Table of contents
- What is web tracking?
- How does web tracking work?
- What do web tracking tools do?
- Web tracking tools - overview
If you operate a website, be it a corporate website that represents your company or a store with which you generate sales, you will not be able to avoid measuring success. Important KPIs for website operators include traffic and conversion. Traffic means visitors to your website, conversion is when visitors have become customers. With web tracking tools, you can measure these and other KPIs and use them for your marketing strategy, for example to calculate the ROI of your online marketing measures.
This not only applies to the B2C sector, where the majority of customers still obtain information online before making a purchase. Decision-makers in the B2B sector also make intensive use of digital channels. This is where web tracking comes in: With web tracking tools, you can analyze who interacts with your website and how, and derive appropriate measures to increase your conversion rate.
New additions in recent years: Due to stricter data protection laws, the elimination of third-party cookies (2024/25) and new technologies such as server-side tracking, companies are now faced with the challenge of combining transparency and data protection with meaningful analysis.
What is web tracking?
Web tracking is the collection and analysis of visitor data and their interactions on a website. This information can be used to make several statements:
- Who are my visitors and are they also my desired target group?
- Which content is particularly interesting, which is not - and how can I change this to increase sales?
- Are there any usability problems or technical errors that need to be rectified?
If the information obtained is integrated into the marketing strategy, the use of web tracking can help to optimize a website and generate business success.
How does web tracking work?
Currently used methods are:
- Cookies (still widespread, but only permitted with consent due to browser restrictions and GDPR).
- Fingerprint tracking (technically possible, but critical in terms of data protection law).
- Log file analysis (still useful, even independently of cookies).
- Server-side tracking (on the rise since 2023/24, as browsers block tracking scripts and third-party cookies disappear).
👉 Important: Data protection compliance is the focus today. Data may only be collected and processed with a clear purpose limitation; consent management is mandatory.
The collection, storage and processing of personal data is generally prohibited unless permission has been granted in the form of consent from the data subject or a legal document. The data you collect must be tied to a purpose and only collected if you need it for this purpose.
If you offer a newsletter, for example, the name is not required and may not be collected. You are also obliged to ensure the security of the data.(Read full article)
What is the role of web tracking tools?
Web tracking tools make data comprehensible and combine it with other sources to enable a well-founded analysis. Modern tools also offer
- Dashboards with real-time analyses
- Interfaces to marketing and CRM systems
- GDPR-compliant hosting options
- Support for first-party tracking and consent management
Web tracking tools - overview
Adobe Analytics
Continues to be a market leader for enterprise web analytics, with strong attribution, AI-supported forecasts and flexible integrations. License models (Select, Prime, Ultimate) must still be requested individually.
👉 More about Adobe Analytics
AT Internet (now part of Piano Analytics)
The French company AT Internet offers real-time segmentation, a tag management system and data mining solutions that can be used to connect data with other services via various interfaces, in addition to recording the most important KPIs.
AT Internet has been part of Piano since 2021. Piano Analytics combines classic web analytics with customer journey analytics and is known for its data protection compliance. Prices on request.
👉 More about Piano Analytics
Econda
Econda specializes in e-commerce and can generate the exact customer value using the RFM method. The tool is versatile in terms of custom plugins, allowing users to build their tracking tool according to their needs, e.g. "Marketplace Revenue" for bundling all sales on various online marketplaces. In addition to the software, the company also offers training, consulting and workshops. For prices and conditions, you need to contact a sales representative.
Remains a leading solution for e-commerce, particularly strong in customer value analysis and marketplace tracking. Individual prices.
👉 More about Econda
etracker
The German company etracker offers web tracking primarily for store owners. The tool offers interfaces to all common content management systems such as Drupal and WordPress, as well as to Google AdWords and Shopware. The functions include web analytics, app analytics and UX analytics. etracker offers a trial version for 30 days including telephone support.
etracker is known for GDPR compliance and hosting in Germany. Licenses from approx. 19 €/month.
👉 S tart a test account
Google Analytics GA4
Google Analytics is probably the best-known web tracking tool and its basic version is free of charge. Analytics can be connected to Google Search Console and Google Tag Manager and even offers several interfaces for third-party providers. The tracking tool offers insights into the target group, user flow, visitor sources, visitor behavior and - if previously defined - information about conversions. This is particularly useful when used in conjunction with Google AdWords. Tip: With Google Datastudio, you can accumulate data from various sources, including third-party providers, and present it in a visually appealing way.
Universal Analytics was discontinued in 2023. GA4 is now standard and is based on an event-driven data model. Advantages: free basic version, integration with Google services. Disadvantages: more complex setup, limited comparability with previous data.
👉 More about Google Analytics 4
MATOMO // Piwik PRO
Piwik is also available in a free and a paid Pro version. Since January 2018, however, the free version has been calledMatomo, but the content is still the same product. The Pro version offers companies the opportunity to display the customer journey, create custom reports in a short time and even perform intranet analyses. The tool is GDPR-compliant, but the provider is not very transparent about the price. The sales department must be contacted here.
You can arrange a demo here: https://piwikpro.de/demo-vereinbaren/
New tools & alternatives
- Plausible Analytics - Lightweight, data protection-friendly, from approx. 9 €/month.
- Fathom Analytics - Simple interface, strong privacy features.
- Simple Analytics - Focus on GDPR compliance, no cookies.
Umami - Open source, self-hostable, privacy-first.
CONCLUSION
The market for web tracking has changed dramatically: Data protection, transparency and technological developments such as the end of third-party cookies make new strategies necessary. While established providers such as Adobe, Piano or Google Analytics score points with comprehensive integrations, lean, data protection-friendly alternatives such as Matomo, Plausible or Fathom are gaining in importance.
👉 Today, companies should carefully examine their legal requirements and data strategies - and select the right tool based on this.
