Which are the most popular analytics tools on the Internet?

Top analytics tools for E-Commerce

Analytics tools are very important for the successful development of an online store. Indeed, they allow you to understand the behavior of consumers and to adapt your strategy accordingly.

Analytics tools allow you to establish KPIs (Key Performance Indicators), meant to be followed to understand the mechanics behind your success. However, the tools do not serve the same purpose, and the functionality differs. Finally, these tools are offered by various digital actors.

To introduce you to some of these tools, we are going to present to you the most popular analytics tools according to Wappalyzer.

1. Google Analytics

Google already offers two of the most visited sites in the world: its search engine and Youtube, the video platform acquired by Alphabet a few years ago.

Its suite of tools also includes Google Analytics. The tool is used by 56.7% of the sites analyzed by Wappalyzer. The tool allows you to have a complete view on the traffic of your site, whether it is an e-commerce or not. 

The traffic can be visualized according to the acquisition channels, which helps to establish effective strategies and understand the scope of those already launched. User behavior is analyzed to establish conversion paths and optimize pages with frequent exits, for example.

With proper reading, Google Analytics is one of the most effective tools to understand the user and optimize your acquisition and conversion strategies. Choose the best traffic sources to track based on the time and money invested on different acquisition channels, which can be:

  • Organic
  • Paid (Google Ads, for example)
  • Direct
  • Social media
  • Affiliate

In addition to this, Google Analytics provides information about the average time spent on the page, the bounce rate, the number of page views per session, and many other relevant details.

Google Analytics is a free tool: all you need to do is to create a Gmail account, if you don’t have one, and link it. In addition to Google Analytics, the tool proposed by the advertising network of the search engine is used by 8.8% of the websites present on Wappalyzer: Google Ads Conversion Tracker.

2. Facebook Pixel

Facebook is also present in the analytics tools market, like Google. In addition to offering this kind of solution on its social networks (Facebook or Instagram), the platform offers an advertising analysis tool. Facebook Pixel is used by 16.7% of the websites on Wappalyzer.

Pixel is widely used by web marketing professionals to track visitors, especially outside the page where the tool’s code is placed.

Specifically, Pixel can be used as part of a retargeting strategy. Retargeting consists in offering personalized advertisements to consumers who have accessed your site. This allows for example to place a cookie on their side, in order to know which product they have seen during their visit, and to place ads on them once they have left your e-commerce site. Facebook Pixel allows you to measure the results of your advertising campaigns. 

Like Google Analytics, this tool is free. Keep in mind that free tools, especially those offered by GAFAM, generally use your data for their own advertising strategies.

3. Hotjar

Hotjar is specialized in studying the behavior of users once they are on the page. The tool, very practical and GDPR-compliant, is used by 3.4% of the sites analyzed by Wappalyzer.

In particular, the tool offers heatmaps, allowing you to have a visualization of the path taken by the visitors of your site. The principle of “heat” is that it reveals the hot spots of your page. This allows you to identify the areas where visitors spend the most time, showing that they generate a certain interest.

For more details, Hotjar allows you to create records. This feature allows you to see what the visitor sees and does when they are on the page. This again helps you identify points of interest on your pages, such as call to actions or particular links.

To get direct feedback from visitors, Hotjar offers Incoming Feedback as well as Surveys. This allows you to get the user’s opinion on the experience they had on your site.

The analysis tool is offered for free with limited functionality. For paid subscriptions, they are offered between $39 and $389 per month.

4. Matomo

Matomo Analytics presents itself as an alternative to Google’s tool, respectful of the data and privacy of your visitors. In short: GDPR-compliant. The solution is used by 3% of the analyzed sites.

Matomo’s services are offered in two ways:

  • Matomo cloud
  • Self-hosted

In short, Matomo offers the same features as Google Analytics. The plus of the tool is that it is, as mentioned, respectful of the privacy of the users. The data you collect in the study of your traffic and visitor behavior is kept on your premises and belongs to you. 

As a self-hosted tool, it is offered free of charge since it is located on your own servers. On the other hand, the tool is proposed from 29$ monthly from 50,000 views.

5. Yandex.metrica

Yandex is the Russian competitor of Google. Of course, the tool also offers its analytics solution, used by 3% of the sites present on Wappalyzer. 

The functionalities do not differ from those offered by the Alphabet search engine. In addition, Yandex offers replays of sessions, in addition to heatmaps. To measure the efficiency of the forms, data is fed back into the software in order to optimize them.

The tool is offered free of charge. The company justifies this free choice by saying that it uses the data confidentially in order to improve its services.

The importance of a good analytics tool

Choosing the right analytics tool can help you understand your visitors. The more you understand how they think and visit your website, the more able you will be to generate interest. This interest can be stimulated by answering the potential customers’ needs.

What about you? Which analytics tool do you use for your website? Let us know!

Image credit: Divya N

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Thibault Herpin
Hi, my name is Thibault Herpin. I'm in charge of strategic content for E-commerce Nation. I'm happy to share my experience in the fields of digital marketing and E-commerce through my content. Do not hesitate to contact me !