As a modern business owner, you already appreciate the benefits of updating your company website. However, if you genuinely wish to unlock the full potential of your site (and business), web analytics will play a key role. But while most companies and web development teams continue to drag along with Google Analytics, our experts at SaneChoice now use Plausible.io.

Want to know more about Plausible and why is it the best option for analytics privacy and the future of your online strategies? Here’s all you need to know.

Google Analytics

Google Analytics launched in 2005 and has been the most commonly used web analytics platform virtually ever since. The platform has helped millions of website administrators over the years and continues to dominate the landscape to this day.

Of course, there are many reasons why people like Google Analytics. It is linked to the world’s biggest search engine, has existed for nearly 20 years, and provides considerable visitor information. However, the last of those points is why many websites are starting to migrate away from Google. 

The growing problems with Google Analytics

Google Analytics works by storing cookies on a web user’s device. This identifiable information helps website owners understand how their site performs and can pick out hot leads. For many consumers, though, this is a significant issue. Studies show that;

• 80% of UK consumers are actively worried about how businesses store their data.
• Online security is seen as more important than national security by 45% of Brits.
• 79% of global online users feel they have lost control of online privacy.
• Online interactions account for a massive 91% of identity theft cases.
• Only 6.3% of Brits have recently seen their fears over online privacy fall.

In short, modern consumers are increasingly aware of data privacy issues and actively want to minimise their digital fingerprints. However, when they understand how much of their online activities are stored by Google Analytics, it can be a cause for concern. Even with the knowledge that the data is helping businesses improve the user experience.

Google and GDPR

Furthermore, Google Analytics violates several General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) laws in the EU, which causes further issues for businesses looking to reach those markets. Consumers will know that a company uses Google Analytics because it is a legal requirement (as well as one of Google’s service terms) to provide a privacy policy page to inform visitors about how their data is collected.

From a business perspective, Google Analytics remains a popular choice as it is free and universally used. Nevertheless, growing concerns from web users (whether rational or not) have turned the tide. The introduction of Google Analytics 4 and its ability to track users across apps and websites means that more and more site administrators may need to adopt another option.

SaneChoice is one step ahead of the game and uses Plausible.io as its web analytics solution for all client websites.

Why we use Plausible.io – benefits, features, and more

Whether looking to complete a full SEO audit or improve the visitor UX, website analytics will play an essential role. While Google Analytics remains the market leader, there are plenty of similar tools in the marketplace. Plausible.io is our choice and can help drive your website to its intended destination.

Unlike Google Analytics, Plausible.io is a paid service. However, at just £9 per month for up to 10,000 visitors, one additional conversion per month would cover this expense. It is well known that you are the product if a service is free. So, instantly switching to a paid yet affordable service is an attractive feature for business owners across various industries.

Plausible.io is an open-source web analytics platform made and hosted in the EU. It makes it better aligned to the UK and European markets than solutions focused on North American regions. There are many reasons to love the service, which is why we use it as the standard solution on every client website we design and manage.

Plausible.io privacy features

At a glance, the fundamental features of Plausible aren’t very different from any other website analytics platform. However, the cloud-based service promotes itself as a “simple and privacy-friendly” solution. It’s hard to argue against this, given its range of analytics privacy features.

Some of the key attributes that stand Plausible out from the crowd are listed below:

Open source

The open-source software is available for anyone to view, which means Plausible offers complete transparency in its coding and how data is collected. This makes it a genuinely trustworthy solution for the end user, which is something they need to feel towards the brand before buying. 7 in 10 will actively spend more when they trust a company. Having a transparent analytics tool feeds into this.

When the customer is satisfied, business owners should follow suit.

Minimal data collection

Website analytics tools have to collect some data regarding the user’s interactions on your site, but many take more data than necessary. Plausible.io holds no personal data or identifiable information. Aside from providing a privacy-friendly service for users, it helps website owners focus on the metrics that matter. In turn, this allows you to focus on the site tweaks which create value. By tracking fewer data points, site loading speeds remain fast too.

One website data collection

Many website analytics tools track users’ activities across other websites, a controversial issue for many consumers. Almost 80% of websites tracked data five years ago, and that figure has increased. However, you do not need to know what users are doing on other websites. Plausible.io only tracks the behaviours across your website, which protects their privacy and makes your analysis far more straightforward.

Aggregated data

Many businesses track a single client that keeps returning and will focus so much time on that conversion that they overlook the general trends. Plausible focuses on aggregated data, which helps the business make conscious choices that improve the website and customer care features. In turn, you get the best website analytics features without the negatives.

Data is not shared

Data sharing with third parties, including advertising companies, is a significant issue for many consumers. Worse still, the marketing data industry is worth $52bn and growing. The Plausible.io platform never shares data with advertisers or other third-party teams. As such, it removes the secondary threats, which also helps consumers feel that their data is safer and that the company cares.

The data is also collected per day rather than following them as one trail for life.

Plausible can be self-hosted

Website owners can host the code on their own servers, demonstrating Plausible’s commitment to privacy. When added to the fact that 100% of the data is business owned rather than by the web analytics provider, consumers can feel extra safe. At a time when this is a priority for most people, it is an important privacy feature.

Other key Plausible.io features

While privacy is certainly one of the chief reasons we now use Plausible web analytics, many other features make it a fantastic solution. The focus on simplicity is evident, making it an excellent choice for website owners who want to get more out of their site and deliver the best UX without developing advanced new skills.

Some of the key features that enable you to do this via Plausible.io are as follows;

• An easy-to-use dashboard allows you to customise the setup quickly, but, more importantly, all significant metrics are on a single page. This saves you from having to keep clicking between different tabs.
• It focuses on answering the questions that matter – are paid ads working? How are content pages working? Are issues like 404 errors or dark traffic impacting the site’s performance?
• The shareable nature of the open-source solution allows you to easily collaborate with other team members, not least because the data is real-time. 
• Plausible offers an easy-to-understand display, making each metric very easy to understand – minimising ambiguity, confusion, and distractions.
• Plausible is compatible with popular web hosting packages, including WordPress and other CMS solutions. A first-party connection also provides accurate stats at all times.

Plausible.io has become increasingly popular since launching in 2019, mainly by privacy-minded companies who appreciate changing consumer mindsets. So now is the time for you to join the digital revolution.

Why we love Plausible.io

As a website design and managed web services provider, the SaneChoice team is fully committed to delivering the best services for clients and end users. Plausible.io is a practical, affordable, user-friendly, and analytics privacy-centric solution capable of providing phenomenal results time and time again.

Google Analytics, Cloudflare, Matomo, and other platforms are all great. However, Plausible.io is the perfect solution for businesses of all shapes and sizes.

10 reasons to love Plausible

1. It is a European product with GDPR being the focus. The level of analytics privacy keeps end users happy, supporting website owners.
2. When using plausible, it means that you own any website data that is collected. It will never be sold to third-party organisations or monetised in any other fashion. This covers personal and behavioural trends.
3. Plausible shows an average uptime of 99.9%, meaning that website owners gain valuable insights and do not miss out on relevant data or experience the frustration of an unreliable product.
4. As a lightweight solution, Plausible encourages rapid page load times. This is hugely important as each second could cost you 4.42% of your conversions. It’s also a critical metric that will influence SEO.
5. You can split Plausible.io packages across multiple websites, which gives you great value when each site only gets a smaller level of visitors each month or you run sister sites.
6. The dashboard offers flexibility by filtering individual metrics, thus enabling you (or us) to build a website analytics setup aligned with your business requirements and objectives.
7. Plausible.io additionally offers an eco-friendly solution due to its lightweight attributes. A website with 10,000 monthly visitors could reduce its CO2 output by an impressive 4.5kg.
8. You will get traffic spike notifications to help you stay ahead of potential attacks. This is vital given that over half of victims see their businesses close within six months.
9. It removes the need for cookie banners, which have been a significant source of frustration for web users over the past few years. It can make the road to conversion far smoother.
10. As a business owner, you know that your business will not run the risk of data privacy law violations. You can focus on actively running the company rather than worrying about analytics privacy.

The verdict

Whether launching a new business website or looking to revamp and restructure your existing online strategy, the right website analytics tools will make a difference. Plausible.io finds the perfect balance between giving you the information you need without compromising visitor privacy.

When used with other services like professional web design, the future of your online activities and its ability to create meaningful relationships that lead to conversions will look brighter than ever.

At SaneChoice, we can get your Plausbile.io web analytics up and running in style before handing over the user-friendly platform to your in-house team for easy ongoing management.