An interesting summary by @jitbit of his move away from Google Analytics.
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Thanks for the link @SteveMcLeod and the review @jitbit !
I was also considering getting rid of Google Analytics and wanted to try Simple Analytics. Glad to know there are also other alternatives out there.
My main issue is that we use some services that can feed on Google Analytics, either to provide more accurate data (SEO tools) or track performance (Google Ads - should we decide to use it again in the future). So i’ve been delaying trying to replace it.
Anybody here is in the same situation and has successfully moved from GA?
My main issue is that we use some services that can feed on Google Analytics, either to provide more accurate data (SEO tools) or track performance (Google Ads - should we decide to use it again in the future). So i’ve been delaying trying to replace it.
You summed up exactly why I’m finding it hard myself to give up GA…
I stopped using GA, because it was providing no actionable information to me. Search-related data is available in the Google Search Console, and it’s actually better there. And I found all the other information irrelevant — what really matters in the long term is whether people sign up, which features bring most value, and what they find lacking. GA doesn’t tell me any of that, and information about “visits” (grossly inaccurate, as I found) is like trying to measure the performance of a retail store by measuring the traffic on a neighboring highway. Is it related? Sure, it probably is. But is it actionable?
I’m sure people who spend a lot on ads might find GA valuable, but that’s also not my case, I found that ads are mostly a waste of money for me.
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There has got to be a service out there that uses the analytics API and presents a simplified, usable, actionable view - then you get the best of both worlds, something you can use and the data that the other tools need.
Hell even dragging some data out into Google Sheets would be an improvement over the clusterf!*k of a UI that is Google Analytics.
I’ve been thinking about the “actionability” of site visits data in general. There is this “common knowledge” that you need to relentlessly optimize, measure your visits, track visitors, etc. I think this is true for “shallow” businesses (for lack of a better word): if you offer products, low-cost subscriptions, or subscriptions where the cost of canceling and migrating is low, you might care a lot about visits.
But if you have a more expensive SaaS with a high cost of migration, your MRR will not be influenced by page-to-page conversions, and you won’t care that much about visits. You’ll care about actual signups, user needs, retention, ARPU, LTV, etc. Your potential customers won’t make buy decisions based on a single visit to one of your pages.
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Exactly. I haven’t looked at our GA stats for ages. I know that number of visits is growing month-to-month somehow but couldn’t care less about the rest.