Analytics Plugins Wordpress

Best Analytics plugins for wordpress

Google analytics is an indispensable tool for bloggers and website owners. Tracking user behavior, number of visitors and other several important metrics important to understanding website performance and traffic is easily possible using Google analytics.

If you are a Wordpress user, you can find several Google analytics plugins in the repository to install GA4 code on your website.

In this post we will list some of the best plugins for inserting GA4 code in wordpress and tracking traffic and user behavior. Your choice of the analytics plugin depends on various factors including website type and your needs. For example, an ecommerce store might need more detailed user data and an in depth picture of traffic and user behavior to drive higher sales and conversion. However, a simple blog might manage with only the number of users and page views.

So, based on your need you can select the right analytics plugin for you. If you do not want extensive features, but only a basic plugin to insert the code into your website without affecting site speed, you might want to check out our post on hosting GA4 locally.

MonsterInsights:

Monster Insights is the most feature rich and yet user friendly and most popular analytics plugin in the Wordpress repository.

It comes in both the free and pro versions. The best thing about Monster Insights that makes the plugin highly popular is that all the data and stats are visible inside your Wordpress dashboard. You do not need to login each time to your analytics dashboard to check out the traffic data.

Monster Insights has more than 3 million active installations and is rated 4.5 out of 5 stars. The plugin is easy to install and you can install the lite version from the Wordpress plugin repository like you install any plugin.

The free version allows you to check out the basic traffic data from your Wordpress dashboard directly. It also sends you monthly email reports including the most important analytics related updates.

The pro version of the plugin that can be purchased for $199 per year comes with extra features that include events tracking, ecommerce tracking, custom dimensions tracking, page speed reports, popular post tracking, custom dimensions, affiliate link tracking, video tracking.

Monster insights is ideal for both small and large websites. Large websites especially that require more in depth reports can rely on the pro version of the plugin to study website traffic and generate reports according to their needs. The plugin also offers search console integration so you can check out useful search console data from the wp dashboard.

Monster insights can be set up quick and easily and the only thing you need to do is to integrate it with Wordpress that can be done with just a few clicks. After that you can check out customized reports of various kinds like audience report, publishers report, ecommerce report, content report and so on. However, some of these reports are available only with the pro version of the plugin.

GA Google Analytics:

GA Google Analytics is another popular Google analytics plugin for Wordpress. With more than 500,000 active installations and 4.9 star ratings out of five, it is among the most popular analytics plugins in the Wordpress plugin repository.

This plugin is also quick and easy to install and use and provides the basic functionalities in the free version. It has been created by Jeff Starr, an experienced developer and author who has written several books and tutorials about managing wordpress.

GA Google analytics may not include a dashboard to visualize analytics data in the Wordpress dashboard like Monster Insights but it is dead simple to use and blazing fast. It always remains up to date with the latest tracking code and you will only need to add your tracking id to use the GA4 tracking on your website. The plugin suits the needs of both small and large websites.

GA Google analytics also comes in a pro version that includes some extra useful features like custom code support, multiple tracking codes, live tracking of codes, visitors opt out box and some other features. If you want a simple plugin to apply GA4 code on your website that does not affect website speed, you must go for the GA Google analytics plugin. The personal plan for one website for the pro version comes for only $20 yearly and $40 for a lifetime.

Analytify:

Analytify is another popular Wordpress analytics plugin that makes integrating GA4 analytics code into Wordpress very easy.

The plugin has more than 40,000 installations and rated 4.7 out of five stars. It comes in both free and premium versions and unless you have a large website and extensive analytics related needs, you can easily manage with the free version of the plugin.

Analytify integration in Wordpress is supersimple and you will not need any developer assistance or technical knowledge to set up Google Analytics 4 code with the help of Analytify plugin.

The best part about using this plugin is that you will receive a lot of actionable data right in your wordpress dashboard without needing to visit the analytics dashboard each time.

With the free version of this plugin you will get access to Visitors, Page views, New vs Returning Visitors, Top Pages, Geographic data, and much more. With Analytify, you can check out page level data like views, users, bounce rate, average time on the page, while you are logged into your Wordpress admin dashboard.

The pro version of this plugin can be purchased for only $75 annually and includes several extra features which can be useful for large websites and ecommerce websites. Some of the key features of the pro version include enhanced ecommerce tracking, automated email reports, short codes, front end reporting, social media stats, real time stats and so on. The pro version of the plugin is even easier to integrate in Wordpress.

Google Sitekit:

Google Site Kit is a multi use plugin that also includes support for Google analytics. If you are also using Adsense and need an all in one plugin that allows you to manage and check analytics data from your wp dashboard as well as Adsense, search console and page speed data, you can rely on Google Site Kit.

The plugin is quick and easy to install and optimized for speed. It has more than 4 million active installations and is rated 4.2 out of five stars in the Wordpress repository. The official plugin by Google for managing and visualizing analytics, adsense and search console data eliminates the need to install multiple plugins for each of the various features it offers.

Install the plugin from the Wordpress repository like you install any other plugin. All you need to do is to provide sitekit access to website data. You can connect sitekit to your website data with your Google account and then you can individually connect to your GA4 analytics and Adsense accounts. If you do not need to connect to adsense, you can leave this option disabled.

You will see the important basic reports like site visitors and page views as well as your top performing content right from your wp dashboard. If you have connected to adsense, you can check out your earnings for the last 28 days and other basic adsense data right from the wp dashboard. You can also let Sitekit place adsense code on your website.

Google site kit is free and open sources. It does not come in a pro version, which means you can enjoy pro features without paying anything.

WP Statistics:

WP Statistics is a popular GDPR friendly wordpress analytics plugin that can be easily installed and used in Wordpress. This plugin has more than 600,000 active installations and is rated 4.1 out of five stars in the Wordpress plugin repository.

Despite being a feature rich plugin, WP Statistics is super quick and easy to set up. You do not need to have any coding skills or developer assistance to set up and use this plugin.

The plugin includes advanced data privacy settings that are easy to customize and can be customized to comply with diverse privacy laws.

If you want a nice and fast substitute for GA4, you can go for WP Statistics. You can check out real time data easily on your wp dashboard. WP Statistics presents data in both tabular format as well as attractive and easy to understand charts.

WP Statistics does not include a pro version but instead offers add ons that can be used to enhance plugin functionality. You can buy individual add ons according to your need like mini charts, real time stats, customization, data plus etc.

CAOS:

CAOS is a lightweight google analytics plugin. It is a nice fit for both small and large websites but mainly targeted at speeding up website loading. The plugin allows you to host google analytics locally and you do not need to stress about GA4 code affecting your site speed.

With CAOS, you will not be able to visualize data the way you can with Monster Insights, site kit or WP Statistics. However, if you only need to insert the GA4 code into your website and want a plugin that does not affect site speed and instead helps it load faster, you must go for CAOS.

Installing and using CAOS is very easy and with its pro version, you will also have access to some extra features. The pro version helps with improved GDPR compliance. It also has a stealth mode and other features like true IP anonymization. You can purchase a personal license for only 19 Euros.

Jetpack:

Jetpack is a Wordpress performance management plugin that includes a lot of features, one of them being google analytics.

Setting up Jetpack is easy and with the paid plan, you will get more from Jetpack compared to the free version. After installing the plugin, you need to go to Jetpack -> settings -> traffic and then you can add the GA4 tracking id as well as anonymize ips to comply with the legal requirements in various regions.

However, if you are operating an ecommerce website and need more efficient tracking of your various ecommerce metrics, then you can but the complete plan.

A few last words:

Google analytics is crucial to understanding and managing website performance and traffic growth. For wordpress users, it can be very easy to insert GA4 code and check out analytics data from their Wordpress dashboard with the MonsterInsights plugin. It is the most feature rich and highly rated plugin in Wordpress repository. Another option for managing Google analytics with a lightweight and easy to use option is the use of GA Google analytics plugin.

Users who do not want to use the GA4 code can use WP Statistics and still have an easy to understand option for understanding website traffic. Some other free options include Google Site Kit, which allows you to manage analytics, adsense and search console data in one place. Those concerned for speed can use CAOS to host Google analytics locally and remain free from GDPR hassles. WP Statistics is also a GDPR compliant analytics plugin.

However, if you want the most feature rich, easy to use and understand option, then MonsterInsights is the best option for you. It will allow you to check out the important data right from your WP dashboard and will also generate ready to use reports for you.

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