Google Analytics (GA) is a beast of a tool. It is robust, free, and arguably the best analytics tool on the market… But, GA is difficult to learn, difficult to set up, and overkill for most conference and event websites. Using GA is like bringing a nuclear bomb to a duck hunt, you got the duck, but at what cost?
While there are many, the biggest issue we have with GA is that although the product is free, Google is making money somewhere… that somewhere is the data they get from your attendees. A quick look from March 2022, shows that over 86% of websites have Google Analytics tracking installed. This data goes directly to Google and they analyze it to determine your attendee’s behavior, their interactions, the user journeys, your traffic sources, your conversions, and many other key metrics about your organization. In short, Google learns about you, your organization, and your attendees… and then they use that data to make money.
A Great Google Analytics Alternative
During the Covid years, we got sick of dealing with GA and started looking for something that offered our clients the data they needed without the pain in the ass. After much research, we came to the conclusion that Fathom Analytics was the way to go.
Through a series of meetings with clients, outreach to other planners, and chats with web designers, we confirmed what we had known for years… conference and event websites do not need over-the-top analytics data and unending reports to be successful. What is needed is actionable data that can be used immediately. For example, we discovered that most of our clients rely on page views, bounce rate, and referrers… this is all they need to run successful campaigns for their meetings and events.
A quick look at Fathom Analytics Features
- Fathom Analytics is a simple web analytics tool—all your data is displayed in an easy-to-read dashboard
- They are independently owned, customer-driven, and used by thousands of paying customers worldwide
- Their embed code doesn’t invade the privacy of your website visitors
- They charge for our product, so they don’t need to sell information or data
- You own the data and have unlimited data retention
- You gain back data from ad blockers that Google Analytics is blocking
- They are fully GDPR-compliant, so no GDPR, CCPA, or PECR notices are required
Switching to Fathom is simple. The platform is easy to install on any CMS (Content Management System) including WordPress or SquareSpace and you can start for free today with a 30-day trial. If you love it, the plans start at $14.00 per month which is a decent deal for owning your own data.
The best tool for any job is the tool that you use. Switching to Fathom has been a real eye-opener for us and our clients, we now have analytics recaps on our weekly calls because getting data has never been easier.
Note, we are a Fathom affiliate now so we benefit if you sign up using our link, this helps keep the lights on, Fathom had no input for this post. We only recommend products we use.
