FIVE PAGE WEB

 THE INSIDE 2025: CONTENTS/RETURN

BASIC

ANALYTICS

  ​​Page Views

  ​​​Unique Visitors

  ​Bounce Rate

  ​Visit Duration

  ​Traffic Sources

  ​Location Data

  ​Device Type

  ​Top Pages

Most website owners are fairly un-intrigued by extensive statistics and analytics about their websites. We like to know how many visits our website gets and where they are coming from. But, from that point on, unless you are running a particular type of website, the interest wanes. 

On the other hand, most people are interested in increasing the reach (primarily - number of visitors) to their websites. The paradox is that we need analytics to accomplish that in an educated and productive manner. Otherwise, we are simply guessing or taking a shot in the dark.

When we take a look at a website's analytics we can move from "simply seeing" what is is going on to taking some steps to improve what is happening.

01.03.24 The New Year and a new approach to handling client websites (and their analytics) seems in order. In the past, I have (pretty much) tracked all websites I've built using Google Analytics. It was fairly easy going in the early years, but – especially with the advent of GA4 – this has become too tedious (even for me). 

Throughout the past few months, I have slowly been removing GA accounts from websites that do not warrant having them. This has been primarily for non-curated or non-managed websites. For the websites that I do manage, there will be some major changes as well. I will be using Plausible as an alternative to GA4. While I have only begun the transition, I feel that it is a good move. It offers clients an environment that they can readily gain some information from and it does offer the essentials I use for SEO building in a more simple and easy-to-use format. It is pretty much a win-win. 

Plausible is that it is not a free program. Client accounts for maintained websites will see an increase of $5/month once the app has been installed. The new billing will begin in early Summer 2025. If you do not have a website maintenance agreement with the webstudio – I can install Plausible for your viewing. Simply send word.

Another new addition to the toolkit this past year has been monitoring websites with Microsoft's Clarity. It is another handy SEO/Analytic utility, but (to be honest) I have not spent too much time exploring it. It does offer a very visual and insightful look at how people manage your website. The heat maps and session recordings can be insightful. Again, this has been added to most managed websites already. It is available for install on any website built at the webstudio. Clarity is free of charge.


You can learn more about any of these utilities by clicking on the logos on the top of the page. If you have any questions regarding analytics or how it may (or may not be implemented on your website)  contact me directly .


As the internet grows, it does tend to become more complex. I do not question the convenience and benefits of growth, but I am aware that there times when it becomes necessary to draw a line in the sand when it comes to how involved I want to become with certain aspects of that technology. I have found that Google Analytics has outgrown me. I am not questioning the value it offers to larger or more commercial enterprises, but for the average website owner, it appears to be overkill.  

Why favor Plausible? The most convenient answer I can offer is practicality. You can "analyze the shit" out of anything, but you eventually reach a point of redundency. I am not questioning the value of Google analytics, I am simply favoring another product that works better for me.