MARKETING

Struggling to make sense of how Google Analytics impacts your SEO? You’re not alone. Many marketers feel overwhelmed by the endless data and unclear metrics, making it difficult to translate analytics into actionable SEO strategies. But what if I told you there’s a way to simplify this process and get clear, actionable insights? In this post, I’ll show you how to turn Google Analytics into your SEO secret weapon—and how Abralytics can make it even easier. To get the most out of Google Analytics for SEO, it’s crucial to understand the connection between your website’s data and your search engine rankings. Analytics isn’t just about tracking visitors; it’s about uncovering patterns that can boost your SEO strategy. However, without the right approach, you might miss valuable insights or get lost in a sea of data. Here’s what we’ll cover in this post to help you unlock the full potential of Google Analytics for your SEO efforts: Understanding Key Metrics: Learn which metrics directly impact SEO and how to interpret them Setting Up Custom Dashboards: Get the data you need at a glance with easy-to-use dashboards. Tracking SEO-Specific Events: Discover how to set up events that highlight SEO performance. Why Abralytics Is a Game-Changer: See how Abralytics can simplify your analytics setup, giving you the tools you need without the clutter of GA4. By the end of this post, you’ll have a clear understanding of how to use Google Analytics to supercharge your SEO efforts, making your data work for you instead of the other way around. Next up, we’ll dive into the specific metrics you need to focus on and how to use them effectively. Understanding Key SEO Metrics ‍ When Looking at GA4, Focus on Organic Traffic‍   Focus on Organic Traffic. This is the lifeblood of your SEO efforts. In Google Analytics, you can filter your traffic sources to see only organic visits. This helps you understand how well your site is attracting visitors through search engines. If your organic traffic is growing, your SEO strategy is likely on the right track. Monitor Bounce Rate for SEO Pages. A high bounce rate on key landing pages could indicate that visitors aren’t finding what they expected. Check the bounce rates of your top-performing SEO pages in GA and identify areas where content might need improvement to better engage visitors. Track Keyword Rankings with Analytics Goals. Set up goals in Google Analytics that tie to specific keyword performance. For example, you could track the number of conversions that come from visitors who found your site through particular keywords. This will help you see which keywords are driving valuable traffic. The metrics you focus on can either guide your SEO efforts or lead you astray. By concentrating on organic traffic, bounce rates, and keyword-related goals, you’ll be better equipped to refine your SEO strategy and achieve better search rankings. ‍ Setting Up Custom SEO Dashboards In Looker Studio This Google Search Console Report Was Created In Looker Studio ‍ Looker Studio (formerly Data Studio) is a powerful tool for creating highly customizable and interactive dashboards. Here’s a guide to setting up SEO dashboards specifically: Google Analytics: Connect your GA4 property using the GA4 connector to get data on website traffic, user behavior, and SEO metrics. Google Search Console: Link your GSC account to access keyword performance, impressions, and click-through rates Start by creating a new dashboard in Looker Studio. Give it a descriptive name. Add Data Sources to Reports: Create new reports within your dashboard and add the connected data sources. Select the relevant SEO metrics and dimensions you want to analyze. Some common examples include: Organic traffic, keyword rankings, impressions, clicks, bounce rate, average session duration, device, browser, location, landing pages, traffic source. Create Charts and Tables: Use Looker Studio’s various chart types (line charts, bar charts, pie charts, tables) to visualize your data effectively. Customize the appearance and formatting of your charts to match your branding and preferences. Implement looker studio filters to segment your data and analyze specific subsets. For example, you could filter by a particular time period, device, or location. Add controls like date pickers, drop-down menus, or sliders to allow users to interact with the dashboard and explore different data points. Branding: Apply your company’s branding to the dashboard, including colors, fonts, and logos. Annotations: Add annotations, text boxes, or images to provide context or highlight key findings. Share your looker studio dashboard with team members or stakeholders for collaboration and insights. Set up scheduled email reports to automatically send updates to relevant recipients. Setting Up Event Tracking in GA4 for SEO This Google Search Console Report Was Created In Looker Studio Google Analytics 4 (GA4) offers a robust event tracking system that allows you to measure user interactions on your website beyond pageviews. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to set it up: Understand GA4 Event Tracking Basics: Event: A user interaction on your website, such as a button click, form submission, or video play. Event Parameters: Additional data points associated with an event, like the button’s label, the form’s field values, or the video’s duration. Enable Enhanced Measurement: Go to your GA4 property settings. Under “Data Data Streams,” enable “Enhanced measurement.” This will automatically track common events like page views, scrolls, outbound clicks, and site search Create Custom Events: For more granular tracking, you can create custom events. In the GA4 interface, navigate to “Configure” > “Events.” Click “Create Event.” Give your event a name and optional parameters. ‍ Using Abralytics as a GA4 Alternative If you’re finding GA4 too complex or overwhelming, Abralytics offers a simpler, more user-friendly alternative. Streamlined Interface: Abralytics is designed with simplicity in mind, offering a clean and intuitive interface. This makes it easier to navigate and find the data you need without the clutter of unnecessary features. Privacy-Focused Analytics: Unlike Google Analytics, Abralytics emphasizes user privacy. You own 100% of your data, and there’s no need for cookie banners, which ensures compliance with GDPR and other

Site performance refers to the speed at which your site loads and displays on a user’s web browser or mobile device. This includes all content, such as text, images and videos. While it’s obvious that factors such as your industry and the product or service you offer will affect conversions, can the speed at which a page loads make or break your business? ‍ According to the latest statistics, the answer to that question is a resounding yes! ‍ Photo by Nataliya Vaitkevich ‍ Below are 24 statistics that prove just how important faster page loading times are: #1 The first 5 seconds of page load time have the highest impact on conversion rates. Rates drop by an average of 4.42% with each second of load time between seconds 0-5. Website conversion rates drop by a further 2.11% with each additional second of load time between seconds 5-9. (portent.com) #2 According to a recent study by Deloitte, with just a 0.1s improvement in site speed, retail consumers spent almost 10% more, while lead generation and luxury consumers engaged more, with page views increasing by 7% and 8% respectively. (Deloitte) #3  Nearly half of all visitors will leave a mobile website if the pages don’t load within 3 seconds. (Think with Google) According to Statistica, mobile devices account for 48% of web traffic in the U.S., and 54% of web traffic worldwide. If your mobile page takes longer than 3 seconds to load, that’s a significant amount of potential customers that you’ve lost before they’ve even seen your product. #4 Transactional pages need to have the fastest loading times. Checkout, login, and product category pages are most important as traffic to these pages is most likely to convert into paying customers. To Improve transaction conversions, aim for a 0-2 Second Load Time. (Portent.com) ‍ #5 The longer the load time, the higher the bounce rates. The probability of bounce increases 32% as page load time goes from 1 second to 3 seconds, and by 90% when the page load time goes from one to five seconds. (Google/SOASTA Research, 2017) ‍ ‍Photo by Anna Tarazevich ‍ #6 Nearly 70% of consumers admit that page speed impacts their willingness to buy from an online retailer. (Unbounce) ‍ #7  Amazon would lose $1.6 billion a year if their site slowed down by just 1 second. (websitebuilderexpert.com) ‍ ‍ #8 The optimal time for a full mobile page load is less than 3.1 seconds. Anything less than 3.1 seconds would put you in the best 20% of sites we benchmark for time before full mobile page load, and less than 2.5 seconds would put you in the best 10%. Time before a full mobile page-load of more than 6.6 seconds would put you in the worst 20% of sites, and more than 8.3 seconds would put you in the worst-performing sites. (LittleData) ‍ #9 The optimal time for a full desktop page load is 2.8 seconds. Anything less than 2.8 seconds would put you in the best 20% of sites we benchmark for time before full desktop page load, and less than 2.2 seconds would put you in the best 10%. Time before full desktop page load of more than 6.1 seconds would put you in the worst 20% of sites, and more than 7.7 seconds would put you in the worst-performing sites. (LittleData) ‍ #10 88.5% say slow loading pages are the main reason why they would leave a website. (Review42.com) ‍ #11 39% of people will stop engaging with a website if images won’t load or take too long to load. (Hubspot) ‍ #12 Even if you’re not in the e-commerce business, mobile speed can still impact your sales. For example, after BMW revamped their mobile site to provide a reliable and smooth web experience even under poor network conditions, the percentage of visitor’s clicking through to the BMW sales site increased from 8% to 30%, 4 times higher than before. (thinkwithGoogle) ‍ Photo by cottonbro‍ #13 The majority of web users would be willing to give up animations and video if it meant site pages would load faster. When used correctly, video marketing can be a powerful part of our SEO strategy. But it could also negatively impact conversion rates if not optimized to load quickly and efficiently. (Unbounce) ‍ #14  A 1 second delay reduces customer satisfaction by 16%. (Abtasty.com) ‍ #15 In 2021, Vodafone improved its LCP by 30%, which led to an overall 8% increase in sales. The LCPis the amount of time it takes for a page’s main content to load.  (hobo-web.co.uk) ‍ #16 Website owners have only 5 seconds to catch a visitor’s attention. Most users would rather spend several extra minutes browsing fast-responding but irrelevant websites, than waiting for relevant pages to load. (kinsta.com) ‍ #17 Retail sites had a 9.2% increase in average order value when load time was decreased by just one-tenth of a second.  (Deloitte) ‍ #18 Over  45% of people admit they are less likely to make a purchase if an e-commerce site loads slower than expected. (Unbounce) ‍ #19 52 percent of online shoppers stated that fast loading pages are important to their site loyalty. (hobo-web.co.uk) Photo by Sora Shimazaki ‍ ‍ #20 When pages load in less than 1 second, the average conversion rate is almost 32%. At a 1-second load time, the conversion rate already drops to 20%. At 2 seconds, the conversion rate begins to level off at 12-13% and reaches its lowest at a 5-second load time. (portent.com) ‍ #21 Mobile sites that load in five seconds or fewer earn twice as much as sites that take 19 seconds to load. (blog.google) ‍ #22 79% of shoppers who have trouble with site performance say they won’t return to the site to buy again.(neilpatel.com) ‍ #23 It takes 50 milliseconds for a user to form an impression of your website. Page load time will be the first impression you make. (researchgate) ‍ #24 85% of users expect a

When it comes to heavy hitters in Website Analytics, few can pack a punch like Google Analytics and Hubspot. ‍ Hubspot is an end-to-end SaaS platform that offers Website Analytics and other tools, such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software.  In the words of Hubspot itself, helping customers and businesses ‘Grow Better’. (1) ‍ But Hubspot offers much more than web analytics. It’s an integrated marketing, sales, customer service, operations, and CRM software platform. When customers use the Hubspot Web Analytics tool in conjunction with all these other SAAS tools, the overall workflow of their company will improve. ‍ Google Analytics also allows a person to track interactions with a website or app, allowing the user to understand better how others respond to the content of their site. ‍ Both platforms have been around since 2005 and have helped millions of people track website traffic and performance. ‍ Let’s look at what these Analytics Tools have in common and where they differ. “If statistics are boring, you’ve got the wrong numbers.” Edward Tufte, Statistician ‍ But first, if you’re new to the world of Website Analytics, you’ll find several terms often repeated. Here’s a brief explanation of a few of them to help you better understand our article: Landing pages The first page on a website that a visitor “lands” on after clicking on a link or ad Organic search Visitors to a site who chose to navigate there after an internet search. They aren’t there as a result of paid advertising or something similar. Paid search The traffic that arrives on a website as a result of paid means only. For example, they might have landed on your page by clicking an ad that popped up in search results. Traffic sources Refers to the origin from which people found your website. This could be from a Google search, clicking on an ad, social networks, or directly typing your site’s URL into a search bar. Single session The time a user is active on your site or app. A session can end after 30 minutes of inactivity or when a user leaves your site. CTA clicks Call To Action clicks or buttons could be an image or line of text that prompts your visitors to take a specific desired action. ‍ What do HubSpot and Google Analytics have in common? ‍ Most analytical software share a few standard features. Here are 5 similarities that might interest you. Traffic Analytics Both Hubspot and Google Analytics allow you to track the number of visitors to your website. ‍ Screenshot: Hubspot Sample Site‍ ‍ Hubspot allows you to view your web traffic in a weekly, monthly, and yearly view. It makes good use of graphs and line bars to help the user visualize how many visitors reach a website. ‍ It also gives you a breakdown of how many users have arrived at your website as a means of direct traffic, paid social campaigns, paid searches, organic searches, and other means. ‍ The report is customizable, meaning that you can change the view to see where your users are based geographically. ‍ Google Analytics has an even more in-depth take on traffic reporting. For instance, it shows the user which type of devices visitors use and tracks new and recurring visitors. Page Views Hubspot enables you to check the metrics of individual website pages, such as your blog posts, landing pages, and white pages. You can also toggle your page views report to display metrics of all the pages together, which will give you an overview of the site as a whole. ‍ But it doesn’t end there. Hubspot also lets you see other important properties regarding your pages, such as the bounce rate, the exit rate, and CTA buttons. This helps dissect user behavior, allowing you to tailor individual pages to boost conversion rates. ‍ Google Analytics differentiates between page views and unique page views, which are explained in-depth in the article ‘Google Analytics Page Views by URL.’ ‍ GA offers the page views abilities as Hubspot and with the addition of unique page views tracking. Goal Setting Ability Source: Pexels.com‍ ‍ You set goals in your analytics tool to assess your website’s overall performance. This is especially important for e-commerce websites because you can see where people are more likely to click and spend money. ‍ Hubspot can set goals for specific pages or teams within your organization. You can rename a goal and set the category to best suit the description, such as sales goals. ‍ You can then track the progress in weekly or monthly reports. ‍ Google Analytics allows you to set goals for specific conversions, such as a form submission or video view.  You can then assign a value to these goals so that Google Analytics knows how much these actions are worth to your company. ‍ This, in turn, helps GA focus its reports according to what the user sees the most value in. Conversion Rates High conversion rates mean your website is doing well in the areas you want it to, while low conversion rates give you room for improvement. Source: Pexels.com‍ ‍ Hubspot allows you to set up goals on individual pages to track conversions, like CTA button clicks. ‍ While Google Analytics shows you the same metrics as Hubspot, it goes a bit further by allowing you to see every visitor interaction in a single session. Sources Question: Why is it important to understand the traffic sources arriving at your website? ‍ Answer: There are several reasons. For instance, you can check the diversity of your audience. This will allow you to make needed changes to ensure a site’s longevity, as you won’t be relying on visitors from only one medium, such as paid traffic. ‍ Another important reason to understand the true traffic source is that you can gauge the Return-On-Investment (ROI) of your marketing campaigns. You want to know if it’s worth the time and effort you put into individual

The straight-up answer Yes, Google Analytics is rather hard to learn. It’s not the type of platform you just sign up for and instinctively know how to use. ‍ The difficulty will depend on ‍ Previous experience How familiar you are with SEO strategies Which method you choose to learn ‍ Let’s take a closer look. Factors influencing how difficult it will be to learn GA: Previous Experience ‍ Do you have prior experience in traditional marketing? Do you spend your free time watching the latest keyword research videos on YouTube? ‍ Have you designed websites for friends and family as a hobby? ‍ All these interests and skills will make it easier for you to understand Google Analytics jargon and concepts. The better your foundation, the easier it will be to build on. Source: Pexels ‍ Knowledge of Digital Marketing and SEO ‍ General knowledge of SEO strategies will give you a running start in learning Google Analytics. It’s one thing to know how a program works, but quite another to understand how to use that data to make better decisions. ‍ You’ll also be more familiar with GA terms like metrics, KPIs, and Funnel conversions. All this means less time Googling terms and more time learning the tricks of the trade. Which method you choose to learn ‍ Can you learn Google Analytics on your own? ‍ If there’s one takeaway from this article, it’s this: DON’T! ‍ Trying to learn GA by simply watching a few YouTube videos and reading blog articles will take weeks. ‍ Don’t get me wrong, there are MANY quality articles and videos out there and you should absolutely take advantage of them to supplement your learning. ‍ But the best way to learn is to sign up for an actual Google Analytics course. This way, you know it will take X hours and can plan accordingly. Best Google Analytics training Google Analytics Academy: Google Analytics for Beginners ‍ Google designed this course for absolute beginners. It is best for startups, blogs and small business owners who are not ready to hire a digital marketer. ‍ Course duration: 4 – 6 hours ‍ Cost: Free ‍ Google Analytics for beginners includes all the analytics essentials: ‍ How to set up Google Analytics, as well as views and filters Understanding and sharing reports Basic reports: Audience, Acquisition & Behaviour Basic campaign and conversion tracking ‍ And once you’re done learning the basics, you can move on to the Advanced Google Analytics course.  To supplement your learning, there’s also the Google Analytics YouTube channel. ‍ Source: Pexels‍ Reliablesoft Academy: Google Analytics Course ‍ As part of the Digital Marketing course bundle, this course is ideal for beginners and those with prior knowledge of GA. ‍ If you want to learn how the platform works and get a well-rounded knowledge of SEO, this is the course for you. Recommended for small business owners and aspiring digital marketers. ‍ Course duration: 8 hours ‍ Cost: $119 ‍ Reliablesoft’s course includes: ‍ How to use Google Analytics for SEO purposes Advanced analytics, including creating goals and sales funnels Google Analytics 4 basics Google Analytics reports ‍ CXL: Google Analytics Intermediate ‍ This course is designed for those with a good foundation in Google Analytics. It can be described as a masterclass that helps you level up your GA skills. ‍ Course duration: 6 hours ‍ Cost: 7 day free trial, then +/- $140/month ‍ Google Analytics Intermediate includes: ‍ How to measure the customer journey funnel step-by-step How to create custom reports How to minimize spam in your data How to customize your marketing channels Can I get a Google Analytics certification? ‍ Yes – To do so, you’ll need to pass the Google Analytics Individual Qualification (QAIQ) exam. The exam should take approximately 1 hour to complete, and it’s recommended you first complete both the beginner and advanced GA academy courses before you do so. ‍ Note there are now 2 certifications – Universal and GA4. Should I learn Univeral GA or GA4? Google has announced that starting July 2023, they will no longer process data in UA. ‍ Although many principles and terms will remain the same, there are also considerable differences between the two platforms. ‍ So if you choose to learn how to use UA first, make sure to supplement your learning with content focused on GA4 as well. What makes learning Google Analytics a challenge? Source: Pexels‍ ‍ Google Analytics gathers an enormous quantity of information and compiles reports for just about anything you can imagine. ‍ Even if you want only basic data, it’s easy to be overwhelmed by all the information provided. The program also uses a lot of technical jargon, familiar only to those in the industry. ‍ This complexity means there is a steep learning curve. And the more complex the data you need, the more difficult it becomes to learn. Is Google Analytics worth learning? It depends.  ‍ If you want a career as a digital marketer, you’ll have very little choice but to learn how the world’s most popular analytics platform works. ‍ And knowing your way around GA will give you a very valuable skill that could land you some pretty cool jobs. In fact, the demand for people with web analytics skills will only increase going forward. ‍ On the other hand, if you are self-employed or a personal blog writer, it may not be worth the trouble. Also, as a small business owner, you probably won’t have much time to learn how an analytics tool works. Your focus will be on developing your product or service, hiring new staff or choosing the perfect office space for your company. ‍ Even though Google Analytics might be free, it doesn’t mean it’s the best option. There are other alternatives that deliver data reports for just a small monthly fee – minus the steep learning curve. ‍ So instead of spending hours wrapping your head around

In January 2022, the Austrian Data Protection Authority ruled that Austrian websites that use Google Analytics are breaching the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This recent ruling has its roots in a ruling known as Schrems II, which was made by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in 2020. The CJEU stated that US cloud service providers are not capable of complying with EU privacy laws, including GDPR. This non-compliance is inevitable due to US surveillance laws, which require US cloud service providers to hand over users’ personal data to the US authorities. Despite tech companies warning that this ruling would have severe consequences for companies and users on both sides of the Atlantic, many companies in both the US and the EU simply ignored the 2020 case. However, one Austrian business has now ended up in court as a result of ignoring the regulations. The company could be facing a fine of up to 20 million euros, as well as reputation damage. ‍ What Happened in the Austrian Case? The European Center for Digital Rights brought the case against the Austrian company. They found that IP addresses, which GDPR classes as personal data, were transmitted in cookie data to the US, in breach of the regulations. This illegal data transmission occurred as a result of the company using Google Analytics to monitor traffic to its site. The Austrian Data Protection Authority took the bold step of ruling that Austrian websites that use Google Analytics are breaching GDPR. According to Max Schrems, who is honorary chair of the European Center for Digital Rights, similar decisions could now occur in most EU member states. The organization has filed already filed over 100 complaints in almost all EU countries. ‍ What Does This Mean for EU Website Providers? Many website providers use Google Analytics to gain insight into how visitors find, navigate, and interact with their websites. However, for website owners in Austria — and perhaps soon in all other EU countries — continuing to use Google Analytics no longer remains a legal option. Any business currently using Google Analytics should remove it from their website immediately to avoid violating GDPR, which could lead to a significant fine and loss of reputation. ‍ Are There Legal Alternatives to Google Analytics? The good news for EU website providers is that there is no need to give up using analytics technology altogether. Analyzing website traffic is an essential part of understanding how visitors use your website and working out how you can improve your site to serve them more effectively. Thankfully, there are plenty of alternatives to Google Analytics that do not use cookies and are compliant with privacy regulations in the EU. Abralytics is a cookie-free and privacy-focused website analytics service. In addition to respecting the privacy of website visitors, Abralytics also focuses on delivering information to website providers that is jargon-free, easy to understand, and immediately actionable. It can even provide insights in as little as 20% of the time that Google Analytics takes. Abralytics works with all major website building platforms, such as WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, or Shopify. Most EU website providers who are currently risking breaking the law by using Google Analytics could quickly and easily switch over to Abralytics to keep their visitors’ data — and their own reputations — safe. Another alternative to Google Analytics is Plausible.io. This open-source web analytics software is lightweight, cookie-free, and fully compliant with GDPR. Plausible.io was created in the EU and is still hosted there, which means that it is a great choice for businesses that are keen to ensure compliance with all EU legislation. One advantage of using a cookie-free alternative to Google Analytics is that there is no need to obtain GDPR consent from website users. That means no annoying cookie banners — just a website working in the way it was designed to give a great experience to all visitors. ‍ Do EU Businesses Need to Act Now? As of January 2022, only Austria has ruled that Google Analytics is illegal — but similar rulings are expected to follow in most if not all other EU member states. Website providers in all EU countries must take action now to avoid fines and reputation damage. It is time for websites across Europe to ditch Google Analytics in favor of a privacy-friendly web analytics alternative. Sign up for a 30-day free trial of Abralytics today and protect your business.

Google Analytics has been setting the standard for analytics platforms since its launch on November 14th, 2005. ‍ It tracks website data which gives users the needed insights to improve their pages and optimize their conversion rates. Google Analytics soon grew into the most used analytics tool in the world, commanding an impressive 85% market share. (1) ‍ People have noted this success and since developed their own analytical software to rival it. ‍ Companies like Kissmetrics, founded in 2008, have provided users with viable alternative tracking tools. ‍ There are many reasons why you should switch to a google analytics alternative. But let’s take a closer look at both Kissmetrics and Google Analytics and help you figure out which platform would suit your needs. The similarities between Kissmetrics and Google Analytics Google Analytics helps users identify behavioral patterns of website visitors, telling you where they’re from, how long they stayed on a page, and what action was completed on a page if any before they clicked away. ‍ This conversion tracking helps users of GA adapt their pages to optimize results. ‍ Google Analytics tracks all the important metrics that users need to know about and offers a great summary of these in the form of a table, chart, and graph. Users are able to set up custom reports that are tailored to their goals and needs. ‍ Kissmetrics also helps companies understand customer behavior. They offer detailed customer delivery reports which help you track daily, weekly, and monthly users. ‍ It also allows you to see the most popular pages on your site, so you know where the most interest is. ‍ At first glance it might seem like both analytics tools do the same thing, right? ‍ Well, there are a few significant differences. Have a look at these: Differences between Kissmetrics and Google Analytics The kind of Data they track Google Analytics tracks anonymous data, meaning that they base their results on a large sample of visitors. So Google Analytics tells you about the overall traffic performance of a site and the top trends on a webpage. ‍ They make use of software called Google Tag Manager to track visitor interactions. The Tag Manager then allows you to set up certain event tracking, which when triggered will be counted in their report. ‍ Kissmetrics connects all their data to a specific person. This means that their reports are more personalized and focused on specific users. As can be seen in the screenshot below, this reporting tool allows you to hone in on individual visitors and track their interactions with your app or website. ‍ ‍Credit: Kissmetrics.com Data Accuracy Because Google Analytics makes use of anonymous tracking, they assume that each visit is a new person. This leads to inaccurate conversion rates. ‍ Kissmetrics knows when a single user accesses your website from different devices or browsers. Because it ties all this data together, conversion reports are more accurate. Customer Journey What is a customer journey? ‍ It’s the path of interactions an individual has with your product or services, from the moment they land on your first page, until after they’ve made a purchase or acted in a desired way, until the moment they leave your page. ‍ Google Analytics tracks sessions, not visitors, so you can’t build up customer journeys. GA helps a person understand what’s happening on their website before a purchase happens, but leaves many questions about the entire experience of individual users. ‍ Kissmetrics tracks the entire customer journey and shows you the drop-offs right throughout. This means that vendors know at which stage their potential customers have opted out of a purchase, including the time after they’ve added an item to the e-Commerce checkout cart. Marketing Funnels What is a funnel? A funnel is a series of steps or events that a user takes that lead to a conversion. ‍ It’s important to set up custom funnel reporting as it will help you visualize the steps that customers take to ultimately complete a task on your website. Knowing this helps you improve your site and reduce inefficient or abandoned customer journeys. ‍ Credit: GA4Bigquery.com‍ ‍ In your funnel reports, Google Analytics will show you important metrics such as Visitors, Bounce Rate, Time on site, and Exits. As seen in the image above, these metrics are tied to sessions, not individual visitors. ‍ As mentioned, Kissmetrics ties data to individual people, so their funnel report will give you data on one user source. This allows you to increase conversion rates over time. Support No matter how many white pages you study or how many tutorials you watch, sooner or later everyone needs a real human that can help resolve issues and give needed advice on the day-to-day use of the analytics tool. ‍ Even though Google Analytics has always offered support in the form of e-mail platforms and online Q&A they do not offer live support to those who use the free version. ‍ Kissmetrics offers live support with setting up their platform and also live communication with a real person (not a bot) when you need their help. ‍ E-commerce data tracking Google Analytics has long since been an attractive tool for small and medium e-commerce businesses. ‍ It offers some of the most important reports any vendor would need insight into, namely ‍ Enhanced Commerce Reports These consist of Campaign views, Campaign clicks, Product views, Product clicks, Product detail page views, Shopping cart additions, Shopping cart changes, Shopping cart abandonment, Coupon code activity, Purchase activity, Refund requests Average order value (AOV), and other metrics. ‍ Goal Flow Reports Helps businesses identify ‘stuck’ points for customers and leverage these points to better their return on investment. ‍ Users Flow Reports Helps you understand how visitors to your website are navigating their way through your web pages. By comparing the desired path to the actual paths, e-commerce managers can make user experience adjustments to better serve their prospective customers. ‍ Channel

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

Are you looking for a web analytics platform to replace Google Analytics? ‍ Both Matomo and Mixpanel are great alternatives if you are looking for a tool that is: ‍ Easy to understand, and Powerful enough to give meaningful insights ‍ But which one is more suited to your business model?  ‍ Let’s find out how they compare across six different categories, namely: ‍ Installation and Setup Features Dashboard Integrations Support Pricing ‍ We’ll also look at one outstanding feature of each tracking tool and give you our two cents’ worth at the end of the article. Who are they? Mixpanel’s motto is: ‍  “build better products.” ‍ And that’s what they’ve been helping people do with their data since launching in 2009.  ‍ Mixpanel has finetuned its software over the years and is currently one of the most advanced analytics platforms in the world for mobile and web tracking. ‍ Matomo’s (formerly Piwik) motto is: ‍  “To create, as a community, the leading open digital analytics platform that gives every user full control of their data.” ‍ Matomo is an open-source analytics software with privacy protection and user-centric insights. It focuses on web analytics rather than product analytics. Who will they appeal to? Mixpanel has been designed for engineering, product, design, and analytics data teams. It focuses on product-based data capturing, allowing the user to see how people interact with a specific product. ‍ They thrive on providing metrics that help businesses convert goals, engage with customers, and, most importantly, focus on user retention. ‍ Matomo, on the other hand, will appeal to companies looking for a cloud or on-premise open-source web analytics solution. ‍ It is intended for marketing and content teams who need to focus on SEO activities without losing control of their user data. It’s suitable for small and large businesses. ‍ One of the most appealing features of Matomo is that their data analysis reports are never sold off; they allow you 100% data ownership. ‍ So, now that you understand these two analytics tools better let’s see how they fare in a head-to-head comparison. Installation and Setup ‍ Configuring and setting up Mixpanel is relatively straightforward. Users follow a step-by-step process beginning with registering and signing up for their services.  ‍ Once a user understands which metrics he wants to track, setting up the code takes around 30-minutes per event. This is because you’ll write the code for the desired event tracking, verify the data, and then run a stress test to see if it’s working correctly before merging the code with your Data tracking. ‍ Matomo users will need to sign in to their accounts. ‍ Click on Administration, then under Websites/Measurable, click on Manage.  ‍ This page is used to create, update and delete websites. Click on Add a new website to create a new site in Matomo. Features Analytics platforms have more or less the same features, don’t they? ‍ But not all are necessarily crucial to your business. ‍ Let’s break it down into the most important features and see how they compare: ‍   Created with Canva‍ Goal Tracking  Goals help you measure how well your app or site fulfills your target objectives. When an activity is completed, a goal is met.  ‍ Examples of Goals are  ‍ Destination Goals Duration Goals Pages/Screens per session Goals Events Goals ‍ Both Matomo and Mixpanel Analytics allow you to set Goals suited to your business objectives. Event Tracking Event tracking helps you identify when a specified event has occurred in your app or business. These events include, but are not limited to,  ‍ Form submissions Link Clicks Video Plays Downloads ‍ Both Matomo and Mixpanel allow you to create custom event tracking, which gives a more focused understanding of how people interact with your website. This is important because companies will each have different events they need to know about. ‍ For example, a music service would want to track a song download as an event, while an eCommerce company would be more interested in a user clicking ‘add to cart.’ Multiple site Management When you have different divisions within your business,  you need the ability to track multiple pages, websites, or apps with one user account. ‍ Mixpanel and Matomo analytics both allow you to do this.  Heatmaps A heat map tool is very handy as it gives you a visual presentation of how your visitors navigate your website. ‍ Use Matomo’s heatmaps to see where a visitor clicked, moved around, scrolled and spent the most time on your website’s pages.  ‍ For further reading on Matomo’s Heatmap feature, check out this article which discusses it in more detail.  ‍ Unfortunately, Mixpanel does not offer a heatmap tracking feature. A – B testing AB testing is an experiment run to determine which version of a page gets the desired response from users.  ‍ For instance, if you notice that people visit a page, but your conversions metrics tell you that they don’t click on the ‘play video’ button, you might want to run an A/B test. ‍ You could then move the play video tab to a different location, edit the font or enlarge the text size. Allow the page to run again and see if your conversion metric increases. If it does, you know that the second version of that page is more successful. ‍ Both of these analytics tools allow you to test different varieties of pages. User Interaction Tracking A Unique feature of Matomo is its content tracking ability. ‍ This software allows you to track how specific pieces of content perform on your website or mobile app.  ‍ For example, you might have google ads set as a pop-up on one of your web pages. Have you ever wondered how users interact with that bit of content?  ‍ Matomo Content tracking will tell you whether they simply closed it, followed the link, or allowed the ad to play. ‍ A real strength of Mixpanel is