Matomo analytics tool in a nutshell

Why should you invest in website analytics?

Without a clear plan, website analytics and marketing tracking can easily become wasted efforts. The effectiveness of analytics depends on careful planning, and testing results is essential. It’s often assumed that the tool itself solves the problems, but in reality, every tool requires some degree of setup and customization to achieve the desired outcomes. It’s crucial to map out the user journey on your site or app and ensure that the data that’s transferred to the tool is in the right format and carefully handled so that interpreting the results doesn’t involve guesswork.

What is Matomo?

MatomoOpens in a new tab is an open-source web analytics tool, specifically focused on complying with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). The website owner (administrator) using Matomo Analytics tool, owns and is responsible for the data collected and has access to collected data in its raw format. Matomo gives you the option to self-host the solution on your server or to use a cloud version provided by InnoFactor. Hosted solution by InnoFactor gives you access to paid add-ons (plugins) that you would separately have to purchase for the self-hosted version.

Matomo provides a refreshing alternative to analytics tools, previously dominated by Google Analytics Universal Analytics (GA3).  The current Google Analytics 4Opens in a new tab remains the most popular tool on the market, and depending on the source, 49.7% of all websites (or 48.97% of the top one million sites) use this tool. However, Matomo's share is 1.6% or even 2.5%, and it's growing. Matomo is one of the most popular alternatives in the public sector, especially due to its GDPROpens in a new tab focus and interface similarities with Google Analytics Universal Analytics.

Matomo vs. GA4

Matomo is not inherently better than Google Analytics 4 in all areas of web analytics. However, Matomo is better suited for those needs where data privacy compliance and ownership are key concerns.

1. Matomo is an open-source web analytics tool designed to comply with privacy regulations, making it particularly suitable for organizations that prioritize GDPR or other privacy laws. For many, this is the primary reason to switch or choose this tool.
2. With Matomo, the data you collect belongs entirely to you and is not sent to unspecified servers. This way, you know exactly how the data is handled, with no risk that it will be used or processed beyond your control.
3. Matomo offers a comprehensive range of reports that cover most users' needs, and the reports are similar to what Google Analytics 4 offers, making it familiar and easy to use for those already accustomed to other tools.
4. By using Matomo, your site retains full ownership of the data produced by the analytics tool and is also responsible for it. This ownership provides more control and accountability, supporting stricter data privacy and management policies.

For who is Matomo suited for?

Matomo is especially well-suited for users familiar with Google Analytics Universal Analytics, as it offers a comparable reporting structure and user interface. For example, Matomo utilizes a three-tier event hierarchy of 'category, name, label,' which was once the standard format in analytics tools, making it intuitive for those transitioning from older systems.

Utilizing Matomo

Matomo requires more upfront effort to ensure smooth operation in the future. Quick analyses are not as easily or efficiently done in Matomo, as new fields (dimensions) can not be added to reports on the fly. Desired reports with the desired fields (more than one field) must be created separately with the Custom Reports add-on.

Start by creating events and goals related to website tracking in Matomo. After that, you can create reports with Custom Reports that make use of the new events, as well as some reports on overall site structure. Filtering Matomo’s basic reports is based on an 'includes' filter, so depending on the structure of the site and the results you want, this filter might not suffice. The more time spent on preparations, the easier the ongoing analyses will be in Matomo.

Installing Matomo

To install Matomo on your website without any extra configurations, simply insert the Matomo tracking code at the end of the <head> section, just before the closing </head> tag.  

<!-- Matomo -->
<script>
 var _paq = window._paq = window._paq || [];
 /* tracker methods like "setCustomDimension" should be called before "trackPageView" */
 _paq.push(['trackPageView']);
 _paq.push(['enableLinkTracking']);
 (function() {
    var u="MATOMO_INSTALL_URL";
    _paq.push(['setTrackerUrl', u+'matomo.php']);
    _paq.push(['setSiteId', 'MATOMO_WEBSITE_ID']);
    var d=document, g=d.createElement('script'), s=d.getElementsByTagName('script')[0];
    g.async=true;g.src='MATOMO_JS_URL';s.parentNode.insertBefore(g,s);
 })();
</script>
<!-- End Matomo Code -->

In most cases, when tracking a website, you must request user consent for the use of cookies and tracking. This can make the installation process a bit more complex. The complexity of the installation depends on the tool (CMS) used to manage consent.

Matomo and GDPR

From a GDPROpens in a new tab perspective, Matomo is a much safer option than Google Analytics 4. Although Matomo offers a stronger security foundation, it can still be used illegally, such as by collecting identifiable user data or failing to implement required pseudonymization and anonymization techniques. The legality of data processing is often determined by what information is collected, for what purpose, how the data is collected, and who has access to it.

Matomo's business benefits

Switching to Matomo can be a wise decision if you want to protect your business from potential future GDPR-related risks. Matomo provides a truly real-time view and a more detailed visitor log, making it easier to identify and resolve issues on the site and tracking. However, Matomo is not free, so it's important to collect data that brings concrete benefits to improving the service.