similarities Between Piwik And OWA   As Google Analytics alternatives, Piwik and OWA have several similar features. Now, let’s have a look at them before discussing their differences.  Open Source Web Analytics  ‍ First, both tools are fully open-source web analytics. So, the code is available for anyone to read and inspect on GitHub. You can read and review it to learn how it works and to ensure that the data is kept private and secure. Because of their transparency and openness, you can trust open-source tools better than proprietary and closed-source ones. Installation And Maintenance  ‍ OWA will need to be installed and maintained on your own server. ‍ Installing your analytics on the same server as your website is usually good. If your site is down, your analytics tool can’t collect any data, so it won’t matter whether the analytics code is functional. Open Web Analytics ‍ Piwik and OWA are both developed in the open to encourage user feedback and suggestions.  ‍ For instance, you can look at the Piwik project’s public roadmap and add (or vote on) your preferred feature recommendation. 100% Data Ownership ‍ With Piwik or OWA, you have complete control and ownership over all website stats and other data collected.  ‍ So, you don’t need to be concerned about anybody else gaining access to the information on your website.  ‍ Unlike Google Analytics, neither visitor’s information nor any behavioral data are shared with or sold to third parties for advertising purposes .  User Tracking Features ‍   ‍Source: OWA ‍ As two of the best Google Analytics alternatives, Piwik and OWA let you see how users engage with your website pages with features like the heatmap tool and click tracking.  ‍ Both tools provide this feature by recording visitor clicks and mouse movements on your web page, the scroll activities of your users, and pinpointing the areas of your sites that your visitors find most useful.   The Core Differences Between Piwik And OWA Besides their user interface and other features, the core differences between Piwik and OWA are as follows:  Pricing Models: Piwik Vs. OWA  ‍ Piwik has two models – Matomo Cloud and Matomo On-Premise. ‍ On the other hand, Open Web Analytics (OWA) has just one plan – Free.  ‍ Piwik (Matomo) On-Premise ‍ This version of Piwik is free. To get started, you need to host it on your web server. However,  you can purchase some extra bundles for better analytics. ‍ Some of these bundles are SEO Web Vitals (starting at $86.67/year), multi-channel conversion attribution (starting at $86.67/year), and Roll-Up reporting (starting at $218.33/year). ‍ Piwik (Matomo) Cloud This version of Piwik is cloud-hosted and comes at a price that varies with your site’s traffic and use. The price ranges from $0(21 Day free trial) to $15,250 annually.  ‍ Open Web Analytics (OWA)  Open Web Analytics is free of charge. To start, you only need to install the tool on your web host.  ‍ With these three easy steps, you can install OWA – download OWA, upload files via FTP, and configure the database name.  ‍ Being a framework has several benefits, one of which is how adaptable OWA is. It can be used on your website or as a part of a web application.    Verdict On Pricing Model‍ Though Piwik offers flexibility with its two plans, Open Web Analytics wins because it’s free, and users enjoy all the analytics and reporting features of a web analytics solution.    Loading Speed: Piwik Vs. OWA ‍ Since both tools are built differently, they vary in how fast your website pages load after you’ve installed OWA or Piwik. ‍ Piwik (Matomo) Matomo.js (Piwik’s JavaScript code) adds 22.8 KB to your website’s page. It is large enough to slow down your website but smaller than Google Analytics (which adds about 45.1KB).  However, Piwik has attempted to address previous difficulties with load speed. They

  In today’s digital world, there are many options for an analytics solution that can help you track, report, and store your website’s analytics data. So, it’s crucial to compare what each has to offer. ‍ Before choosing a web analytics tool for your business, here are some core considerations: ‍ your organizational goals cost relative to your business size user-friendliness of the tool advanced features data privacy loading speed ‍ Read on if you are looking for good analytics tools and want an in-depth Segment vs. Matomo comparison before making up your mind. ‍ This article covers the key differences between these analytics tools – their main advantages, pros and cons and the best tool for different audience types. What Is Segment? ‍ ‍‍Source: Segment Home Page    Segment is an analytics tool that collects, processes, stores, and reports data based on users’ activities on your digital properties like websites, apps, social media, etc. ‍ It is a Customer Data Platform that makes collecting and using visitors’ data from digital properties easy. ‍ You can also integrate data from other analytics tools with Segment to better understand how users interact with your website. This allows you to make better data-driven decisions, track your website’s performance and improve your customer’s experience. ‍ Some of the tools you can integrate with Segment include: ‍ Customer Relations Management (HubSpot, Dynamics, etc.) Email Marketing tools (Sender, MailChimp, etc.) Analytics tools (Abralytics, Google Analytics, Matomo, etc.) Marketing Automation tools (Eloqua, Marketo, etc.) Visualization tools (Google Charts, FusionCharts, etc.) Messaging platforms (Signal, Customer.io, etc.) ‍ Segment provides services for a wide range of professionals such as digital marketers, product managers, website owners, data analysts, data engineers, etc. What Is Matomo Analytics? ‍ Source: Matomo Home Page‍ ‍ Matomo Analytics (formerly Piwik Analytics) is an open-source analytics solution built with PHP MySQL software for tracking and reporting website traffic and how users interact with the site. ‍ Matomo’s data reports inform you about your users, their activities on your site, what marketing channel they came from, and how they convert…or bounce off your website. ‍ So you can see what works and what doesn’t on your marketing funnel to improve conversion. ‍ Also, Matomo gives you complete control over the data on your website. No one else can access your website data without your permission. The Core Similarities Between Segment And Matomo   They both: ‍ perform advanced marketing functions such as conversion tracking and data piping without the need to visit a developer – thereby saving time and stress offer an Application Programming Interface (API) to make communication with developers easier are open-source tools – you can view and inspect their analytics tracker code on GitHub create and use tracking and analytics events like real-time users, user locations, devices, operating systems, etc. feature tags for sending data to a third-party or embedding data from a third party to a website give you 100% data ownership of your analytics data use first-party cookies to identify new users have free and paid versions.   The Core Differences Between Segment And Matomo ‍ Segment and Matomo serve unique purposes. Here is a breakdown of the core differences between them: Primary Function ‍ Segment is a Customer Data Platform and Matomo is a web analytics platform.  ‍ Segment converts data into a general group to aid marketing tool integration. Segment’s primary focus as a CDP is allowing various tools to synergize. ‍ On the other hand, Matomo provides detailed reports on your website, its user, and their relationship. As a web analytics platform, the focus is to track, analyze, and report your analytics data. So, you can gain insight into what to change in your marketing funnel for the best conversion.   Pricing Plans ‍ Segment has three versions – Free, Team and Business. ‍ Source: Segment Pricing Chart  ‍ Free:  ‍ The Free version of Segment costs $0/month and can track up to 1000 visitors per month, 2 sources, and 300+ integrations. ‍ It is ideal for startups and other small businesses. Some businesses using this plan are CodeMakers, Silverbean, etc. ‍ Team: ‍ The Team version of Segments starts from $120/month. It can track up to 10 000 visitors per month, unlimited sources, 1 data warehouse destination, plus the features of the Free version. ‍ It is suitable for small and mid-sized enterprises. Examples of companies using this plan are Logg, AutoPilot, Fast Company, etc. ‍ Business: ‍ The Business version of Segments has custom pricing. So, you pay based on your use. In addition to the features of the Team version, it offers services like Custom Volume, Historical Replay, Single View of Customer, Data Governance, Advanced Roles, and Permissions. ‍ It suits big businesses, large firms, and corporations. Some examples of these companies include IBM, Fox, ClearScore, etc. ‍ Matomo, on the other hand, has two models – Cloud and On-Premise. ‍ Matomo On-Premise: ‍ This Matomo version is free. To begin, you will need to host it on your server. However, you can buy specific bundles to improve your analytics. ‍ Some examples of these bundles are SEO web vitals (starting at $86.67/year), multi-channel conversion attribution (starting at $86.67/year), and Roll-Up reporting (starting at $218.33/year). ‍ Matomo Cloud: ‍ Matomo Cloud is hosted on Matomo’s server, and the price depends on the traffic and usage of your website. The cost ranges from $0 (21-day free trial) to $15,250 yearly. Hosting: ‍ Both tools can be hosted in two ways. ‍ For Segment, the two options are cloud mode and device mode. ‍ Cloud mode: ‍ The Cloud mode is hosted on Segment’s server. In this mode, the sources send data directly to the Segment servers, translating it for each downstream destination before passing it on. ‍ Translation gives a small page size, method count, and a faster load time. ‍ Device Mode: ‍ In this mode, you add a piece of code on your website or mobile app that allows Segment to use the

You’ve set an evening aside to try out a new pasta recipe. You light a fire, pour yourself a glass of wine, and flick through the recipe to see which ingredients you’ll need. One by one you lay them out on the table and soon realize a few key ingredients are missing. You have everything you need to make a delicious pasta sauce, but no pasta.   ‍Photo by Klaus Nielsen from Pexels Will your meal be a success? Probably not. Similarly, to have an effective digital marketing campaign, you need a few essential ingredients which each bring something unique to the table. Semrush and Google Analytics are two powerful SEO tools in your recipe for a killer website. The question is less about which one is better and more about how they work together to form a complete digital marketing campaign. In this article, we will look at what each tool does and how they complement one another. To conclude, we’ll consider which product will best meet the needs of your business. What’s the Difference Between Semrush and Google Analytics? Below is a list of key features of SEMrush and Google Analytics. What is SEMrush? In a nutshell, SEMrush is a SaaS (software as a service) product that specializes in keyword research and competitor analysis. Included in the SEMrush toolkit are the following features: 1. Traffic Analytics Provides you with the traffic estimates of any website. Much like Google Analytics, it includes traffic sources, the average duration of a visit, unique page visits, bounce rate analysis, geolocation, and more. So how does SEMrush differ from Google Analytics? SEMrush allows you not only to analyze your website but your competitor’s websites as well. This competitive analysis shows you which of their strategies are working, as well as areas you can improve on. This information can then be used as a basis for your content marketing campaign and to optimize your website for SEO.   ‍Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexel 2. Organic Research Simply types in the Domain, subdomain, or URL of your competitor, and you’ll be provided with a list of their top organic keywords and their position in search results. With very little effort, you have a ready-to-go list of keywords that you can incorporate into your website’s content. Keywords that you know are competitive and rank well. 3. Keyword Overview The Keyword Overview feature allows you to analyze any keyword or phrase and determine search volume, ranking difficulty, keyword variations, SERP Analysis, and much more. This helps you easily decide which keywords to include in your content and ad campaigns. 4. Link Building Tool Backlinks help site crawlers discover your website and decide which position you’ll rank. SEMrush helps you to find sites that rank well for your chosen keywords, providing you with a list of prospects to reach out to for backlinks. It also allows you to check their domain authority and evaluate how backlinks obtained from them will affect your SEO. 5. Website SEO Audits The Website SEO audit is an impressive feature that helps you analyze how well your website is performing. The audit does over 140 checks to your site, including broken links, duplicate content, crawlability, loading speed, and successful HTTPS implementation. All essential components if you want to impress the Google bots and appear on first-page search results.   Photo by Lukas from Pexels What is Google Analytics? Google Analytics enables you to measure your website’s performance and provides essential information about who your visitors are. Let’s take a look at how GA can be used: 1. Audience Report Tells you the demographics of your visitors, including their average age, gender, and location. As well as what device they use to access your website, whether it be mobile or desktop. Knowing who your customers are will help you customize your campaign to suit their needs. 2. Acquisition Report Indicates the source of your traffic. The report tells you which percentage of visitors came from social media, organic search (typing a keyword or phrase into the search bar), direct search (typing the name of your website into the search bar), or other. When you know how users found your site, you’ll know how effective your marketing methods are. 3. Behavior Tells you how visitors move from one page to the next, the average session duration, which pages are most frequently visited, and bounce rates. (the bounce rate is the percentage of visitors who navigate away from your site after visiting only one page) For example, if a page has a high bounce rate, this is a signal that the content needs to be improved to meet the needs of those who land there. A great user experience is important as it can keep them moving from the Homepage to the check-out cart. 4. Conversions The percentage of visitors who take a certain action while on your site. These actions, or conversions, are entered in Google Analytics as goals that need to be tracked. Examples of conversions are the number of people who fill in a contact form, sign up for a newsletter, or click on a discount voucher. SEMrush vs Google Analytics: Plans and Pricing Comparison   ‍Photo by RODNAE Productions from Pexels ‍ SEMrush SEMrush is a SaaS product available either for free with limited features or on a monthly subscription: (March 2022) ‍ Google Analytics Semrush & Google Analytics – A Match Made in Heaven? These powerful tools, when used together, provide you with a complete digital marketing picture. Instead of stumbling around in the dark, they give you a clear plan of action. Even if you aren’t a professional marketer or have limited resources, they level the playing field and make it easy for anyone to have a fighting chance at the infamous first-page search results. SEMrush allows you to analyze your competitor’s websites so you can take away which strategies are working well for them and implement them in your campaign. It will help you see areas in

Don’t you love having options? To have the freedom to choose between a donut or apple for lunch, whether you’ll wear a blue or green shirt today or spend your weekend fishing or laying on a beach? ‍ Do we have the same freedom when it comes to web analytics software? Of course we do! ‍ Although when we talk about analytics, which is the first tool that comes to mind? No doubt, Google Analytics. Many businesses aren’t even aware of the host of alternatives available to them which may actually suit their business needs better. ‍ They simply learn to deal with the good, the bad and the ugly of this analytics tool. But have you ever wondered… ‍ Are there alternative analytics platforms out there worth considering? Why should I switch to a google analytics alternative? ‍ Yes! There are many substitutes out there that can rival the world’s favorite free web analytics platform. But why consider an alternative at all? ‍ Why consider an alternative to Google Analytics? ‍ Photo by Vanessa Garcia from Pexels‍ ‍ First and foremost, Google Analytics is not incredibly intuitive. Admittedly, there are many Youtube videos and Google tutorials to help you understand the platform, but most business owners are just too busy to sit for hours learning how to analyze traffic data. Let alone understand how to turn these reports into actionable insights that help you increase your revenue ‍ A second reason why many have recently moved away from Google Analytics is data protection laws. Users don’t want their data to be sold to the highest bidders. And some European countries are considering a ban on Google Analytics in their countries stating that Google Analytics does not sufficiently protect their citizen’s data. ‍ Pricing could also be a deciding factor. Once your business outgrows the free version, you will have to sign up for Google 360. This comes with a hefty price tag of $150,000 per year. That’s a sizable chunk of money to invest in a marketing campaign, and you’ll have to ensure the revenue you gain will be worth the money you invest. If that doesn’t convince you, here are more reasons to consider a google analytics alternative. Don’t be afraid of change! ‍Photo by Thirdman from Pexels ‍ An analytics tool is an essential part of any digital marketing campaign. It tells you who your customers are, how they engage with your site, the success of your ad campaigns and so much more. You must be able to comfortably navigate your analytics tool of choice and understand the reports it gives you. ‍ Although there will always be die-hard SEO specialists out there who swear by Google Analytics, you might be pleasantly surprised by what the competitors have to offer. ‍ Don’t stick with something just because it’s what everyone uses. If Google Analytics meets your needs, great. If it doesn’t, there are many analytics alternatives out there. ‍ How do I find the best alternative for my needs? ‍Photo by Startup Stock Photos from Pexels ‍ The Saas program you choose should be the one which suits your needs best. What works for a blogger, probably won’t work for a large enterprise. What works for an e-commerce site won’t necessarily be the best choice for a brick-and-mortar store. ‍ Here are a few helpful questions to ask before choosing the right Google Analytics alternative for you: ‍ How much am I willing to spend on a website analytics program? Which personal or business goals or metrics would I need to track? What website data would be most relevant to my business? Will the program I choose grow with my business and continue to meet its needs? How tech-savvy am I? Will I, or my staff, need additional training to use the program effectively? How much time and money am I willing to invest in training? Will I outsource the work to a digital marketing agency or SEO specialist? How important is data protection to my company? Do I need reports with only the most relevant information or will I need more advanced web analytics? ‍ Now that you have a clearer idea about what your personal needs are, here is a list of the five best Google Analytics alternatives. Look out for the highlights and key points for each one that can help you choose the best platform for your business. Abralytics ‍ Source: Abralytics‍ ‍ Abralytics has a user-friendly interface that swops complicated jargon-filled reports with ones that are easy to understand. They understand that we’re not all data analytics scientists or SEO specialists – go figure. ‍ It has been designed to integrate with other major platforms like Squarespace, Wix and Shopify to name just a few. If you need help, they’ll even set you up at no additional cost. Highlights Abralytics puts privacy first by replacing cookies with anonymous measurements. The platform is completely GDPR, CCPA and PECR compliant straight out of the box. Abralytics has also put data analysis on a diet. By using lightweight coding this web analytics tool keeps websites speedy and visitors engaged. ‍ ‍Photo by Yan Krukov from Pexels What to keep in mind ‍ Many analytics platforms will offer either a free version with limited features or a paid version with full features and a rather large price tag. The idea behind this is that smaller businesses either don’t need access to higher-end features or that larger companies can afford to fork out a hefty amount for their data reports. ‍ But Abralytics takes a slightly different approach. Regardless of the size of your business, you get unlimited access to all features for under $15/month. This means you pay the same amount, no matter how much traffic your site gets or how much your business grows. ‍ While you can try Abralytics for free for 30 days, there isn’t a free version available for continuous use. Privacy comes at a cost and by not selling your

Ecommerce businesses allow you to sell products online without paying for a brick-and-mortar building. ‍ No need to worry about who will open the shop each day. Instead, your biggest concern is whether your delivery company can keep up with all the online sales you’re generating. ‍ But having an online store isn’t all about sitting back and watching the cash roll in. ‍ There are a few key e-commerce metrics you want to keep a close eye on, whether you use Google Analytics or any other Web Analytics tool. What are KPIs? KPI stands for Key Performance Indicator. ‍ Simply put, your e-commerce KPIs are a collection of the most important metrics you track to help you grow and maintain your online store’s performance.  Q: How are they different from Metrics? While it’s true that all metrics in an analytics report are helpful to a certain degree, the reality is that not all metrics are VITAL to the success of your e-commerce store. ‍ For example, take the News Letter Opens Metric. ‍ Super helpful in determining if your email campaigns are getting better click-through rates on mobile devices as opposed to desktops and tablets. ‍ But does that metric doesn’t strike you as an e-commerce KPI that you just can’t do without? Identifying Key Metrics ‍ Before deciding which e-commerce metrics and KPIs are most relevant to you, you need to figure a few things out about yourself and your business. Set your objectives Here are a few questions to help you identify which metrics make the list of your most valuable key performance indicators. How far along in my sales journey am I? All e-commerce businesses are at different stages of development. And different metrics matter at various stages of the process. ‍ A brand new business would be more interested in New Customers than Customer Loyalty. You’ve just started, right? ‍ So in its beginning stages, it would make way more sense to track new website traffic than how many of them have been returning. That metric becomes more relevant later on in your journey. What would I like to achieve in the next business quarter? Your KPIs help you set goals for your business growth. They give you real-time feedback on what’s going on in your business that will help you make the needed adjustments immediately. ‍ Take this scenario, for example. ‍ Your analytics report shows excellent traffic flow. Visitors to your site seem to be landing on the right pages. But you just can’t seem to interest them in a new product you’re promoting. ‍ In response, you could change the layout of your landing page to draw attention to the specific product widget you want people to click on. ‍ By setting that widget click as a KPI you’re able to see your site’s immediate improvement. How many KPIs can I handle at this stage? There are over 100 metrics available in Google Analytics. That’s a lot going on. ‍ The sheer amount of data can overwhelm new and experienced users. So, be reasonable. ‍ Identify and track only as many metrics as you need. Prioritize In my earlier example, I spoke of how New Customers would be an essential e-commerce KPI for a start-up instead of Customer Loyalty. ‍ And there are various other examples that show that we need to prioritize the most important metrics and KPIs according to their relevancy. ‍ When you understand what you want to achieve with your e-commerce platform, you’ll be able to prioritize the KPIs to reflect those goals. Top 13 E-commerce Metrics to track There are a few metrics that are essential to not only growing but maintaining any eCommerce store. ‍ As a bonus, we’ve also included the formula used to calculate each metric. Average Profit Margin  This metric takes the number one spot on our list because how much profit you make on each item you sell will go a long way to determining the strength of your e-commerce business. ‍ It can also help you remain competitively priced in your niche. At times you might need to adjust your prices according to the going rate of products on the market. ‍ Your Analytics platform will display profit as a percentage taken over a set period. ‍ Conversion Rate CR A conversion rate refers to the percentage of users that have completed the desired action. Conversions could also include: Scroll activity on a site Viewing a product video Signing up for a newsletter Signing up for an account If you set a goal, such as adding a product to the checkout basket – or even better – a customer following through with a purchase, and that goal is met, then it counts as a conversion. ‍ Your conversion rate is a great way to measure the success of your customer engagement. ‍ If your website pages are engaging and well thought out, they should lead your customer all the way from the first landing page to purchasing a product. ‍ ‍ Average Order Value (AOV)  Your average order value is the average value of each e-commerce transaction in your online store. ‍ You need to know how much revenue each order brings you because it will help you formulate marketing and pricing strategies. ‍ For instance, let’s say that your total revenue for a month is $50,000. You had a total of 2000 purchases completed for the same month. ‍ This means that, on average, each customer spent $25 for the month. ‍ From this figure, you can determine whether the time and money spent acquiring each customer to your site are worth it and adjust your marketing campaign budget accordingly. ‍ In some cases, it’s also known as the Average Market Basket. ‍ ‍ Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) A customer lifetime value refers to the total worth that a specific customer brings to a business over a set period of time. ‍ This value begins when a customer makes

So you’ve finally nailed Universal Google Analytics and can impress friends and colleagues with fancy terms like hits, dimensions and conversion rates. And now you hear all this talk about Google Analytics 4. Maybe you’ve started to panic and envision hours searching unfamiliar terms again and reading countless how-to blogs. ‍ But just how different is GA4 from its predecessor? And what are the advantages of switching over? Could you stick your head in the virtual sand and just keep going with the version you know? Let’s dive in! ‍                                                                                                                                                                                   Photo by Ivan Samkov What is Google Analytics 4? Google Analytics 4 is the latest version of Google’s free analytics platform and they’ve announced that as of July 2023, GA4 is set to replace Universal Analytics (UA) entirely. ‍ According to Google, it’s the analytics tool for the future – It’s focused on privacy, has intelligent machine learning at its core and provides you with a clear overall view of your customers’ journey across all devices and platforms. ‍ In the words of Bob Dylan, “The times they are a-changin’” and with the increasing popularity of mobile apps, stricter data privacy laws and the shift to online shopping, it’s not hard to understand why an update was needed. Photo by Anna Tukhfatullina ‍ Russell Ketchum, Director of Product Management at Google Analytics put it this way: “Universal Analytics was built for a generation of online measurement that was anchored in the desktop web, independent sessions and more easily observable data from cookies. This measurement methodology is quickly becoming obsolete. Meanwhile, Google Analytics 4 operates across platforms, does not rely exclusively on cookies and uses an event-based data model to deliver user-centric measurement.” ‍ So now we know why the update was needed, let’s dive into some key differences. How does Google Analytics 4 differ from Universal GA? 1. Different data models Universal Analytics uses a session-based data model, while GA4 uses an event-based data model to record user interactions. ‍ Universal Analytics: A session is the period of time a user spends on your site. Any user interaction during that time is sent as “hits”  to Google for processing. Most Google Analytics data is sent in the form of pageview hits and event hits. ‍ In UA, you can tell Google to track additional activity by setting up what is called an event. Examples of an event would be form submissions, file downloads or videos played. ‍ Google Analytics 4: In Google Analytics 4 properties, every “hit” is now referred to as an event.  In UA, you would have to use Google Tag Manager to create events such as scrolling, clicks and downloads. But GA4 automatically records these events without additional setup. ‍ ‍Photo by Mikael Blomkvist: ‍ There are 4 categories of events in Google Analytics 4: ‍ Automatically collected events –  Default events that do not need to be added or modified but are automatically tracked by Google. Examples of these include when a video is played to the end, the first time a visitor scrolls to the bottom of the page or when an in-app purchase is completed. ‍ See Google’s support site for a full list of automatically collected events. ‍ Enhanced measurement events – Google provides a list of additional events which can also be selected for tracking. These events can easily be added without using Google Tag Manager or changing the website code. ‍ Enhanced measurement events can be accessed by clicking on Admin at the bottom left-hand corner of the screen, selecting Data streams, choosing a property from the list and toggling the tab to on. ‍ Recommended events – These events are recommended by Google based on the industry you work in and require custom changes using Google Tag Manager. There is a list of recommended events for all business types, for e-commerce stores and games. ‍ Click here for a full list of recommended events. ‍ Custom event – Existing events can be customized to suit your individual needs using Google Tag Manager. These events can be given unique names as long as you follow Google’s naming guidelines. ‍ 2. Intelligent Machine learning ‍Photo by Alex Knight Unlike Universal Analytics, GA4 has introduced a new feature called Predictive Audience and Predictive Metrics. ‍ When a user’s data is not available, the Predictive Audience feature fills in the gaps so you still have a clear overall picture of who your online customers are and how they engage with your site or app. ‍ Predictive metrics are divided into 3 categories. ‍ Purchase Probability: How likely a user who was active in the last 28 days will perform a specific conversion event within the next 7 days. ‍ Churn Probability: How likely a user who was active on your app or site within the last 7 days will not return within the next 7 days. ‍ Predicted Revenue: Predicted revenue from all purchase conversions within the next 28 days from a user who was active in the last 28 days. ‍ ‍Photo by Ivan Samkov: At this point, you’re probably scratching your head and are confused about what to do with all this extra info. Let me give you an example. ‍ If you have a blog and have just written what you believe to be the best article the world will ever see, if the percentage of visitors who are not likely to return to your site in the next 7 days

Your choice of analytics solution plays a crucial role in how you collect, measure, and analyze website data to achieve your business goals. ‍ So, you must choose a website analytics platform that offers: ‍ a cost-effective model relative to your business size, an easy-to-use interface, fast loading of analytics data, mutual integration with relevant marketing tools, and total control of your website data. ‍ Keep reading if you’re looking for good analytics tools and want a detailed Matomo vs. Fathom comparison to help you narrow down your decision. ‍ This article discusses the key differences between these analytics tools – their main advantages, pros and cons and the best tool for different audience types. ‍ What Is Matomo? Source: Matomo Home Page‍ ‍ Matomo Analytics (formerly Piwik) is an open-source web analytics tool based on PHP MySQL software that provides detailed reports on your website and its users. The report tells you who your users are, how they interact with your content, what marketing channel they came from, and how they convert …or bounce off your website. ‍ So you can see what works and what does not on your marketing funnel for better conversion. ‍ Matomo gives you total control of your website data. No third party can access your website data without your authorization. ‍ What Is Fathom? ‍ Source: Fathom Home Page‍ ‍ Fathom Analytics is a simple, open-source web analytics platform that helps you track, analyze, and report your website data while placing a premium on data privacy. ‍ So, unlike Google Analytics, Fathom does not collect personal data of your website visitors. ‍ And it does not use cookies, so you won’t have to bother about the ugly cookies notification bar on your website anymore. ‍ Fathom is an easy-to-use analytics tool for website owners at any technical level. It has a dashboard that allows you to monitor: ‍ number of website visitors site pageviews bounce rate average time on site goals completion ‍ The Core Similarities Between Matomo And Fathom ‍ Matomo and Fathom have some fundamental aspects in common. Let’s look at these features before we dive into their core differences. Open Web Analytics ‍ Matomo and Fathom encourage user feedback and suggestions. ‍ For example, you can look at the Fathom development’s public roadmap and add (or vote on) your preferred feature recommendations. Open Source Analytics Tools ‍ Both Matomo and Fathom are open-source analytics tools – the analytics tracker codes of both are available on GitHub for you to view and inspect. ‍ Open-source tools ensure transparency and openness. You can read and review their tracker codes and learn how they keep your data private and secure. 100% Ownership Of Your Website Data ‍ Both Matomo and Fathom Analytics are privacy-friendly analytics solutions. ‍ But what does this mean? ‍ Your analytics and website data are all yours. Unlike Google Analytics which collects personal data of your website visitors for ad purposes, Matomo and Fathom Analytics give you total control over your website data. ‍ So you need not worry about unauthorized access or use of your website data. The Core Differences Between Matomo And Fathom  ‍ Besides their user interface and other features, the core differences between Matomo and Fathom are the differences in their pricing plans, hosting, integration with other tools, loading speed and use of cookies, and trackable metrics. Pricing Plans ‍ Matomo has two models, namely Matomo Cloud and Matomo On Premise: ‍ Matomo On Premise: This version of Matomo is FREE. To get started, you need to host it on your server. However,  you can purchase specific bundles for better analytics. ‍ These bundles include SEO web vitals (starting at $86.67/year), multi-channel conversion attribution (starting at $86.67/year), Roll-Up reporting (starting at $218.33/year), etc. ‍ Matomo Cloud: This version of Matomo is cloud-hosted and comes at a price that varies with your website’s traffic and use. The price ranges from $0(21 Day free trial) to $15,250 annually. ‍ Fathom has two versions, namely Fathom Analytics (main software) and Fathom Lite. ‍ Fathom Analytics: Cloud-hosted, uses no cookies, offers additional metrics, and comes at a price. The price starts at $14/month; for business is $24/month; for enterprise is $34/month. ‍ Fathom Lite: FREE, but it has limited features. ‍ Overall, when it comes to pricing, Fathom is the better choice because it offers about the same features as Matomo at a cheaper cost. Integration With A WordPress Plugin ‍ Because they are both cloud analytics tools, Matomo and Fathom Analytics have similar WordPress integration processes. ‍ To set up Matomo for WordPress, download the WP-Matomo plugin from your WP admin dashboard. The WordPress-Matomo integration uses Matomo API to provide you with metrics about your website visitors and how they interact with your website. ‍ On the other hand, to set up Fathom for WordPress, download the WP- Matomo Analytics plugin from your WP dashboard. Alternatively, copy your Fathom Pro tracking code and paste it into your footer theme file. Trackable Metrics ‍ Source: Fathom Dashboard ‍ ‍ Fathom Analytics allows you to add unlimited users, goals, segments, and 50 websites. But you can only track 6 metrics. ‍ With Matomo Cloud, you can only add 30 users, 200+ metrics, track 150 goals, 100 segments, 30 websites, and 30 custom dimensions. ‍ So, you can track more metrics on Matomo than on Fathom Analytics. In addition, both Matomo and Fathom Analytics offer server log analytics and intranet analytics. You can access your intranet analytics and see the unique website visitor data of people in your intranet network at a glance. Overall, if you want an analytics solution that tracks more than the basic metrics between the two options, then you should opt for Matomo. Use Of Cookies ‍ Matomo uses first-party cookies to track your intranet website visitors with similar system configurations, such as IP addresses, computers, etc. ‍ Conversely, Fathom Analytics does not use any cookies at all. According to Fathom, their software “intelligently tracks information about

So you’re looking for a web analytics tool that will fit your business size and give you raw data on the behaviour of your site visitors so that you can zero in and optimize for better conversion? You might have been advised to choose a web analytics tool: That is price-friendly to the size of your business. That has advanced analytics features. That allows mutual integration with a ton of marketing tools. That gives you 100% data ownership. Now, if you’ve searched for good analytics tools and you’re looking for a well-detailed Matomo vs Google Analytics comparison before you make your final decision, then read on. In this article, we’ve covered the core differences between these analytics tools; their key advantages, pros and cons, FAQs, and the best tool for different audience types. So, let’s get started by first understanding these basic questions; what are Matomo and Google Analytics? What Is Matomo Analytics (Formerly Piwik Analytics)? ‍ Source: Matomo Dashboard ‍ Matomo Analytics (formerly called Piwik) is open-source software that is used for real-time user information, and event tracking on your website to discover; who your visitors are, what marketing channel they come from, the pages they navigate to, and how they convert… or drop off. With this, you will gain insight on what to adjust on your marketing funnel to drive the best conversion. More importantly, Matomo gives you 100% ownership of your data. This simply means that you’re not sharing your analytics data with any third-party platform, unlike Google Analytics which uses data collected to serve Google ads to its advertising platform. ‍ What Is Google Analytics  ‍Source: Google Analytics Dashboard Quite similar to Matomo, Google Analytics is one of the most popular and widely-used analytics tools from Google that provides a wide range of useful data for a basic fee of $0. More importantly, with Google Analytics, you can: Discover the most visited pages on your website. See which devices your visitors are using. Find out where your visitors are coming from; channels and geographical locations. And generate many more custom reports. Despite sharing a similar analytical infrastructure with Matomo, there are core differences that digital marketers look out for before choosing any of these tools. Now let’s look at these differences and discover their core strengths for different audience types. ‍ The Core Differences Between Matomo And Google Analytics Aside from other features, the core differences between Google Analytics and Matomo are differences in their pricing models, hosting and trackable metrics. Matomo Paid Version Vs. Google Analytics Premium (Google Analytics 360) To get started, Google Analytics is totally FREE for basic users but has a paid version for advanced features like access to 1 Billion+ hits per month.   Source: Google Analytics Website ‍ The advantage of using Google Analytics over Matomo is that Google Analytics’ free version provides more than enough insight that any business type will need to scale its marketing efforts. The Key Differences Between Matomo On Premise And Matomo Cloud For Matomo, you can choose between the Matomo on Premise hosting which is free or you can opt for Matomo Cloud. Matomo On Premise Though Matomo On Premise is absolutely free, and all you need to get started is to install Matomo on your server, you can purchase specific bundles for better analytics. These bundles are SEO web vitals (from $86.67/year), multi-channel conversion attribution (from $86.67/year), Roll-Up reporting (from $218.33/year), etc.   Source: Matomo Website‍ Source: Matomo Website ‍ ‍Source: Matomo Website Matomo Cloud Matomo cloud has a pricing model that ranges from $0(21 Day free trial) to $15,250 according to TrustRadius. Also, the process of installing Matomo Cloud is similar to the process of installing Google Analytics because both are cloud hosted. ‍ Integration With A WordPress Plugin Both Matomo and Google Analytics have similar WordPress integration processes because they are both cloud analytics tools. Though, because of Google Analytics’ popularity, there are tons of WordPress plugins that can be used to host the tool on any WordPress site. One of the recommended WordPress plugins that integrate Google Analytics with any WordPress site without requiring any coding knowledge is MonsterInsight. You can click here to read WPBeginer’s detailed blog post on its installation. The WordPress-Matomo integration uses Matomo API to give you data on your sites’ visitors and their behaviour on your website. ‍ Differences In Their Tracking Features The two analytics tools have basic tracking features that track similar metrics like real-time users, user locations, device and operating system, best-performing landing pages, top exit pages, traffic sources and referrers, etc. Narrowing down to their basic tracking features, let’s look at their tracking limitations and the tool among the two that offers advanced tracking abilities. Number of Metrics That Can Be Tracked. If you opt for the basic Matomo Cloud, you’ll be able to add only 30 users, track 150 goals, 100 segments, 30 websites, and 30 custom dimensions. But with Google Analytics, you can add unlimited users, goals, segments, and custom dimensions all for free. This is one of the reasons why Google Analytics is one of the most preferred analytics tools for Digital Marketers. Matomo provides both server log analytics and intranet analytics. You can gain access to your intranet analytics and at a glance, you will see the unique website visitor data of people in your intranet network. While tracking visits on your intranet website, Matomo uses first-party cookies to track visits of people that have similar system configurations like IP addresses, Computers, etc. ‍ 100% Ownership Of Your Analytics Data If privacy is key in your business, then choose Matomo over Google Analytics because Matomo lets you own 100% of your data and not share it with any third party or advertising platform. On the other hand, Google Analytics serve ads to their users by using data collected from web visitors’ behaviour on sites like yours. If you’re guessing that Google Analytics is a freemium software because their alternative source of revenue is ads, then also

Today, there are many analytics tools, each sporting a list of impressive features. But it’s not always easy to figure out which of these your business really needs. So how do you choose the right tools for your business? The Abralytics team is here to help! ‍ We think life is complicated enough and finding the right tools to help you run a stellar website shouldn’t be. ‍ An analytics tool helps you “analyze” your website or mobile app. Some tools help you with more technical aspects like page loading speeds and site maps, others tell you more about your customers and how they engage with your site, and some even help you fill your page content with all the right words to rank well in search. ‍ Today, we’ll discuss two well-known and respected analytics tools, Matomo and Hotjar. What do these two platforms offer that makes them worthy of your consideration? ‍ Hotjar in a nutshell ‍ Hotjar is a UX tool focused on helping you create a great user experience on your website or mobile app. Its features fall into two main categories, namely, Observe and Ask.  ‍ Observe: Visualise what a visitor does on your website from the first to the last click. User behavior is observed using heatmaps and session recordings. We’ll delve deeper into these incredible features in a bit. ‍ Ask: How helpful would it be if you could talk directly to your online customers like we did in the past with a traditional store? Now you can with Hotjar’s Feedback and Survey tools. ‍ Hotjar is not a traditional website analytics tool like Google Analytics, which gathers data in the form of reports. If you find it challenging to turn reports into meaningful insights, Hotjar is perfect for you! No guesswork, just a clear customer journey right before your eyes. However, Hotjar does recommend running its platform alongside an analytics program to get the most comprehensive insights. ‍   ‍Source: Hotjar Matomo in a nutshell Matomo is both a UX and web analytics tool rolled into one. The clear advantage of Matomo over Hotjar is you can run both from a single place instead of using two different platforms. ‍ It has similar UX features to Hotjar, like heatmaps and session recordings, as well as a host of analytics tools. How does it compare to Google Analytics? See our blog section for an in-depth article, but here are a few key advantages of choosing Matomo over Google Analytics: ‍ With Matomo, you have 100% ownership of all data.  ‍ No data sampling or limitations ‍ The ability to import GA data. For now, it’s not possible to import data from Universal GA to the new GA4 platform. When you switch over, data will be collected from scratch, meaning you’ll lose all the historical data you’ve collected. Matomo allows you to import all your data from UA – that’s a big plus. ‍   Source: Matomo ‍ What about a little thing called data protection? ‍ If recording a user’s session or movements sounds a little suspicious to you in terms of data protection, have no fear. Both platforms are fully GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and CCPA compliant. ‍ With Matomo, you are given 100% ownership of data and a guarantee that it won’t be used for marketing or other purposes.  ‍ Both platforms collect data about a person’s interaction on your site and use it to create a visual representation of their journey. All of this is possible without tracking a personal IP address or needing to collect personal data. Heatmaps & Session Recordings Both Hotjar and Matomo offer heatmaps and session recording tools. ‍ Heatmaps help you see exactly where visitors click on a page, their movements, and how far they scrolled down. The more an area has been clicked on, it will gradually move from being highlighted in green to red. This is known as a “hotspot.” ‍ Both platforms give you these three options: Click; Move; Scroll; And both allow you to switch between desktop, tablet, or mobile heatmaps. ‍   Source: Hotjar‍ ‍ To the left is a scroll heatmap, and to the right, a click heatmap on the Hotjar platform. ‍ Session Recordings are videos of a visitor’s journey on your website. Like heatmaps, they also show you where users clicked, scrolled, or left your site. Benefits of heatmaps and session recordings ‍ It helps you see which areas of your site are popular and which are largely ignored. Are users seeing important content and using main links such as CTA’s? ‍ Clearly shows you at which point a user left your site. This can help you identify an element of your site that frustrates users or indicates which content needs a CTA or more engaging content. ‍ See how far a user scrolled down on a page. This can indicate which pages may be too long or don’t hold the user’s interest for long enough. ‍ Compare a site’s performance across devices: Desktop, tablet, and mobile. ‍ User recordings help you spot elements of your site that aren’t performing as they should, such as broken links or tabs. Additional features offered by Hotjar You can also purchase “Ask” features with Hotjar, namely Feedback and Surveys.  ‍ Feedback enables you to simply ask visitors about their online experience in real-time. It appears as a tab at the side of your site’s pages, so if a user expresses frustration or happiness, you know exactly which page caused them to feel that way. Collecting user feedback helps you to turn more visitors into customers. ‍   Source: Hotjar‍ ‍ Surveys help you get valuable suggestions or comments from website visitors, giving you a platform to ask the right questions at the right time. Hotjar makes this process really simple by providing pre-built templates and a handy question bank. In a few minutes, you can set up a survey to ask visitors what caused them to leave your