Hi everyone,
I’m getting started with Matomo for a WordPress website and would like to learn more about the reports I should focus on.
For someone mainly interested in understanding traffic sources, visitor behavior, and which pages are performing well, which Matomo reports or metrics would you recommend checking regularly?
I’d also be interested in any tips for setting up analytics without tracking more data than is actually needed.
Thanks!
If you’re getting started with Matomo, I would recommend focusing on a few core reports initially rather than trying to use everything available.
For where your traffic is coming from, the Acquisition reports are a good starting point. These show traffic from search engines, referring websites, campaigns, social networks and direct visits.
For visitor behaviour, the Behaviour reports can help you understand how people use your website. In particular, I would look at:
Pages and Page Titles – which content receives the most views.
Entry Pages – where visitors first arrive on your site.
Exit Pages – where visitors commonly leave.
Downloads and Outlinks – files visitors download and links they follow to other websites.
Metrics such as Visits, Unique Visitors, Pageviews, Average Visit Duration and Bounce Rate can then provide a useful overview of engagement.
If your website has an important action, such as submitting a contact form, signing up or making a purchase, I would also recommend configuring a Goal. This lets you move beyond measuring traffic and understand which pages and acquisition sources contribute to conversions.
Regarding data collection, I would start with Matomo’s standard tracking and only add additional Events, Custom Dimensions or other tracking when you have a specific question you need that data to answer. This keeps your implementation simpler and avoids collecting information that you don’t actually use.