The web analytics field guide
Twelve distinct decision guides. Each opens with a direct answer, names the collection limits, links primary sources, and ends with the questions a buyer or operator actually needs resolved.
No synonym or city pages.
Vendor facts rechecked in 2026.
No product or customer fiction.
Begin with the work in front of you
Foundational measurement comes first; collection and privacy follow; campaigns, outcomes, and portfolio operations complete the route.
Web analytics: a practical field guide
Learn what web analytics measures, how collection methods differ, which metrics answer useful questions, and how to build a decision-ready measurement plan.
Real-time web analytics without false urgency
Understand what real-time website analytics can show, where live visitor data is useful, and how to avoid making decisions from incomplete minute-by-minute signals.
Website visitor tracking: what can be known
Compare visitor logs, aggregate analytics, account identity, and firm-level enrichment while learning what website tracking can and cannot reliably identify.
Privacy-first analytics is a configuration, not a slogan
Evaluate analytics collection, identifiers, consent, hosting, retention, access, deletion, and vendor claims with a practical privacy-first framework.
Cookieless analytics: what changes and what does not
Learn how analytics can count traffic without persistent cookies, which identity and accuracy tradeoffs follow, and why cookieless does not mean data-free.
First-party analytics beyond the label
Understand first-party analytics, first-party cookies, custom collection domains, reverse proxies, and the control and governance work each approach requires.
Server-side vs client-side analytics
Compare browser and server analytics collection across observability, accuracy, privacy, consent, cost, debugging, and the hybrid pattern most teams actually need.
AI traffic analytics: referrals, citations, and bots
Measure traffic from ChatGPT and other answer engines while separating referral clicks, search citations, verified crawlers, user fetches, and unknown bots.
UTM campaign tracking that stays readable
Use UTM source, medium, campaign, term, and content consistently, protect original attribution, and quality-check tagged links before campaigns launch.
Conversion tracking with credible denominators
Define meaningful website conversions, choose eligible denominators, validate browser and server events, and report uncertainty without double counting.
Heatmaps vs session replay vs visitor logs
Compare aggregate heatmaps, reconstructed session replays, and chronological visitor logs by question, evidence, payload, privacy risk, and review effort.
Analytics for multiple sites and client portfolios
Design a multi-site analytics portfolio with shared definitions, granular access, roll-up reporting, cost forecasting, privacy boundaries, and reliable ownership.
Read the answer, then read the caveat.
The summary is designed to answer the main question without requiring a scroll. The answer map then separates definitions, implementation, decision rules, and validation. Source ledgers point to the vendor, standard, or regulator whose current material supports a factual claim.
Product availability, prices, crawler behavior, and platform limits change. The published date is evidence, not decoration. Read the methodology and correction log if a decision depends on freshness.