Matomo Analytics WordPress Setup: A Quick Guide

For WordPress site owners, the extent of personal data collected and shared by Google Analytics can be a concern. Increased privacy regulations such as GDPR are prompting consideration of privacy-respecting analytics platforms.

Matomo Analytics presents a viable option.

A key reason many choose Matomo is its capacity to deliver robust insights—traffic, conversions, and user behavior—while securely storing all data on your own servers. This supports privacy compliance and fosters audience trust.

The setup of Matomo with WordPress is surprisingly straightforward.

This guide provides a step-by-step walkthrough, enabling you to monitor your site’s performance without compromising privacy. 🙌

Before starting the tutorial, let’s review the basics to ensure you understand what’s involved.

If you are already set on using Matomo analytics with WordPress, you can use the links below to skip to specific sections:

What Is Matomo Analytics?

Matomo represents an open-source solution for monitoring website traffic, user actions, and other relevant metrics. Functionally, it mirrors Google Analytics, but places a greater emphasis on safeguarding the privacy of both website administrators and users.

A key advantage of Matomo is the exclusive ownership of your data. This enhances privacy, as all information is stored on your server, providing you with full control. However, this also means you are responsible for maintaining its security.

What kind of tracking capabilities does Matomo offer? The following are some of the most important:

• Campaign Tracking– Determine the sources of your website traffic using UTM parameters. This is valuable for assessing the performance of advertisements, social media content, and email marketing initiatives.
• User Identification Tracking– Track the movements of logged-in users across various devices and sessions. This offers a more complete understanding of their overall experience.
• eCommerce Tracking– Keep track of sales, shopping cart interactions, and product impressions. This allows you to refine your WooCommerce store or other online storefronts.
• Form Analytics– Identify areas where users encounter difficulties within forms. This enables you to boost registration rates and overall conversions.
• Heatmaps and Session Playback– Through visual heatmaps and session recordings, examine user click patterns, scrolling behavior, and points of abandonment.

Given Matomo’s comprehensive features and its focus on data security, many users are transitioning from alternative analytics platforms.

Configuring Matomo Analytics on WordPress

Are you ready to configure Matomo? First, perform a quick system check.

Your WordPress site should use WordPress 4.8+, PHP 7.2+, MySQL 5.5+, and a minimum of 128MB memory.

Before beginning, understand that Matomo offers several implementation methods, including:

• The Self-Hosted Version – where you install the software on your own server.
• The cloud service version – where Matomo handles all hosting requirements.

This tutorial uses Matomo for WordPress, a self-contained solution running within your WordPress website. This eliminates the need for external accounts or server management.

This is the simplest entry point, especially for beginners. The Matomo team actively maintains it, providing excellent support and feature updates.

The subsequent sections detail the process of setting up Matomo within WordPress.

Step 1: Installing the Matomo for WordPress Plugin

Begin by installing and activating the Matomo for WordPress plugin. Navigate toPlugins » Add New Plugin in your WordPress dashboard.

On the subsequent screen, utilize the search function to efficiently locate the plugin. Enter ‘Matomo for WordPress’ and press enter.

After the search, press the ‘Install Now’ button.

After installation, click the ‘Activate’ button.

For comprehensive instructions, consult our guide on WordPress plugin installation.

Step 2: Enabling Matomo Tracking

Once you activate Matomo, you’ll be redirected to the Matomo Analytics » Get Started page.

From there, follow the setup wizard to configure the basic settings. You’ll need to complete 2 steps: updating your privacy policy page and enabling Matomo Analytics tracking. The plugin will then save and apply your new settings.

Now, let’s go through each step individually.

Update Your Privacy Policy

The first step is to update your Privacy Policy page.

Matomo prompts you to ensure your Privacy Policy reflects a dedication to user privacy and adheres to GDPR and ePrivacy regulations.

This involves providing users with an opt-out option, which can be implemented using the [matomo_opt_out] shortcode or the ‘Matomo opt-out’ block.

So, if you don’t have a ‘Privacy Policy’ page yet, then you’ll need to create one.

Navigate to your WordPress dashboard and then go to Settings » Privacy.

WordPress indicates whether a privacy policy page exists in the dropdown menu. Clicking ‘Use This Page’ publishes it.

To create a new privacy policy draft, simply select the ‘Create’ button.

WordPress will then automatically generate a draft for you to work with.

However, if you’ve already used the default policy and wish to modify it, click the ‘Edit’ button.

This will open your Privacy Policy page in the block editor, ready for you to edit.

Refer to our guide for comprehensive instructions on adding a privacy policy in WordPress.

Enable Matomo Tracking

After updating your privacy policy, you should be ready to enable Matomo tracking on your WordPress site.

On the ‘Get Started’ page, go ahead and click the ‘Enable tracking now’ button to start the process.

Upon successful activation, a green checkmark and a success message will be displayed.

Keep in mind that Matomo requires some time to begin gathering data.

Therefore, if you don’t see immediate analytics, there is no need for concern. Revisit the dashboard in a few hours to view your initial visitor statistics.

Note that if you’re utilizing a caching system (either through a plugin or your web host), you will need to clear your cache for tracking to function correctly. Consult our tutorial on clearing your WordPress cache for detailed instructions.

Step 3: Navigating Through the Analytics Dashboard

With Matomo configured, let’s explore the dashboard, your central hub for vital website data, encompassing visitor demographics, behavior, and site performance analysis.

We will examine three core sections: Summary, Reporting, and Tag Manager. Each offers unique perspectives and resources for monitoring your site’s activity and user engagement.

Summary

The Summary section provides an immediate snapshot of your website’s key performance indicators, accessible directly from your WordPress dashboard.

To view this report, navigate toMatomo Analytics » Summaryto view the report.

The ‘Summary’ page allows you to monitor important metrics such as total visits, visitor locations, device types, and user interactions at a glance.

You can also select a preferred reporting period, such as today, this week, this month, or this year.

Additional report widgets are available as you scroll down the page.

Certain widgets highlight user attributes like screen resolution, operating system, browser type, landing pages, and exit pages. Other widgets track conversions, displaying data related to goals, hourly visit patterns (based on your site’s timezone), and outbound links.

If you operate an e-commerce platform, you can monitor its performance through the Ecommerce Orders section.

For instance, you can review your store’s overall performance metrics, including total orders, visits resulting in conversions, and product sales. You’ll also find detailed data on tax, shipping, and discount calculations.

Reporting

If you’re looking for deeper insights, the ‘Reporting’ section is where you’ll find all the details you need.

To access it, go to your WordPress admin area and navigate to Matomo Analytics » Reporting.

This will take you to the full Matomo analytics interface, where you can explore in-depth reports for different parts of your website, including:

• Visitor data – Get insights into who’s visiting your site and where they’re coming from.
• User behavior – See how visitors interact with your posts and pages.
• eCommerce – Monitor sales performance, order tracking, and customer journey.
• Marketing insights – Analyze acquisitions, conversion goals, sales funnels, and form tracking.
• Media performance – Measure engagement with images, videos, and other media content.
• A/B tests – Compare different page versions to optimize performance.
• Heatmaps and session recordings – Visualize how users navigate your site.

Each one has its own dedicated panel that you can explore.

For example, in the image below, the submenus are under the ‘Visitors’ section alone.

This page has detailed visit logs with real-time flows and maps. It also gives you insights into user locations, devices, software, IDs, and more.

This in-depth analysis empowers you to make well-informed choices, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of your site.

Tag Manager

Matomo offers its own Tag Manager, functioning much like Google Tag Manager.

It streamlines the process of incorporating and overseeing analytics scripts, advertising pixels, and other marketing resources on your WordPress site, all without the need to alter any code. Furthermore, it simplifies the integration of both first-party and third-party application resources.

To access the ‘Tag Manager’ reports, simply go to Matomo Analytics » Tag Managerwithin your WordPress admin area.

This will take you to the ‘Tag Manager’ tab in your Matomo dashboard.

Once there, you can select different containers via the dropdown menu. Consider a container as a toolbox for your website’s tracking codes, which holds:

• all your tags (the actual codes)
• triggers (the conditions determining when a code is executed)
• variables (useful data elements)

This approach ensures a structured and centralized organization.

Matomo Alternatives: Top Analytics Plugins for WordPress Users

If privacy is paramount, Matomo is an excellent option. However, should you be exploring other analytics platforms, consider these recommended Matomo alternatives:

• MonsterInsights – Recognized as the premier Google Analytics plugin for WordPress, it’s perfect for novices seeking straightforward Google Analytics reports presented directly in their WordPress dashboards. We utilize it ourselves for monitoring conversions, referrals, and more. Consult our comprehensive MonsterInsights review for further information.
• ExactMetrics – For WordPress users seeking comprehensive Google Analytics reports directly within their dashboard, this plugin is a strong option. It provides detailed insights, as highlighted in our ExactMetrics review.
• OnePageGA – If you’re seeking a straightforward solution, this tool transforms your Google Analytics 4 data into a single-page dashboard. It’s perfect for users who value simplicity over extensive features, as detailed in our OnePageGA review.
• HubSpot – As a complete CRM platform, HubSpot includes built-in analytics for monitoring website traffic, user behavior, and conversions. Our guide on setting up HubSpot analytics in WordPress provides further information.

For a more extensive list of analytics solutions tailored for WordPress users, you might want to see our list of the best analytics solutions for WordPress users.

You may also wish to check out our ultimate WordPress security guide to protect your website and visitor data. 🔒 

FAQs About Matomo Analytics

What is Matomo used for?

Matomo is a web analytics platform designed to monitor website traffic and user interactions. It allows you to understand visitor origins, page views, and on-site behavior, emphasizing data privacy.

Is Matomo really free?

Yes! Matomo offers a free, open-source version called Matomo On-Premise. This is a self-hosted option, which means you install the software and store all the data on your own server, giving you full control.

They also have paid cloud-hosted plans if you want them to handle the hosting for you.

Which is better, Matomo or Google Analytics?

Your choice hinges on your priorities. Matomo excels in privacy and data ownership. Google Analytics offers robust marketing features through integration with Google services like Ads and Search Console.

Does Matomo slow down a WordPress website?

With proper configuration, Matomo should not significantly impact your site’s speed for users. However, it utilizes more server resources than cloud-based alternatives like Google Analytics because it handles data processing and storage locally.

This generally isn’t a concern with current WordPress hosting. However, it’s a factor for high-traffic websites or budget shared hosting.

Learn More About WordPress Analytics

We hope this article has helped you set up Matomo on your WordPress website.

If you’re interested in further exploring WordPress tracking, these resources may prove useful:

• How to See Search Analytics in WordPress
• How to Manage, Track, and Control File Downloads in WordPress
• How to Track SEO Changes on Your WordPress Site
• How to Track Third-Party Domain Requests in WordPress
• How to Add WordPress Analytics Without Cookies
• How to Set Up WordPress Heatmaps (Easy Ways)
• Best WordPress Activity Log and Tracking Plugins

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