How do I choose the right one?
Both Google Analytics and Matomo offer a wide variety of features to help business owners track their website’s activity. Real-time traffic analysis allows you to see who is viewing your website at any given time, and a live traffic map allows you to see the geographic location of your viewers. Additionally, both platforms provide useful information about views within your site. Which pages are the most frequently visited? What page was a viewer on when they left your website? All of this information and more is readily available through both of these platforms.
The difference? It all comes down to individual perference. If you are already primarily a Google user, you may automatically gravitate towards Google Analytics. Being a Google product, this platform is streamlined for efficiency and is better suited for the use of other Google features such as maps and Google Ad services. You may also choose Google Analytics if you prefer to work in the Cloud rather than working locally (i.e. on your web server). However, all collected data from your site is stored in Google’s servers, and may not be fully secure. So, if data privacy is a top priority for your business, Matomo may be a better fit. Using Matomo, all data is stored locally within your own servers, and the platform is able to run without data-tracking software like cookies. You have more control over where your data is stored and who can access it, as well as access to other security features such as IP anonymization.
There are certainly pros and cons to both platforms, and choosing the right one depends on what your business’s needs and priorities are. If you’re running a legal service, you may opt for better data protection to ensure confidentiality for your clients, but if you’re working in retail you may require a more streamlined approach that makes your company easier to track and advertise. In some cases, you may even choose to make use of both!
Want to utilize analytics for your business but don’t know where to start? Verit Labs provides site traffic monitoring and analytic services using both Google Analytics and Matomo through our Site Management Core Services!