What tools do you use for analytics?

As many times before, I suggest Plausible from @ukutaht.
It's simple, fast, easy on page load and has enough data for any website.

GA is always on top of the list. But as a serial growth marketer, I always eager to try and apply new tools with my team. Just to name a few analytics & data-driven tools:

• GA and Hotjar of course
• Google Data Studio
• Mixpanel
• Kissmetrics
• Bitly
• Databox
• Segment
• Mention
• Amplitude
• Branch
• Supermetrics
• Woopra

Although my little side project is really little. But I still managed to leverage data on GA, HubSpot and Bitly for growth purpose.

There are plenty of reliable tools out there.

I recommend GA as the first tool to use.

As I wrote in a recent newsletter:

Here's why you should use GA:
Google Analytics tops the list because if you only have the time for one tool, this should be it. It has been around for so long, is so powerful, and has such critical mass that it's generally the default tool for starting your measurement. And with good reason - it's a great tool. Given the free price tag, it's amazing.

Because it's the default choice, everybody integrates with it out of the box. If you're a technical app builder, your package publisher of choice definitely has at least one GA package hosted.

And in non-technical land, it is sometimes the only option: Wordpress, site builders (Squarespace, Carrd, etc.), your favorite no-code solution, Mailchimp, Gumroad... they all have a blank where you insert your GA ID and off you go. And GA is the only blank.

GA's reach is so broad that specific features are supported by other tools in a wider ecosystem. For example, if you use a social media publishing tool like Buffer or Hootsuite, they will add GA's UTM parameters to your links, which lets you determine which of your social posts really are driving traffic.

The full issue can be read online here: https://mailchi.mp/ceadd71b7d3e/heres-your-first-analytics-win

As for tools not matching up, that's to be expected. It's comparing apples and oranges. Every tool has slight differences in its data collection, its definitions, its preset queries, and so on. Additionally, your implementation methods for each may vary, which introduces even more variance. So don't hold it against any one tool that its numbers don't match another.

I'd recommend a privacy-focused analytics like https://simpleanalytics.com or https://usefathom.com.

Here's an example of my website's stats powered by Simple Analytics:
https://simpleanalytics.com/oneprofile.info