Matomo – Privacy compliant website tracking without Google

Website analytics with Matomo Analytics – the custom analytics tool for forward-thinking businesses. As a leading Matomo agency, we understand the importance of accurate, privacy-friendly website analytics in today’s digital landscape. Why settle for off-the-shelf solutions when you have a customizable, privacy-compliant alternative in Matomo? Join us to discover how Matomo analyzes your web performance transparently, effectively, and in compliance with privacy regulations.

Our partners ‐ 17. October 2023

Advantages of Matomo:

  • Privacy friendly: Matomo attaches great importance to the protection of your data, which means you can be sure that your visitor information is not shared with third parties and is DSGVO-compliant. In the cloud version of Matomo, the data is stored in Europe.
  • Complete data control: Unlike many other analytics tools, with Matomo you retain complete control over your data and decide for yourself how it is stored and used.
  • Price: The cloud version of Matomo is available for as little as €19, while the on-premise version is completely free for the ambitious user. The on-premise version is hosted on your own server and therefore allows you 100% control over your data.
  • Customizable dashboards and reports: Customize dashboards and reports according to your individual needs and get insights that are truly relevant to your business.
  • Customization options through various plugins: Matomo offers a wide range of plugins that allow you to customize the tool even better to your specific needs.
  • Matomo Tag Manager connection: Expand your analysis options with the integration of the Matomo Tag Manager and optimize your online marketing based on sound data.

Matomo vs. Google Analytics 4

Privacy

Matomo Analytics
Compared to Google Analytics 4, Matomo focuses on data protection. With Matomo it is possible to mask the IP addresses completely or to pseudonymize the user ID. Furthermore, Matomo can be set without cookies.

Google Analytics 4
While Google has made adjustments to make GA4 GDPR compliant, the fact remains that user data is stored on Google servers. This raises potential privacy concerns, especially regarding data access and sharing within the Google ecosystem.

Pricing

Matomo Analytics
The on-premise version of Matomo is free, while the cloud version starts from €19, depending on the package and scope chosen.

Google Analytics 4
The basic version of GA4 is free of charge. However, there is a premium version called Google Analytics 360, which is aimed at larger companies and has a corresponding charge.

Adaptability

Matomo Analytics
Matomo scores with a wide range of plugins and high customizability. Users can design dashboards and reports according to their specific needs.

Google Analytics 4
GA4 offers a modern user interface and flexible data models. However, it supports fewer third-party integrations than its predecessor.

Data control

Matomo Analytics
A clear advantage of Matomo is the complete data control. Users decide themselves how data is stored and used, without external influence.

Google Analytics 4
For all its benefits, Google Analytics remains a Google service, and some companies have concerns about full data control, especially for advertising purposes.

Features

Matomo Analytics
In addition to the standard analytics features, Matomo offers the integration of the Matomo Tag Manager and extensive customization options through plugins. With Matomo Tag Manager, it is also possible to easily add and update website tags without code changes, in order to be able to include various marketing tools.

Google Analytics 4
GA4 was developed in response to changing user behavior and privacy requirements. It offers event tracking as standard, machine learning, and better integration with other Google products. Google Tag Manager is a separate service, detached from GA4.

Matomo plugins

With the Matomo plugins, additional functionalities can be integrated into Matomo. In the cloud version, all plugins are already integrated, only in the self-hosted variant, the individual plugins must be purchased.

We present the most interesting plugins here:

  • Custom reports
    If you can’t find the data you need in the existing Matomo reports, or if you want even more granular analysis on specific pages or campaigns, Custom Reports is the plugin for you! This plugin lets you create new reports that include over 200 different dimensions and metrics to get the insights you need. You can further customize the report by choosing between different visualizations and defining report filters (show a report only for a subset of your visitors, like a segment).
  • Search Engine Keywords Performance
    With the Search Engine Keywords plugin you get a deeper insight into which keywords were used to visit your website. This requires a Google Search Console account to transfer the data from Search Console to Matomo. However, this can be done not only for Google, but also for other search engines like Bing.
  • SEO Web Vitals
    SEO Web Vitals are being used more and more by search engines like Google to rank websites so that they can provide a good page experience for users coming through links from their search results. After all, search engines don’t want to send anyone to pages that appear jerky or take forever to load. Therefore, Web Vitals data plays an important role in search engine optimization.
    As a website owner or marketer, you need to monitor these SEO Web Vitals for strategically important pages. Monitoring your SEO Web Vitals allows you to understand how your site is performing in practice, i.e. how fast it loads for your actual users. See how well or poorly a page performs, and continue to monitor these metrics over time as you optimize the page experience. This optimization work will help improve your overall performance scores and ultimately your position on search engine results pages.

 

What we offer:

  • Integration of Matomo Analytics through the Matomo Tag Manager
  • Conversion tracking setup and advanced e-commerce tracking with Datalayer connection
  • Creation of dashboards and weekly reports
  • Workshops and consultations by our Matomo experts

Frequently asked questions:

Where are Matomo’s servers?
The Matomo servers for Matomo’s cloud version are located in Europe and therefore comply with the GDPR better than Google Analytics 4, which sends data to America.

How much does Matomo cost?
The cloud version of Matomo starts at 19€ per month. The on-premise version is free of charge because you host Matomo on your own servers.

Is Matomo DSGVO compliant?
Yes, Matomo is often referred to as an alternative to Google Analytics, especially for users looking for a privacy-friendly web analytics tool.

Matomo (formerly known as Piwik) is an open source web analytics tool that places special emphasis on data protection. Many features of Matomo are specifically designed to meet the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and other data protection regulations.

Does Matomo use cookies?
Matomo tracking can be set up with and without cookies. Depending on how you want to use the data analysis with Matomo, one or the other variant is more suitable. For example, the variant with cookies allows you to recognize visitors who come to your website. Alternatively, you can use Matomo without cookies, which leads to the fact that returning website visitors are no longer identified. The advantage of this variant is that Matomo does not have to be used in the cookie banner and analysis is possible as in times before Cookie Consent.

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Frank Meier

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FRANK MEIER

Tel: +49 40 / 31 77 99-0
Email: info@medienwerft.de