So one of the major things people want to know is how many people have visited their website, how their user journey is, if they have any conversions, and so forth. That’s pretty obvious right? You want to make sure that your website is drawing in the people that it needs to and, if you’re paying for search engine optimization, if you’re getting the bang for your buck when paying for SEO, Ad Campaigns, etc. But a lot of times, that stuff comes at a cost.
You see, people don’t realize that even though Google Analytics is free, you’re still paying for something. And when it comes to Google, you’re really paying with the thing that should matter to you the most….YOUR SOUL!
Okay, maybe that’s a bit too extreme. You’re not selling your soul to Google, but in a way you kinda are. Because with Google tracking codes, along with other trackers, they Google sells your data.
Most agencies don’t tell you that with Google Analytics and other trackers, they collect data on user interactions such as page views, clicks, and traffic sources. This also collects browsing behavior, search history and local location which it then aggregates to build detailed user profiles. These profiles are utilized to power Google’s advertising ecosystem through real-time bidding, or RTB. As an average user, you have absolutely ZERO idea what this is. But long story short, Google sells your data to advertisers so they can show ads tailored to you.
And so you know, Google isn’t the only one that does it. Meta does it when you have Meta Pixel installed. LinkedIn does it when you have a LinkedIn Insight Tag and so forth.
Now obviously, my biggest issue with all of these is always going to be that they slow your website down to shit. Sure there are other factors to your website being slow such as too many plugins, lots of loading elements, revisions, etc. But one of the key components I’ve come to notice over the last few months has been trackers.
Ever since I removed all of my trackers from this website, my website has loaded much faster! Same thing for my clients. When I removed trackers, the sites just ran so much smoother.
But this isn’t telling you that you need to get away from Google Analytics. I mean, it is the standard for tracking who visits your website. BUT, the users coming to the website needs to know.
Years ago, we were informed about needing to implement Cookie Consent banners on websites that including trackers on them. For those of us in the United States, unfortunately it is not under federal law requiring cookie banners. The requirements stem from the state privacy laws following an Opt-Out framework, though many US states mandate honoring browser-based opt-out signals. But in the EU, EEA and UK under the GDPR and ePrivacy Directive, websites must obtain explicit, prior consent before placing non-essential cookies.
This being said, though it’s not required, I feel it is highly necessary that if you have trackers on your website, your users should know and should have the option to agree or disagree on being tracked on any website. Not everyone wants their data sold. Hell, it gets annoying whenever you’re just talking about something simple like potato chips. Next thing you know, every other ad on Instagram is from Lays or whoever. You didn’t agree to it, but now you’re seeing it.
One thing I’ve started using recently to help my clients have better privacy is a tool where I can scan the website making sure they have everything they need visible, hidden, etc. This tool now allows me to do a scan on the website to make sure they’re following privacy guidelines, this now includes how trackers are treated.
Okay, so let me show you something I’ve done when doing a scan on a website that is full of trackers but no Cookies Consent banner, versus my website with no trackers.
This first one is showing you the score of a website who has multiple trackers. I’ve worked with this website in the past, but I don’t want to bring their name to light. But this site has so many trackers that its ridiculous. The sad thing is with this website, they don’t have a Cookie Consent banner, thus the website has a terrible score. It sucks because when you view everything that this website has, it is not a trustworthy website for a client to visit.
And now we move forward with this website. As you can see, I have 0 trackers on my website. I don’t use Google Analytics, I don’t use Meta Pixel, I don’t use anything that is going to sell your data. Hell, this website blocks AI bots to make sure AI isn’t trained based off of your data. With that being said, because my website doesn’t have any trackers, my site does not need a Cookie Consent banner. Now if I were to ever add a tracker, of course I would add it. But for now, it’s not necessary.
So you’re probably asking, “well how are you able to track the user data”. Well, I will tell you all about it…..in my next blog post. Let’s just say these Analytics are Independent. *smiles*
I feel like I’ve already typed a lot, and this is just why I call this random thoughts. Because well, this was a random thought I felt like typing. But more will definitely be coming soon especially how I’m able to see who all has visited what on mine and my customers websites without their data being sold.
Stay tuned for more!