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Simple analytics

Analytics you can read on the first day

Simple does not mean fewer answers. It means the answers are where you expect them, named after the questions you asked, and readable without a course.

Start freeRead the guides

What the complicated version costs you

  • Reports you have configured0 of them
  • Time before the first useful numberAn afternoon
  • Dimensions you must choose before askingSeveral
  • People on the team who open itOne

This is for you if

  • You want to know how many people came, where from, and which pages they read — and you want that on the first screen.
  • Nobody on the team is going to build a report before answering a question.
  • You would rather have eight screens that are each about one thing than one screen you assemble.
  • You are happy to be told when a number cannot answer something, rather than being given a number anyway.
  • You want the whole product on every plan, with only the visitor allowance changing.

And not for you if

  • You need to join analytics against your own database or warehouse tables.

    See /saas-analytics

  • You need to follow one named person across sessions and devices. The counting key rotates daily, so that is not something this can do at any price.

  • You need advertising attribution across other people's websites.

    See /google-analytics-alternative

  • You need session replay or heatmaps. This records what was visited, not how a pointer moved.

    See /website-visitor-tracking

Four honest exclusions rather than a longer list of things we do slightly worse. If one of these is your actual problem, the product above will not solve it.

What maps to what

Every question below is a screen rather than a report you build. The left column is the question in the words people use; the middle is where it is answered.

What you askedVisitWatchWhat actually differs
How many people came?OverviewVisitors and pageviews for the range, each with the same range before it for comparison.
Where did they come from?Traffic → SourcesReferrers resolved to names, so Google's hundred country domains read as one row rather than a hundred.
What did they read?Traffic → PagesRanked by visitors, with average time and the change against the previous period.
Which countries?Traffic → CountriesResolved from the request at the moment it arrives. No coordinate is stored.
Is anyone here now?RealtimeA live count and the last few minutes of pageviews. A snapshot, not a total.
Where do people give up?FunnelsSteps you define by path or event, with the drop between each one.
Do they come back?RetentionDaily cohorts. One row per starting day, one column per day after it.
Just this group of peopleSegmentsA saved filter measured against the same window as the unsegmented figure.

Nothing in the middle column needs setting up first. The script is the whole installation.

The reports, in the order you would actually open them

Not the full product tour. This is the sequence somebody in this situation works through, and what each step is for.

1

Did anybody arrive, and is that more or fewer than before?

Overview

Start on the five headline figures. Each carries the same window immediately before it, so the number arrives with a comparison rather than on its own.

2

Which source actually delivered?

Traffic → Sources

A total moving is rarely interesting; one source moving while the others hold still is. This is the screen that tells the two apart.

3

Which pages are doing the work?

Traffic → Pages

Ranked by visitors, with average time beside each row. Sort by either, and search when the list gets long.

4

Is it worth saving as a report?

Reports

Switch on the blocks you want and the document is assembled from the same builders the screens use, so a saved report cannot disagree with the page it came from. Export as CSV.

What the first afternoon looks like

There is no modelling step and no dimension to declare. The only thing between you and a report is the script tag.

1

Add the script

One line in the head of your pages. Nothing else is required, and no consent flow has to be built around it.

About a minute

2

Watch the first visit arrive

Realtime fills within seconds of a pageview, which is also how you confirm the install rather than waiting until tomorrow.

Immediately

3

Read the reports

Overview, then Traffic. Everything else is there when a question makes you want it, and nothing is hidden behind a plan.

The same day

Questions people in this situation ask

These are on the guides index too, alongside every other question the site answers.

Is simple analytics enough for a growing site?

For understanding your own website, yes. Funnels, daily retention cohorts, segments and custom events are all included on every plan, so growth changes your visitor allowance rather than which reports you can open.

How long does setup take?

About a minute for the script, and the first pageview appears in Realtime within seconds. There is nothing to configure before the reports work.

Can I still send my own events?

Yes. Custom events are on every plan and appear on the Events screen, and any event or path can be set as the site's conversion goal.

Other solutions

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See your own numbers

Add the script and read the reports without a manual. Fourteen days free, no card.

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