Google Analytics vs SquareSpace Metrics vs JetPack Stats: Why Don’t They Match Up?
One of the most asked questions I get when working with Google Analytics clients is *why* don’t the numbers they see inside Google Analytics match up with the numbers they’re seeing elsewhere.
Whether that’s SquareSpace Metrics, or Jetpack Stats, or Shopify Traffic Stats, or ….
The answer is the same.
The truth is – no two traffic measuring tools are ever going to tell you the same numbers.
Google Analytics won’t match up with your SquareSpace (or any other stats) for a few reasons:
#1 – Google Analytics and SquareSpace Metrics (or any other stats) Define Terms Differently
You can’t very well measure visits against visits if two different tools are defining them differently. And every tool has a different definition.
Google Analytics may define a visit (or session) as a person who visits a website any time within the same 30-minute period. Meaning that if I visit your site then come back 29 minutes later, Google Analytics still counts that as the same visit – but – if I come back 31 minutes later, it’s a new visit.
Other tools like SquareSpace Metrics, may define a visit (or any other term) differently.
#2 – Google Analytics May Be In More Places
One of the benefits of Google Analytics is that it’s so widespread you can often use it on more than just your specific website. For instance, if you use a service like LeadPages in addition to your regular website, you can actually add your Google Analytics code into LeadPages-created pages so that you can send visit info to Google Analytics.
However – this is not the case with most other analytics tools. You can’t add your SquareSpace Stats code to another web property like LeadPages. And of course, with more things to count, things will definitely be different!
#3 – Google Analytics Settings May Be Different
Have you ever tried to filter out internal traffic or maybe block a site or setup some other kind of filter or setting on your Google Analytics account?
Doing this even once can mean a difference in stats. Other analytics tools might block you when logged in by default or count even edits to your site as visits.
OK But Then Which One Do I Pay Attention To??
For starters, the two tools should hopefully be showing you the same trend – both should show that most of your traffic is from the same traffic source for instance.
To keep your peace of mind and sanity, you should choose one and focus on that.
Which one to choose? Of course I’m going to say Google Analytics.
But why? Because it’s more powerful than the other tools you have out there – it can not only help you track email subscribers and leads and sales but also let you tag specific marketing campaigns to help you better understand which ads and which sponsorships among others are working and which aren’t.
There are definitely a few other techie reasons that your two website stat tools might not matchup (like server-side counting vs browser counting), but I hope this post started to shed some light for you on why trying to get any two tools to match up is a fool’s errand aka it’ll drive you crazy!
What is your go-to tool for tracking what’s going on with your website traffic? Is it Google Analytics? SquareSpace Metrics? Something else? Share with us in the comments!
