Analytics and web analysis – what is it and why?
Essentially, web analysis is also referred to as web trackers, analytics, or analytics tools.
These tools are able to show, through linking with a website (domain e.g.: meinshop.com), whether users come from organic search, paid search, retargeting, or from affiliate marketing measures. It can also be tracked whether the user has generated a conversion.
What can a web tracker capture?
It is impossible to list all key figures here. But a few essential ones should be mentioned. It is important that below, web analytics tools are presented that all comply with German and thus also European data protection (the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)). What can essentially be represented with web trackers?
- Place of origin (Country, City, Continent)
- Device access (i.e., whether your website has been accessed via smartphone, tablet, or desktop PCs/laptops)
- Access via online marketing channel (SEO, SEA, display, newsletter, affiliate, Facebook advertising)
- Conversion Rates (which can also be filtered by channel or country of origin)
- Loading speeds of individual URLs (websites)
- Bounce Rate
- Exit rate
- Time on Site (i.e. how much time users have spent on your pages)
- And much more …
Why should I conduct web analytics?
If you run a blog so successfully that, for example, a large online retailer asks if advertising for their tie range could be placed, you should know how many clicks the blog receives. Additionally, you will want to verify whether the retailer is correctly counting traffic and, above all, the sales that are to be compensated. If you do this, for example, based on clicks on an advertisement (banner, etc.), then it should be verifiable.
Assuming the partnership (in this case, it would be an affiliate partnership) develops very successfully and there is a lot of money to be made from this cooperation right from the start, you will wonder how revenue could continue to grow. The next goal could very well be to get more traffic to the blog. This could be achieved through unpaid and paid search engine optimization. However, this only works if control instruments are at hand. And thus, a hobby becomes a business, and web analytics becomes essential!
If your business has conversion goals, you will also have to use a tracking tool.
Overview of the 4 most important web tracking tools
It is impossible to know them all, so here is a selection from our colleagues (sorted alphabetically).
Econda, the e-commerce business solution
The analysis tool from Karlsruhe is primarily designed for medium to large online shops. The tool is versatile and can be expanded at any time with its own solutions. This makes it very good for discovering usability potentials. Considering that it is a paid tool, you can assemble it like a construction kit. Our experience is that the implementation and initial configuration is quite time-consuming and requires some expertise. However, it is definitely worth it, especially if you want to professionally optimize your online shop and get to know your customers. What is particularly exciting is that you can evaluate your offline campaigns and that you can link your own CRM or product data with the tool. The company also offers training, consulting, and workshops in addition to the software. For prices and conditions, you should contact Econda’s sales department.
For smaller online presences, we refer to the following tools (especially because the cost factor is simply more manageable there).
Etracker, for smaller shops and web projects
Etracker comes from Germany and also hosts its data there – which may provide greater reassurance for privacy-sensitive individuals. This tool is primarily optimized for the operation of online shops. In addition, it is possible to connect to common content management systems (WordPress, Drupal, etc.) or shop systems such as Oxid, Magento, and Shopware. Additionally, the tool offers a connection to Google Ads, which is a great relief for shops that engage in SEA. UX analyses are also offered. However, what is certainly a special feature is the so-called “Cookie Less” solution, which does not necessarily require an OptIn for tracking & cookies despite GDPR. Your users will thank you for it. The operating costs are very manageable, although personal consultation from us is still recommended.
Google Analytics, the classic
With a huge market share and the seamless integration with all other Google products (Google Search Console, Google Datastudio, Google Ads), Google Analytics is certainly the market leader. The tool is an ideal solution for bloggers and micro-enterprises as well as for medium-sized businesses and larger shops in its very extensive basic version (upgrade only recommended for very large internet businesses). Since the European market is extremely important for Google, the provider always responds promptly to changes in data protection regulations. Therefore, there are no concerns here. However, one should know that the data hosting is not located in Germany. What makes the operation of Google Analytics exciting is the implementation through the Google Tag Manager. This allows for significantly more precise usage data to be collected, especially regarding A/B testing. For Google Chrome, there are some interesting analytics apps that can noticeably simplify website analysis. From July 1, 2023, Google Universal Analytics will be shut down and replaced by Google Analytics 4. To continue tracking website data, websites must migrate to the new version Google Analytics 4 (GA4). In doing so, you will benefit from many new features and even more accurate data measurement: more historical data, more meaningful tracking, personalized reports, and more opportunities to identify optimization potentials.
Matomo (Piwik), for data security
Matomo (formerly Piwik) is a serious alternative to Google Analytics and has a unique market advantage: data security through tool & data hosting on your own web server. This protects the data from external access. The open-source software is continuously developed and now also has interfaces to Google Ads and Google Search Console. So if you are looking for a truly secure and successful free web tracking alternative, you are in the right place. The previous justified concerns about the lack of user-friendliness due to a very nerdy web interface are now unfounded. The documentation is available only in English, which certainly is no longer a limitation today. However, its user interface can be switched to German and 50 other languages. In addition, Matomo has had its own tag manager solution since 2018. Installing it on your own server requires some technical knowledge, but rewards you – as mentioned – with absolute security. Alternatively, there is also a paid cloud solution (data hosting in Frankfurt (as of Dec. 2020)), which can also be tested as a free version (https://matomo.org/pricing/).
If you need help optimizing or setting up web tracking on your website, feel free to send us a message. We are happy to assist you!
