To succeed as a business, you must tap into what the numbers say. A data analytics platform crunches those numbers and gives you actionable insights on tweaking your strategies for the desired results.
Most people associate data analytics with Google Analytics. It has become ubiquitous, like the search engine, and it undoubtedly offers a strong suite of features to get businesses up and running with their analytics strategies.
But what is Google Analytics, exactly? Simply put, it collects user data and then presents findings in the form of customizable reports that can include up to 200 metrics across the entire customer journey to support your marketing and SEO purposes. Research shows that as of December 2022, 28.1 million websites used Google Analytics.
Google Analytics is easily integrable with existing systems, such as your SEO platform and CRM dashboards (so you get all the insights you need in one place). There are also many third-party integrations available to enrich your data reporting.
However, even though pretty much everyone swears by Google Analytics, it is not without its faults, which include the following:
- Limited data reporting and a high reliance on data sampling.
- Insufficient behavioral insights (which are a must for delivering personalized customer experiences and avoiding customer churn).
- Highly technical setup process.
- Concerns about data privacy.
- Complex interface.
Best Google Analytics Alternatives
So is Google Analytics the only option? Or even the best option? And even if the flaws of Google Analytics do not concern you, you may simply want something different for your business.
Either way, you can consider several other analytics platforms with distinctive features and use cases. Let us dive into some of our top alternatives for Google Analytics.
1. Piwik PRO
The Piwik PRO analytics solution studies user journeys across both websites and mobile apps. Along with standard quantitative analytics features, it comes with multiple advanced functionalities like consent management, customer profile building, coordinating tag behavior, and so on.
Piwik PRO users particularly enjoy the fact that it allows 100% data ownership and unlimited data export and storage time. The free plan tracks up to 500,000 user actions per month, making it ideal even for businesses on a budget, and paid plans are available on request.
Piwik vs. Google Analytics
The chief difference here is that while Google Analytics is hosted remotely on the cloud, Piwik gives you complete and final control over your visitor data. In addition, the data from Piwik tends to be much more reliable, even in its raw form. In contrast, Google Analytics data needs to go through a good amount of sorting and refinement to filter out spam and other unwanted elements.
2. Adobe Analytics
Adobe Analytics is an enterprise analytics platform that comes with multiple quantitative analytics features to capture and study real-time data across the buyer’s journey. Their focus is on predictive analytics for customer behavior, and users can mix and match data from multiple touchpoints in the customer journey to get unique insights.
The platform also comes with an interactive analytics dashboard where users can drag and drop data and visualizations to make custom reports. There are different pricing tiers, details of which are available on request.
Adobe Analytics vs. Google Analytics
One of the main advantages of Adobe Analytics over Google Analytics is that it allows lifetime customer data storage, while Google Analytics caps it at 24 months. Adobe Analytics also offers more structured eCommerce tracking and a drag-and-drop option for MS Excel that enables more convenient information sharing with the team.
3. Matomo Analytics
Matomo Analytics, formerly Piwik, is a free and open-source web analytics tool that helps website owners and marketers track and analyze their website traffic. It provides a robust suite of features to help users gain valuable insights into their visitors’ behavior and optimize their website performance accordingly.
Some key features of Matomo Analytics include real-time visitor tracking, customizable dashboards, goal tracking, site search analysis, heatmaps, and A/B testing. Matomo also allows users to track multiple websites from a single dashboard and provides a range of plugins and integrations to extend its functionality.
One of Matomo Analytics’s main advantages is its privacy-focused data collection and storage approach. Unlike Google Analytics, which tracks and stores data on Google’s servers, Matomo Analytics lets users retain complete control over their sensitive customer data by allowing them to host it on their own servers or on-premise infrastructure. This makes it a popular choice among businesses and organizations prioritizing data privacy and security.
Matomo Analytics is considered one of the best Google Analytics alternatives due to its robust feature set, open-source nature, and privacy-focused data collection and storage approach. It has a user-friendly interface, extensive documentation, and a large community of users and developers who support and contribute to the project’s development.
Matomo Analytics vs. Google Analytics
The most significant difference between Matomo Analytics and Google Analytics is data ownership and privacy. Matomo allows users to retain full control over their data by hosting it on their own servers or on-premise infrastructure, while Google Analytics stores data on Google’s servers.
4. Woopra
Woopra is an end-to-end web analytics tool that includes a wealth of features for marketing, sales, customer support, and product teams—which most traditional analytics platforms do not have.
It lets you set up built-in triggers to take real-time action based on user behavior and enables easy sync of your existing backend data with no coding knowledge needed. Furthermore, it integrates with services like Google Ads, Salesforce, and more, allowing you to access all your data in a single place.
The free plan tracks up to 500,000 user actions per month; paid plans are pricey, though, starting at $349/month.
Woopra vs. Google Analytics
Woopra delivers individual user profiles, with details such as user name and email address, allowing you to take clear action based on who your visitor is. Google Analytics, on the other hand, is purely anonymous. Woopra also scores an advantage in terms of the automated actions you can set up based on what your site visitor does.
5. Open Web Analytics
Open Web Analytics is an open-source analytics platform that helps users track and study their website and app visitors. This real-time analytics tool allows users to track unlimited site interactions with the help of a heatmap that shows which parts of the website are getting the most traffic. The dashboard is easy to use and can integrate with various CRMs.
Open Web Analytics vs. Google Analytics
One core advantage of Open Web Analytics is that it comes with built-in CMS integrations, unlike Google Analytics which requires third-party integrations. Open Web Analytics also enables unlimited tracking across multiple profiles, which Google Analytics limits to 50 profiles.
6. Kissmetrics
Kissmetrics has been getting a lot of hype recently as an alternative to Google Analytics, and for a good reason. It’s an analytics platform built specifically for SaaS and eCommerce companies and focuses on targeted metrics like time to sign up, customer data and churn rate, subscriptions, revenue, etc. It bills itself as an enterprise-level platform at an entry-level price, focusing on behavioral analytics.
Kissmetrics vs. Google Analytics
The main difference between both tools is that Kissmetrics shows you where the data is coming from, unlike Google Analytics, which only tracks data anonymously. Kissmetrics also allows unlimited filters to be applied, thus enabling you to customize data as granularly as you need.
How to Choose a Suitable Google Analytics Alternative for Your Business
Whether you are keen to make a switch from Google Analytics or want to explore what is out in the market but do not know how to evaluate other website analytics tools, here are a few factors to consider:
1. Determine your needs
Before choosing a solid Google Analytics alternative, it is essential to determine your business’s specific needs and goals. Consider which marketing metrics are most important to track and measure, such as the number of users and sessions, search engine positioning, conversion rates, bounce rate, the ratio of new to returning website visitors, and so on.
This will help you narrow down the list of potential alternatives and ensure you choose a tool that can effectively track and analyze the data most relevant to your business.
2. Evaluate the features of each alternative
Once you have determined your needs, study different options and evaluate their features. Look for tools that can track and measure important metrics to your business, and consider other features such as data visualization, segmentation, and custom reporting.
Additionally, consider if the tool can integrate with other platforms and tools you currently use, such as your website platform, marketing automation software, and CRM. You can always kickstart your research from the list above and build on that.
3. Consider costs
Pricing is an essential factor. Compare the cost of different tools, and consider whether they offer a free trial or have a version you can use for free. Look for a tool that fits within your budget and offers good value for its features and capabilities.
4. Test and implement the tool
Once you’ve narrowed down your list of potential alternatives, test them out and compare the data they provide. This can give you a better idea of how each tool can help you achieve your business goals and make an informed decision.
Once you have chosen a tool, work with the vendor or developer to implement it, train your team on how to use it, and set up your tracking code and reporting.
Google Analytics FAQs
What is Google Analytics?
Google Analytics is a web analytics tool for tracking and reporting website traffic. It’s a free tool provided by Google that helps website owners to understand how visitors interact with their websites. It also provides valuable insights to optimize website performance.
How do I set up Google Analytics?
To set up Google Analytics, you must follow these steps:
- Create a Google Analytics account.
- Add your website or mobile app as a property.
- Install the Google Analytics tracking code on your website or app.
You may also use Google Tag Manager to manage your tracking codes.
Is Google Analytics free?
Yes, Google Analytics offers a free version for website owners and marketers. However, there is also a premium version called Google Analytics 360 that offers additional features and support.
What kind of data does Google Analytics collect?
Google Analytics collects data such as the number of visitors to your website, their geographic location, the pages they visit, the duration of their visit, the devices and browsers they use, and other demographic information.
Over To You
In conclusion, Google Analytics is a popular and reliable tool. Still, alternatives do exist, some with more niche features that might suit your brand better than just the basics.
Because it is widely used and robust, switching to an alternative is not always necessary. If you are happy with the analysis you get from Google Analytics, and the tool meets your business needs, there’s no need to change it.
It is, therefore, vital to always do your homework before committing to any other alternative and to use your best judgment.
Remember, you know your needs better than anyone else! Your business will soon be unstoppable with the right data analytics platform installed and a team who knows how to leverage its potential.
