Important: this article is a part of our affiliate martech stack series, where we shed light on the most effective tools for affiliate marketing.
Knowing where your website visitors came from, how they interacted with your website, and what triggered the conversion is paramount to maximising your sales potential. A killer suite of tools for web analytics can optimise the customer journey and draw more revenues from your marketing campaigns.
If your customers are a mystery to you, you are in trouble. You don’t even know why they buy from you, let alone where they started and how they ended up on your affiliate marketing website or blog. Without the right suite of web analytics tools in digital marketing, you are in the dark, helpless against informed competitors converting leads into paying customers left and right.
On the other hand, with the right web analytics tools, you can leave the dark forest to be on par with the most informed market players. The best tools for web analytics can put you in the driver’s seat of your campaigns with on-site data like engagement, demographics, and behaviour.
So why not compile a winning suite of paid and free web analytics tools right now?
Your killer web analytics tools list is just below, comprised of time-tested web analytics software that has delivered insane value to hundreds and thousands of marketers like you.
When It Comes to Web Analytics, What Insights Can You Gather Using Analytics Tools?
Web analytics tools can unlock on-site and off-site data like demographics, psychographics, traffic source data, interactions across touchpoints, and conversion insights.
In other words, web-based analytics tools can dissect the journey of a particular customer through and through from the very beginning to the end, making you aware of why and how every step was made and what the journey eventually led to – a conversion or a bounce.
| Demographics | Web analytics tools can collect almost every bit of demographic data: age, gender, location, employment, income, and more. With these marketable details, you can customise your campaigns to engage the right customers in the right way. |
| Psychographics | Psychographics includes interests, values, purchase intent, loyalty, and other predictable desires and intentions. Aside from standalone predictions, most web analytics tools can be integrated with CRM software for a more profound analysis. |
| Traffic Source | Web traffic analytics tools can help you understand where your most profitable customers come from and how to maximise the impact of these traffic channels. At the same time, you can eliminate the traffic sources that drag you down. |
| On-Site Behaviour | Unlocking on-site behaviour with web analytics tools means knowing how users interact with your content, what content converts, and why. Top web analytics tools excel in spotting and interpreting on-site interactions. |
| Conversion Insights | Web analytics tools help understand what elements triggered a target action like filling out a form, creating an account, subscribing to a newsletter, or buying from your website. |
Naturally, not all web analytics tools are the same. From enterprise web analytics tools to off-site web analytics tools to on-site web analytics tools, different tools are good for different types of analysis, but rarely for all tasks at once. As a marketer, you should spot these discrepancies to compile a winning analytics toolkit for your specific business goals.
Web Analytics Tools vs. Web Analytics Software – What’s the Difference?
For practical purposes, there’s little to no difference between popular web analytics tools and web analytics software, as both refer to a system that analyses an on-site and off-site user journey.
That said, web analytics software is almost always a comprehensive solution that unites multiple web analytics tools, each one with a narrow focus. For example, Google Analytics software includes web analytics tools for traffic analysis, user behaviour analysis, and conversion tracking.
But then again, splitting the hair might not give you any advantage. It’s much more important to clearly understand your marketing objectives and how to solve them with the available web analytics tools and/or web analytics software.
With that, it’s time for our list of top web analytics tools.
Your Best Web Analytics Tools List: Top 10 Web Analytics Tools
Google Marketing Platform – a Top-Tier Web Analytics Reporting Tool
| Monthly Visits | Page Per Visit | Time On Site | Bounce Rate | Direct Traffic | Search Traffic | Paid Referral Traffic | Referral Traffic | Social Traffic | Mail Traffic |
| 3,500,000 | 2 | 69 | 0.66 | 35.75% | 27.84% | 1.49% | 34.08% | 0.75% | 0.10% |
Google Marketing Platform is the most popular suite of advertising and web analytics tools for data-driven marketing decisions, spearheaded by its Analytics 360 product, a premium version of standard Google Analytics.
Analytics 360 can unlock user demographics, location, device, operating system, and interests and integrate with other Google products and Salesforce. It is an enterprise-level paid suite of web analytics tools, with prices varying depending on the business scale and required services.
However, if you need free web analytics software, you can use standard Google Analytics, which also provides substantial web performance insights, enough for most small and medium businesses.
Google Analytics vs. Analytics 360 – Web Analytics Tools Comparison
| Google Analytics | Analytics 360 |
| Free | Paid |
| 24 to 48 hours of delay | Real-time data |
| Basic depth of analysis | Deep analysis |
| Basic Google Ads integration | Deep Google Ads integration |
Even though Google Analytics is missing many features that Analytics 360 provides (data-driven attribution, customer funnels, Big Query integration, unsampled reports, etc.), it still might be the best free web analytics software up your sleeve.
Matomo – the Second-Best Free Web Analytics Tool
| Monthly Visits | Page Per Visit | Time On Site | Bounce Rate | Direct Traffic | Search Traffic | Paid Referral Traffic | Referral Traffic | Social Traffic | Mail Traffic |
| 302,895 | 3 | 157 | 0.56 | 36.62% | 54.00% | 0.03% | 6.91% | 0.96% | 1.48% |
Matomo is web analytics software focused on data ownership and privacy, allowing you to host analytics on your server for free. This unique feature alone makes the tool worth a shot, on par with the widest range of user metrics you can dig into.
The on-premise web analytics software suite is free, while the cloud-based suite costs €19 for 50,000 hits, with a hit being an instance of even tracking, viewing, downloading, making a content tracking request, or conducting an on-site search.
Mixpanel – a Suite of Free Web Analytics Tools for Event Tracking
| Monthly Visits | Page Per Visit | Time On Site | Bounce Rate | Direct Traffic | Search Traffic | Paid Referral Traffic | Referral Traffic | Social Traffic | Mail Traffic |
| 2,525,273 | 8 | 312 | 0.36 | 82.36% | 11.77% | 0.05% | 2.61% | 1.12% | 2.09% |
Mixpanel is a suite of web analytics tools for tracking session-based data like sharing, downloading, uploading, and purchasing. Mixpanel doubles down on specific on-site actions, giving you an understanding of how to convert more website visitors.
Mixpanel is one of the freemium web analytics tools that includes all core user journey reports, templates, and integrations within its free version. The paid subscription plans start at $20 monthly and include advanced features like no-code data transformations, data governance control, and group analytics.
Hotjar – Free Web Analytics Software Suite
| Monthly Visits | Page Per Visit | Time On Site | Bounce Rate | Direct Traffic | Search Traffic | Paid Referral Traffic | Referral Traffic | Social Traffic | Mail Traffic |
| 3,273,648 | 5 | 201 | 0.5 | 68.26% | 24.70% | 2.12% | 3.04% | 0.76% | 1.12% |
Hotjar is one of the best freemium web analytics software suites for collecting and interpreting data on how users interact with a particular website element or feature and why they interact the way they do.
Heatmaps and session recordings help you understand the mechanics of interactions better while surveys, interviews, and feedback make you aware of what users feel when they perform a specific target action.
The free subscription plan unlocks access to 35 daily sessions, automatic data capture, unlimited heatmaps, and HubSpot integration. The paid plans – €39, €99, or €213 monthly or 20% less if paid annually – unlock features like data segmentation, events API, and customer frustration signals.
Woopra – Customer Journey Web Analytics Tool
| Monthly Visits | Page Per Visit | Time On Site | Bounce Rate | Direct Traffic | Search Traffic | Paid Referral Traffic | Referral Traffic | Social Traffic | Mail Traffic |
| 373,688 | 7 | 170 | 0.52 | 65.13% | 30.94% | 0 | 3.65% | 0.28% | 0 |
Woopra is a web analytics tool suite that measures on-site and off-site user interactions while tapping into user engagement and data unification through integrations. You can visualise the customer journey and develop an optimal reaction to every interaction at every touchpoint, whether a download, click, view, subscription, or purchase.
Here are some of the insights the web analytics tools at Woopra unlock:
- Advertising channels and on-site content that drive conversions
- How customers react after purchasing the core product
- How different traffic channels, touchpoints, and retargeting impact conversions
Woopra offers a free subscription plan so that you can get the hang of its core web analytics tools without overcommitment. The paid subscription plan costs $999 monthly, and there’s a custom enterprise-level plan for big companies.
Adobe Analytics – Web Analytics Tool from Adobe Suite
| Monthly Visits | Page Per Visit | Time On Site | Bounce Rate | Direct Traffic | Search Traffic | Paid Referral Traffic | Referral Traffic | Social Traffic | Mail Traffic |
| 1,826,654 | 3 | 99 | 0.57 | 25.42% | 58.06% | 0.74% | 13.64% | 1.58% | 0.56% |
Part of Adobe Marketing Cloud, Adobe Analytics offers tools for collecting and interpreting website performance and online behaviour data. The creativity software giant may not be the most logical choice for web analytics alone. Still, its synergy with other Adobe products might unlock a holistic view of the customer journey.
Adobe Analytics is a paid tool providing around a dozen software packages for different marketing goals, including sheer web analytics.
Chartbeat – a Web Analytics Tool for Content Marketing
| Monthly Visits | Page Per Visit | Time On Site | Bounce Rate | Direct Traffic | Search Traffic | Paid Referral Traffic | Referral Traffic | Social Traffic | Mail Traffic |
| 1,139,086 | 4 | 287 | 0.35 | 76.98% | 8.38% | 0.02% | 5.13% | 3.62% | 5.86% |
Chartbeat provides web analytics tools for content marketing, helping you understand what content draws attention and why. You can test the performance of headlines, storeys, and other content pieces across devices and operating systems, eventually hitting the right reader with the right content.
The software integrates with Facebook CrowdTangle, Facebook Instant Alerts, and Google AMP to gather valuable off-site data, a puzzle oftentimes missing when recreating a comprehensive customer journey.
The only fly in the ointment is the subscription price. Geared towards medium and large-size enterprises, Chartbeat costs from $7,000 annually alongside a free trial.
Kissmetrics – Top Web Analytics Software
| Monthly Visits | Page Per Visit | Time On Site | Bounce Rate |
| 37,625 | 1 | 44 | 0.75 |
Kissmetrics is a suite of online web analytics tools revolving around user behaviour. The software analyses customer interactions in real-time, enabling on-the-fly adjustments before the user in question reaches the climax of the journey.
Kisssmetrics does what Google Analytics does, but to a greater depth and width, effectively converting leads into sales prospects into customers while reducing churn. You can see all the friction points and understand how to improve user experiences across touchpoints.
There’s a pay-as-you-go plan starting at $0.00025 per event, a monthly plan starting at $25.99 for 10,000 events, and a free trial. Paying annually saves you 25%.
Open Web Analytics – Open-Source Web Analytics Software
Open Web Analytics (OWA) is a web analytics software framework for tracking and analysing user web and app interactions. Like Matomo (reviewed above), OWA allows you to store the collected data on your own server, which grants you full data ownership and privacy.
Besides that, OWA is quite similar to Google Analytics, enabling on-page tracking, click heatmaps, geo-tracking, session recording, and more. The software is free, and you are not burdened with data storage limitations.
Crazy Egg – Web Analytics Tool for Heatmapping
| Monthly Visits | Page Per Visit | Time On Site | Bounce Rate | Direct Traffic | Search Traffic | Paid Referral Traffic | Referral Traffic | Social Traffic | Mail Traffic |
| 517,424 | 3 | 335 | 0.62 | 36.68% | 56.94% | 0.06% | 3.14% | 1.05% | 2.12% |
Crazy Egg is a web analytics tool co-founded by Neil Patel and known for advanced heatmapping besides the standard web tracking capabilities. With heatmaps from Crazy Egg, you can find out exactly how users scrolled your webpage, where they focused attention, where they clicked, and why some decided to leave without taking action.
Unlike other web analytics software, Crazy Egg provides five heatmap reports, each one for tracking a specific user activity:
- Heatmap Report – identifying areas of activity
- Scrollmap Report – interpreting on-page movements
- Confetti Report – analysing on-site clicks
- Overlay Report – calculating the clicks on a particular page element
- List Report – calculating the total of clicks on the chosen webpages
Crazy Egg runs four paid subscription plans at $29 to $249 monthly, a custom enterprise-level plan, and a free trial.
Track Every Step of the User Journey With HitMetrix
Taking the guessing game out of your customer acquisition strategy is real – and it’s much easier than you think. Leverage Phonexa’s proprietary behaviour recording & analytics software HitMetrix, to tap into hidden web analytics and website form performance.
For a comprehensive marketing picture, you can connect HitMetrix to Phonexa’s marketing performance ecosystem within a single software package. Choose your subscription plan now, or schedule a free consultation to learn more about Phonexa.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are web analytics tools?
Web analytics tools, sometimes called web analytic software, track and interpret on-site and off-site user behaviour. Web analytics tools work most effectively when you’ve set a specific goal and can quantify and qualify the incoming data.
Here’s an example: you want to measure which traffic sources – organic, paid, or referral – bring more users to your product page traffic. For this, you (a) use heatmaps like HitMetrix to determine where users click and spend most of their time and (b) visualise their journey in Google Analytics to understand where these users came from.
In general, when using web analytics tools, you can find customer behaviour insights that will help you improve your sales funnel from start to finish, especially on your website.
What information can most web analytics tools tell you about a user?
Web analytics tools can tell you where users came from and how they interacted with your website before converting or leaving. More specifically, web analytics tools can unlock user demographics, psychographics, on-site behaviour, conversion insights, content performance insights, and other marketable data.
What is web analytics software?
Web analytics software is almost the same as web analytics tools, except that web analytics software is a higher-level system encompassing various web analytics tools. In practise, though, there’s almost no difference between web analytics software and tools.
If a web page visitor clears the Analytics cookie from their browser, what will occur?
Deleting the Google Analytics cookie from a browser breaks the connection: Google Analytics cannot connect the user’s current behaviour to their previous behaviour. In this case, Google Analytics will set a new ID and cookie for a new browser session.
How do I do web analytics software comparison?
Here are the parameters to compare different web-based analytics tools and software:
- Data collection type, depth (on-site data only; on-site and off-site data, etc.), and representations (reports, visualisation, etc.)
- Integrations with CRM, lead management, and marketing software
- Ease of use and the ability to store data on your server
- Data freshness: real-time or with a delay
- Scalability-price ratio
If you search for free web analytics software, you will likely have to use a freemium version or store analytics data on your server. Among the best web analytics software suites that allow you to store data on your own server are Matomo and Open Web Analytics.
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