We all know Google Analytics can be a hassle to use. But you need to observe your website traffic so you can do the right things for your audience and your business. The plugin I show you in this article will give you a beautiful and simple analytics dashboard for WordPress that is easy to use.
I normally don’t recommend analytics plugins, but…
If you prefer, there are a couple of good WordPress plugins for website statistics.
Usually, I don’t recommend using plugins to keep track of visitor statistics on a WordPress website. Because it’s just more scripts and information that over time will fill up your database and bloat your site.
But the best one to give you a simple analytics dashboard for WordPress, inside the admin area, is the MonsterInsights Pro plugin. It’s simple, but powerful.
And it is quick and easy to set up. When installed, it will give you a clear overview of your website traffic with pristine visuals and tables, right inside your WordPress admin.
MonsterInsights is a simple analytics plugin for WordPress that won’t make your site slow. Remember, a fast website is important to improve your SEO for Google and get better ranking.
How to set up a simple analytics dashboard for WordPress
After you install MonsterInsights analytics plugin for WordPress, you will be presented with a clean dashboard in the WordPress admin. From here it’s simple to switch the timeframe you want to see statistics for.
I’m very visual in my mind mapping. So I need to have things visually laid out in front of me to quickly make sense of things. Simple rows of numbers and data are not useful for me.
When using MonsterInsights you’ll find that it’s quick to switch between Sessions and Page views. Or, you can jump into the Overview Report to quickly check all the details you need on one page.
You can view a full-scale graph for all your traffic from the last 7 days, 30 days, or a custom range, and have a quick overview of your most important website statistics.
Then you’ll be able to make important decisions about your website faster.
When I look at website stats for my sites, here are the first things I’m looking for:
- Top 10 countries my tribe is coming from
- Top 10 traffic sources showing where people are coming from
- Top Posts/Pages showing me what people are visiting the most on my website
- What devices my audience is using the most
These details are very useful for you as a website owner, because now you know what works and what needs attention. You can now make clever adjustments. And this will make you rank better in search engines.
For my own site, I can see that my freelance resources page is very high on my visitor page view.
Now, let me share a few more important insights about website analytics.
The best alternative to Google Analytics — but same data
For years, I couldn’t stand using Google Analytics. But I still wanted to understand the data. After all, Google knows how to fetch important traffic stats.
Instead, I wanted a much quicker and easier-to-use presentation of the most important details about my website. I wanted a simple analytics dashboard for WordPress so I could view my stats right inside the WordPress dashboard.
There are a few things that are good to know about your website. That way you can adjust as you go. But how can you improve something that’s not being measured?
The best analytics plugin for WordPress is one that has a lightweight code structure, is easy to use, and makes sense in your mind when you look at the stats.
That’s why I can recommend MonsterInsights.
Something you maybe didn’t know about your website
Did you know it’s very common that your visitors NEVER scroll to the bottom of your website pages?
It’s in fact not unusual for websites that the average user scroll percentage is only 50%!
Yes, that’s just how it is.
Hopefully, you will be thinking: How do I find out how far my users scroll down my pages?
Well, the cool thing is that MonsterInsights includes a “Track Scrolling Depth” function. So you can see how deep your visitors scroll on average on each page on your website.
If you are a beginner in website management and marketing your services, scroll depth is important to know. Because you don’t want to place your email opt-in and promotional offers too far down on the page.
Actually, the best option is to place important CTA (call-to-action) on top “above the fold” as we call it. That’s the part of your website page users can see BEFORE they start scrolling. And that is not much space.
MonsterInsights will show you scroll depth on your website. It’s a clever investment and is a neat tool to easily keep track of your website stats inside WordPress. Having a simple analytics dashboard for WordPress will help you be professional about the way you improve your growth and content. Which will help succeed with your growth goals.
You can check out MonsterInsights Pro here.
And if you want quick access to more resources and some of the tools that I use in my business, quickly look over my Resources page.