How to Set Up Independent Analytics in WordPress

To gather information about your website, there is no better option than Google Analytics. The data comes directly from Google, and it knows everything, but that doesn’t mean it is the only option. A great alternative is the Independent Analytics plugin.

It is an analytics plugin made exclusively for WordPress and presents nearly the same data that Google Analytics does, but it all appears directly in WordPress. This makes it much easier to look at the data, and you won’t need to copy and paste tracking codes for Google.

With all of this said, it is still worth pointing out that you should still use Google Analytics. However, this is a great tool to use in conjunction due to the accuracy of the information it proceeds, as well as the convenience of being able to view it all in WordPress.

Today, I will demonstrate how to use the Independent Analytics plugin for WordPress.

This tutorial is for:
WordPress 6.5.4
Plugin: Independent Analytics v2.5.1

Setting Up Independent Analytics

The Independent Analytics plugin is a simple alternative to Google Analytics. For the most part, you just have to install the plugin and it will begin tracking user statistics that you can view. As such, it may take some time before the information becomes helpful.

The more traffic your site gets, the better the results as the information will be more comprehensive as more users are tracked by the plugin. And just to answer a simple question you probably have, no, the plugin does not slow down your website.

Step 1: Install Independent Analytics

Let’s start by clicking on Plugins and selecting the Add New option on the left-hand admin panel.

Search for Independent Analytics in the available search box. This will pull up additional plugins that you may find helpful.

Find the Independent Analytics plugin and click on the “Install Now” button and activate the plugin for use.

When you activate the plugin, you will have the option to opt into sharing your plugin usage data with the plugin developers. This will help them make improvements to the plugin. Feel free to skip it if you are not interested,

Step 2: Verify It Is Working

If you were to immediately look at the dashboard, everything would say 0 because it has just begun collecting information. To make sure it is working, visit your website in another browser to ensure one visitor has appeared.

When you do, click on the Analytics option to view the dashboard.

If you visit your website, you should see 1 visitor, or far more if you have a busy site.

If you see that it is working, you are good to go and just need to wait for the tool to collect data for you. And if not, you may need to take a moment and clear your cache as it can prevent the plugin from working upon its activation.

Features of Independent Analytics

Now that the plugin has been set up, let’s cover some of the major features this tool brings to the table and how you can access them in WordPress. Again, depending on the traffic your website receives, it may take a day or a week to collect enough data.

1. The Dashboard

The Dashboard is going to be the main way to quickly view data from the Independent Analytics plugin. Here you can view all kinds of stats like the total number of unique visitors, views, sessions, bounce rate, and much more.

There are also exclusive options you can view here if you purchase the Pro version. This includes stats from your WooCommerce store like net sales, gross sales, refunds, and more. There are even options to view form submissions.

By default, the data will be displayed for the last 30 days, but you can toggle this to focus on specific periods of time like when a sale is active, or just a specific day of the week. Ultimately, the dashboard is great for viewing important information quickly.

2. Geographic View

The Geographic view allows you to see where your traffic is coming from around the world. You can view the data by country, or zone in on specific areas or cities. You’ll be able to view individual stats for each country or city.

This can help you better target specific regions and justify making region-specific pages. For example, if you notice you have a lot of visitors from Mexico, having dedicated pages in Spanish is probably a really good idea.

3. Devices

The Devices option allows you to view stats based on the device the user used to give your website. This includes desktop, mobile, and tablet. Knowing which devices are the most popular can help you design better content for each one.

While Google itself has a mobile-first indexing, not every site is going to have more mobile users. So, it is important to build a site for the devices your visitors are using.

That said, responsive design has made this a problem of the past. WordPress automatically adjusts itself depending on the device of the visitor.

4. References

The References section helps you understand and view how visitors found your website. Did they type in the URL directly? Did they find you from a search engine search? If so, which search engine? Did they follow a link from social media? If so, which one?

Understanding where your visitors are coming from can help you step up your advertising efforts in those areas or step them up in areas that are lacking. And it might be a good indicator of which social media platforms are more important for your brand.

5. Campaigns (Pro Only)

If you purchase the Pro version of this plugin, there is a Campaigns option that will allow you to keep track of links to your website. This allows you to see how successful campaigns and collaborations are for your site.

There are also integration features with WooCommerce so you can track referrals from other sites. Knowing where your visitors and sales come from is important for continuing to grow and keep those customers happy.

More Alternatives to Google Analytics

Independent Analytics is not the only free alternative to Google Analytics. There are several tools you can use if you do not want to use Google, but again, you should still probably use Google Analytics in conjunction with any alternative.

WP Statistics

WP Statistics is a great WordPress alternative to Google Analytics. It works entirely from WordPress, so you can view your statistics directly on your site. The dashboard view is very nice and shows you an overview of various stats about your website.

This includes basic things like the number of unique visitors, views, referral links used, and much more. You can even analyze your site data over specific time periods to see how they compare to one another.

You can also see where users are visiting your site from. You’ll know their geolocation, what device they used to view the site, and even what web browser they did it with. This information will prove invaluable to most sites.

Burst Statistics

Burst Statistics is another great alternative to Google Analytics. It is a free plugin that you can use to view site statistics directly from your WordPress website and best of all, it keeps that data private.

Many analytics tools store your data on their servers, but in the case of Burst Statistics the data is stored on your web server, thus you are in complete control over the data and how it is used.

In terms of data, you’ll gain access to all of the common pieces of information from total views to bounce rates. It is a comprehensive tool that is easy to use and can be done so from WordPress itself.

Koko Analytics

Koko Analytics is a lightweight alternative to Google Analytics for WordPress. The plugin values privacy so your data is stored directly on your web server and never seen by third parties.

With it, you can view stats from your entire site, or zone in on a specific page or post. You can even view these stats over a set period of time for deeper analysis or comparison.

Overall, it provides the basics you would expect from an analytical tool but is a bit lacking when compared to some of the other tools we have covered, or Google Analytics itself. However, it is free and easy to use, so give it a try.

Start Utilizing Analytical Tools in WordPress Today

As you can see, there are plenty of alternatives to Google Analytics that you can use to track site stats. Understanding where visitors come from and how long they are spending with your site is incredibly important.

This data is necessary so you can build marketing campaigns and decide if certain content ideas are worth continuing. Luckily, most analytical tools are free to use, and using multiple tools can give you different insights that can help you grow.

I hope you found this tutorial helpful in learning how to use Independent Analytics for WordPress.

Why do you want an alternative to Google Analytics? Do you use a different analytical tool?

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