Posthog for Website Analytics: No Cookie Banners Needed!

Summary

Discover PostHog, a privacy-focused, free analytics tool that rivals Google Analytics. It offers customizable insights, session replays, and compliance with EU regulations without cookie banners. The tool is ideal for those seeking a more intuitive and insightful alternative, with a generous free tier and the flexibility to track user behavior without violating privacy norms.

Takeaways

• 🌐 The speaker introduces 'PostHog' as a privacy-focused alternative to Google Analytics, suitable for websites and apps.
• 🔍 PostHog offers detailed analytics such as funnels, retention, and user paths, which are customizable but require manual configuration.
• 📈 The tool provides a generous free tier with 1 million events per month, including dashboards, funnels, and graphs, but with some limitations.
• 💶 The speaker speculates that the current pricing may not be sustainable and suggests taking advantage of the free tier while it lasts.
• 📱 PostHog is capable of session replay, similar to tools like Hotjar, offering 15,000 recordings per month in the free tier.
• 🇪🇺 For compliance with EU regulations and to avoid cookie banners, the speaker recommends signing up for the EU version of PostHog, hosted on eu.posthhog.com.
• 🛡️ The speaker emphasizes the importance of data being housed within European data centers for better compliance with GDPR.
• 📝 The script provided by PostHog can be modified to avoid setting cookies, thus tracking users page by page without creating a profile, which may affect the completeness of the visitor data.
• 🌐 The speaker uses Cloudflare Workers to differentiate between EU and non-EU visitors, applying different tracking scripts accordingly.
• 🚫 The speaker's website is free of any Google tools, including Analytics, Tag Manager, and Ads, due to privacy concerns and the requirement of cookie banners.
• 📈 PostHog is positioned as a more insightful tool compared to Google Analytics, especially GA4, and is recommended for those seeking deeper analytics without compromising on privacy.

Q & A

What is the name of the analytics tool being discussed in the script?

The analytics tool being discussed is called PostHog.

Why might someone prefer PostHog over Google Analytics?

Some might prefer PostHog due to its privacy focus, ease of use, and the ability to comply with local regulations without using cookie banners.

What is the significance of using 'posthog Cloud EU'?

Using 'posthog Cloud EU' is important for compliance with EU regulations and to avoid the need for cookie consent banners, as it changes the URL to 'eu.postthog.com' and houses data within European data centers.

What is the speaker's opinion on the GDPR regulation regarding cookies?

The speaker believes that the GDPR regulation requiring cookie banners is not ideal, as it prevents visitors from accessing content without clicking a button first.

How does PostHog handle data differently for EU visitors in the speaker's setup?

For EU visitors, PostHog is configured to run without leaving any cookies in the browser and tracks visitors one page at a time, avoiding the creation of a profile on them.

What is the free tier of PostHog offering in terms of events per month?

The free tier of PostHog offers 1 million events per month, which includes page views, form submissions, and more.

What additional feature does the free tier of PostHog include besides the dashboards and graphs?

The free tier also includes session replay, allowing for 15,000 recordings per month.

How does the speaker avoid using Google tools on their website?

The speaker avoids Google tools by using PostHog for analytics and Cloudflare Workers for script management, ensuring no Google Analytics, Tag Manager, or Ads are used.

What is the speaker's view on the current pricing of PostHog?

The speaker believes the current pricing is generous but suspects it might not be sustainable and could increase in the future.

How does the speaker use Cloudflare Workers to manage scripts for different regions?

The speaker uses Cloudflare Workers to create buckets for EU visitors, non-EU visitors, and all regions, running different scripts based on the visitor's location to comply with regulations and avoid tracking issues.

What is the speaker's recommendation for those looking for more insights from their analytics tool?

The speaker recommends PostHog as a replacement for Google Analytics, especially for those who want more in-depth insights, the ability to create funnels, and session replays without the need for cookie banners.