Matomo and Google Analytics: Exploring and Comparing the two Platforms

Jul 21, 2022
Little figures standing around and debating matomo vs google analytics

It's not our intention to inform you about which is the better choice because the most effective choice is a personal decision for this particular situation. Different businesses have different needs in addition, and while Google Analytics might be more appealing to one particular business but Matomo's capabilities could be a perfect fit for another.

We'll instead look at the distinctions between the two options in order for you to make an educated decision.

In this article we'll take a look at Matomo and Google Analytics, comparing them over a wide range of fields for you to choose the best Analytics platform that will meet your needs.

What exactly is Matomo?

Matomo Matomo can be described as an online analytics platform that was previously known as Piwik Analytics. Piwik was established in 2007 and then changed its name to Matomo in 2018.

The homepage for Matomo, a Google Analytics alternative
Matomo

The reason Matomo is so well-known is due to its open source analytics platform. It's regularly updated and updated by the members of the customers. This ensures that Matomo remains on the forefront of technological advancements.

Matomo assists you in improving the user experience for customers and measure the impact of your website.

Benefits of Matomo

Matomo is described as a platform that offers many impressive benefits. It's the reason it's gained a lot of notice following its redesign a few days in the past.

The service is completely private and provides full control over the personal data of its users. Matomo is free to install in your own premises, as well as the option of a cloud-based subscription featuring premium features that you can choose among. Furthermore, due to its open source nature Matomo it is possible to modify it in order to create the system of your dreams.

If your website isn't very big, Matomo has some unique advantages. Every blog with less than 10,000 monthly visits simply requires the lowest amount of servers. Server costs can be cheaper due to the free storage space you can get when you sign up for Matomo. Matomo plan.

Matomo Standout Features

Matomo provides the language spoken by the users, providing insights into how people are using your information.

If you're curious about how visitors use your website, Matomo excels with some notable aspects. It offers information for each webpage that a user has been to. This will help you identify where users are coming to your website from, and which websites aren't popular with the users you are trying to reach.

You may also monitor the resolution of your users, and the links they click, as well as their downloads.

A Matomo heatmap
A heatmap featured on Matomo

The Heatmap feature is an additional one of Matomo and are accessible as an annual subscription. These maps show the places where people are most likely to use within your site. This will help you assess the effectiveness of your layout and also identify instances where you have a lot of clicks that may indicate that your website isn't running fast enough or some element may be outdated.

What exactly is Google Analytics?

Google Analytics can be described as a completely free web analytics service provided by Google. It's an established Google brand that has been praised by individuals of all types.

The homepage of Google Analytics
Google Analytics

It's an even popular service than Matomo and has over 50 million sites across the world that use this service to conduct detailed analyses. It's a sign that Google Analytics the most popular tool for analysis around the globe.

Google Analytics can be used Google Analytics to receive segmented and aggregated information about website's users. The analytics also provide detailed information on user behavior and their behavior. This is important in planning campaigns for marketing.

The benefits of Google Analytics

The most popular analytics service without a few important advantages. Google Analytics has many useful tools that have been a hit with clients for a long time.

One of the main positives of this program is that it's so widely used. This means that it has a great deal of info accessible, including instructions and tips that will assist users to get the best out of your experiences.

Google Analytics Additional Features

One of the greatest benefits that comes with Google Analytics is its real-time report. You can see trends in the actions of Google Analytics users hour by hour.

It also provides the bounce rate analysis that provides users an understanding of how many visitors quit your site right away. When you analyze this information this can allow you to identify any confusing or off-putting features of your website which could be putting off visitors.

The dashboard for Google Analytics
Google Analytics dashboard

Google Analytics views are customizable. Google Analytics views can be customized with filters that create the customizable dashboards. The goal setting function of Google Analytics is useful when creating new campaigns that boost visitors to your website. The data obtained through Google Analytics against these benchmarks for determining if you've succeeded or failed.

It is also possible to take advantage of Google Analytics for custom metric monitoring. It means that the Google Analytics platform completely yours using a unique strategy.

Comparisons and Differences Matomo vs Google Analytics

If you are deciding between tools such as Matomo as well as Google Analytics, it helps to look at how these products are similar and how they differ. There's a good chance you'll find that an attribute which is available through Google Analytics fits your needs However, Matomo isn't equipped with the same feature.

This article will examine these options with great detail to determine how they're similar and how they differ.

Similarities in Matomo and Google Analytics Google Analytics

Matomo as well as Google Analytics have a lot of the same features. Both have dashboards that can be customized that let you personalize the information you see.

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Google Analytics and Motomo are made accessible to mobile users thanks to applications for iOS and Android. In addition, you are able to make use of APIs with these platforms to link to the other tools that you employ for the remainder of your company.

There are differences between Matomo Google Analytics and Matomo Google Analytics Google Analytics

The primary distinction between Matomo in addition to Google Analytics is that Matomo offers its users video analytics. Google Analytics does not. Matomo has heatmaps, which depict how people interact with the different websites using colored streaks. This is another feature that isn't available with Google Analytics.

An artist’s rendering of an open source platform
Artist's illustration created using an open-source system ( Source: O'Reilly Media)

With Matomo there is the possibility of benefiting from enhanced privacy features. Many of the new features which are favored by Matomo customers are reduced to one main distinction between these two apps.

Google is free of charge however Matomo costs a charge.

Matomo vs Google Analytics: Head-to-Head Comparison

We'll now examine these two options head-to-head, looking at the process of installation and ease-of-use as well as the ability to track information in addition to cost-effectiveness.

Installation

In this post, we'll focus our review of the installation on WordPress websites. Let's start with Matomo.

Matomo Installation

Two different variants of Matomo that are available to users. There is Matomo Cloud, which is hosted on the cloud and is available for a price of a premium membership. There is also Matomo On-Premise. It's hosted on its own, is open sourceand is available to the public for no charge.

The download page to install Matomo on-premise
The download page for downloading Matomo and then install Matomo on your premises

Matomo On Premise will need to be installed. It means that you'll need hosting for the Matomo software onto your server. Also, you'll require an experienced expert for the installation of the software. After the installation procedure is finished, then you'll get the tracking code that you'll be able to insert into the header section of your WordPress header.

Google Analytics Installation

In order to use Google Analytics, you'll first have to create a account for a cost-free Google Analytics account. You must also have already created Google account (which can be obtained for the cost of).

     Usability    

When comparing Matomo with Google Analytics it's clear that Google is easier to utilize. Matomo On-Premise requires expert level programming to install it, which is a long process as well as Matomo Cloud is much easier to install, but it does come with an expense. Google Analytics is always free.

If you log in with Matomo, Google has a easy and comfortable login page, however Matomo will require users to input their Matomo subdomain each time you sign in to Matomo on a frequent basis.

Google Analytics is a user-friendly platform that divides your information into five different categories. Five data areas are:

  1. Real-time
  2. Audience
  3. Acquisition
  4. Behavior
  5. Conversions

     Tracking Tracking    

But, Matomo Cloud limits your tracking to those options offered in the plan. The Cloud plans come with 30 team members as well as 150 goals with 100 segments as well as 30 customized action dimensions. A lot of them are unlimited when you use the On-Premises plan.

Matomo is also a good option for automated form tracking as Google Analytics requires event tracking to be setup in a separate manner.

Cost-Effectiveness

Google Analytics is a completely free service. That means that you do not need to pay for the services. If you consider that the service has an unlimited quantity of customers in addition to goals, dimensions as well as segments, then you'll realize that it's incredibly affordable. The service offers a lot in exchange for no cost.

The battle to cut costs can be a great win for Free Google Analytics, we need to also look at Matomo's premium plan.

Many features are available with Matomo Cloud that can be utilized on Matomo On Premise for the price of an additional fee. This includes but is not limited to:

  • Activity logs ($29 annually)
  • Woocommerce Analytics ($39 each year)
  • Funnels ($199 for the year)
  • Sessions and heatmaps ($229 per year)
  • A myriad of

Matomo Cloud is a premium paid-for service, which can be priced differently depending on the monthly number of visits. Its lowest price is offered for sites that have less than 50,000 visitors per month. The price increases to 100 million visits.

The pricing page for the highest tier of Matomo
Pricing page for the top tier of Matomo

Let's break down each of these pricing choices down into a single process.

  • 100,000 Hits at $29 per month
  • 100,000 hits at just $39 a month!
  • 300,000 hits and $79 for a month
  • 600,000 hits at $129/month
  • 1 Million Hits at $189/month
  • 2 Million Hits @ $369 per month
  • 5 million hits. $999/month
  • 10 million hits = $1,790 a month
  • 25 Million hits $4,390/month
  • 50 million hits 8.590/month
  • 100 Million Hits for $16,900 a month

HTML0 Does Matomo, along with Google Analytics Be Used Together?

Analytics solutions such as Matomo and Google Analytics can be used together. There are several ways to learn about these two platforms and take a examine the similarities and the differences. Since Google Analytics being a free service, it's easy to jump into this idea, but it's best to take a few moments to consider what this means.

For a better site's user experience The speed of your website is one of the main elements that you must consider. Research suggests that nearly 47 percent of users will abandon the website if it is taking more than two minutes to open.

A chart showing how long it takes for someone to leave a slow website
How long will it take to get users off the site that is not speedy? ( Source: Asset Partners Online Asset Partners)

You can utilize Matomo and Google Analytics within your site but it isn't recommended.

Summary

But, the decision of what of Google Analytics or Matomo is the most suitable choice comes dependent on the requirements of you, as the proprietor of a business. Matomo is an excellent choice if you are financially able to pay for Matomo and you believe that features like heat mapping are important for the continued development of your business.

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