Since the rebuild, the bottom of every page said: “No trackers on this site.” That was true, but it had a downside. I had no idea whether anyone read the guides, which tools were used, or how people found the site. So I couldn’t see what needed improving either.
That’s why this site now does keep track of something. Not who you are, but how the site is used: which pages are read, which tools really help people, and which guide nobody opens. That lets me improve the site for the people who use it. Below is exactly what I keep track of, and what I don’t.
What I do see
Each page view adds a line to the statistics: which page, the website you came from, the type of browser and device, the screen size, your browser language, and the country, region and city.
What I get to see is an overview: so many visits to this guide, so many via a search engine, so many on a phone. Enough to know what works. Not enough to know who you are.
Why nobody can be identified
For this I use Umami, open-source software for visitor statistics. I run it myself, on a server I manage. A few things make the difference:
- No cookies, and nothing in your browser that recognises you.
- Your IP address isn’t kept. It’s used to determine the country, region and city, then discarded.
- Visits are recognised with a code that changes every day. Umami makes a random code from your IP address, your browser and a secret value. I’ve set that secret value to change every day, so tomorrow you’re someone else as far as the statistics know.
- What you type into a tool never ends up in it. Umami only gets the page address, without what comes after it.
What never happens to that data
The data stays on my own server. It isn’t sold, isn’t shared with other companies and isn’t used for advertising. No profile of you is built, and nothing is linked to other websites. It serves one purpose: seeing how the site is doing, so I can improve what works and fix what doesn’t.
Why not Google Analytics
Most websites use Google Analytics. It’s free and detailed, but it doesn’t fit what I explain here:
- It sets cookies. That means you need a cookie notice, and I don’t want to put one in front of anybody.
- The data goes to Google. An American company that falls under American law, as I explain in how to become less dependent on big tech.
- It’s built for advertising. Visitors are recognised across sessions and websites. I don’t need that to know which page is being read.
I wouldn’t set up a client’s site that way. So my own site shouldn’t work that way either.
Rather not be counted at all?
That’s fine. If your browser asks not to be tracked (Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control), Umami isn’t even loaded. The privacy page also has a button to switch the statistics off. That choice is only remembered in your own browser.
What this means if you have a website
Knowing how your site is used and following your visitors are two different things. For most small businesses, the first is enough: how many people come, by which route, and which pages work. You don’t need cookies, a cookie notice or Google for that.
Want to know how that could work for your site, or are you stuck with a cookie notice you’d rather not have? That’s exactly the kind of website I build.