7 Best Analytics Solutions for WordPress Users

With it’s launch in 2005, Google Analytics has become the most widely used analytics solution for WordPress sites. Recently one of our users asked us for some alternatives to Google Analytics. In this article, we will show you the 7 best analytics solutions for WordPress users.

Why do you need to add Analytics to your WordPress site?

Learning more about your users is vital to run a successful online business website. You need an analytics solution that helps you gather data and provide insightful reports into user activity on your site.
Analytics platform can tell you where your users are coming from, which pages they are visiting the most, how long do they stay on your website, which links do they click on the most, etc.
Having that said let’s take a look the best analytics software for WordPress users.

1. Google Analytics

Google Analytics is the most popular of all analytics solution available. First of all it is free. Second, it is very easy to install in WordPress.
Pros

• Google Analytics is available for free.
• It is easy to install Google Analytics in WordPress.
• It is fairly easy to use for the basics.
• You can track links, perform A/B testing, get real time insights into your traffic.
• You can manage multiple websites and accounts under one dashboard.

Cons

• Google Analytics is really robust and powerful which is why it does have a learning curve for the more advanced stuff such as conversion reports, etc.
• By using Google Analytics, you are sharing valuable site data with Google.
• It is not easy to take your data with you.

2. Crazy Egg

Crazy Egg shows you where your visitors are clicking on your site. This technology is called heat-mapping, and it allows you to visualize how your users interact with your website.
Pros

• Allows you to see where users are clicking on your website with heatmaps.
• Crazy Egg also offers a scroll map which shows how far users are scrolling on your pages.
• You also get to see the number of clicks on each element in overlay map.
• Their Confetti tool allows you to segment your clicks into referrals, sources, search terms, etc.

Cons

• Its free for 60 day trial but after that you will have to choose a monthly pricing plan.
• It takes a screenshot of the page and then reports your clicks which is more useful for static pages but not so effective for dynamic pages like a blog’s main page.

3. KISSmetrics

KISSmetrics is an analytics and conversion optimization service. While Google Analytics tells you what’s happening on your site, KISSmetrics tells you who is doing it.
Pros

• Drill down to see who is doing what on your website.
• Create funnels and reach out to customers who didn’t convert.
• You can actually follow an individual user on your website and see what they did throughout the time spent on your site.
• Easy integration using KISSmetrics plugin for WordPress.

Cons

• While KISSmetrics is great in identifying people, it lacks in granular data that Google Analytics offers.
• Pricing is based on events and could go slightly higher than your expectations.

KissMetrics is great for eCommerce websites.

4. Mixpanel

Mixpanel is an alternative to KISSmetrics. It offers user level analytics and event tracking in real time. Mixpanel is available for mobile apps as well as the web.
Pros

• User level tracking allows you to dig down and see what your users are doing.
• Helps you build user retention by sending push notifications and emails to your users.
• A beautiful user interface makes it easier for you to get around.
• Use funnels to increase conversions.

Cons

• Price is based on actions people take on your site/app, so this could go higher than your expectation.

5. Piwik

Unlike other solutions in the list, Piwik is a self-hosted analytics solution. It is also an open source software just like WordPress.
Pros

• Piwik is an open source alternative to Google Analytics.
• Piwik integrates well with log file analyzers which gives you great insights into user/bot activity on your site.
• Self hosted means you own your data and stats.
• Integrates well with WordPress and eCommerce plugins.

Cons

• It is self hosted which means you are responsible for installation, managing, updating and securing the software.
• May not have all the features of other proprietary solutions in the list.

6. Woopra

Woopra is another web analytics tool with an extensive set of features. Similar to KISSmetrics and Mixpanel, Woopra allows you to track individual users.
Pros

• See what’s stopping users from taking an action using funnels.
• Track visitors and see how they interact with your website.
• Easy integration with WordPress using the official plugin.

Cons

• Woopra has a limited free plan, but you would want to get Small Business plan which is costly.

7. WordPress.com Stats

WordPress.com stats can be added to any self-hosted WordPress site using JetPack. These provide some basic stats for your visitors.
Pros

• Easy to implement with JetPack plugin for WordPress.
• Simple easy to understand statistics for your blog.
• Powered by WordPress.com and free

Cons

• Provides some basic stats and lacks features you would get using Google Analytics or any other analytics tool.
• You will need a free WordPress.com account and connect your site to WordPress.com servers

We hope this article helped you find the best analytics solution for your WordPress site. While there are some Google Analytics alternatives listed here, in our experience using a combination of Google Analytics and another conversion analytics software like KissMetrics or Crazy Egg tends to give you the best results.

Source