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• Transcode WEBM to RTMP

  7 avril 2024, par Justin White

  Summary

  


  My goal is to take a webcam stream from the browser and feed it into a program called Restreamer that takes in an RTMP stream.

  


  I've deduced that the browser Recording API produces Blobs that can be saved as WEBM.

  


  In order to stream the WEBM content to Restreamer I am attempting to use FFmpeg. I've read that forcing FLV format is required but otherwise all of the arguments are Greek to me. I've been unable to find a comparable topic where someone has tried to go from WEBM to RTMP. I have found examples of going the other direction, but reversing the FFmpeg command proved unfruitful.

  


  Saving to FLV works fine. Using the following command, I am able to transcode a WEBM file to FLV and play it on VLC :
  
ffmpeg -i ~/big-buck-bunny_trailer.webm -f flv out.flv

  


  However, if instead of outputting to a file I pass it to RTMP I get the following output :
  
ffmpeg -i ~/Downloads/big-buck-bunny_trailer.webm -f flv "rtmp://example.com/live"
  

  


  ffmpeg version 5.0.1 Copyright (c) 2000-2022 the FFmpeg developers
  built with gcc 12 (GCC)
  configuration: --prefix=/usr --bindir=/usr/bin --datadir=/usr/share/ffmpeg --docdir=/usr/share/doc/ffmpeg --incdir=/usr/include/ffmpeg --libdir=/usr/lib64 --mandir=/usr/share/man --arch=x86_64 --optflags='-O2 -flto=auto -ffat-lto-objects -fexceptions -g -grecord-gcc-switches -pipe -Wall -Werror=format-security -Wp,-D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -Wp,-D_GLIBCXX_ASSERTIONS -specs=/usr/lib/rpm/redhat/redhat-hardened-cc1 -fstack-protector-strong -specs=/usr/lib/rpm/redhat/redhat-annobin-cc1 -m64 -mtune=generic -fasynchronous-unwind-tables -fstack-clash-protection -fcf-protection' --extra-ldflags='-Wl,-z,relro -Wl,--as-needed -Wl,-z,now -specs=/usr/lib/rpm/redhat/redhat-hardened-ld -specs=/usr/lib/rpm/redhat/redhat-annobin-cc1 -Wl,--build-id=sha1 ' --extra-cflags=' -I/usr/include/rav1e' --enable-libopencore-amrnb --enable-libopencore-amrwb --enable-libvo-amrwbenc --enable-version3 --enable-bzlib --enable-chromaprint --disable-crystalhd --enable-fontconfig --enable-frei0r --enable-gcrypt --enable-gnutls --enable-ladspa --enable-libaom --enable-libdav1d --enable-libass --enable-libbluray --enable-libbs2b --enable-libcdio --enable-libdrm --enable-libjack --enable-libfreetype --enable-libfribidi --enable-libgsm --enable-libilbc --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libmysofa --enable-nvenc --enable-openal --enable-opencl --enable-opengl --enable-libopenjpeg --enable-libopenmpt --enable-libopus --enable-libpulse --enable-librsvg --enable-librav1e --enable-librtmp --enable-librubberband --enable-libsmbclient --enable-version3 --enable-libsnappy --enable-libsoxr --enable-libspeex --enable-libsrt --enable-libssh --enable-libsvtav1 --enable-libtesseract --enable-libtheora --enable-libtwolame --enable-libvorbis --enable-libv4l2 --enable-libvidstab --enable-libvmaf --enable-version3 --enable-vapoursynth --enable-libvpx --enable-vulkan --enable-libglslang --enable-libwebp --enable-libx264 --enable-libx265 --enable-libxvid --enable-libxml2 --enable-libzimg --enable-libzmq --enable-libzvbi --enable-lv2 --enable-avfilter --enable-libmodplug --enable-postproc --enable-pthreads --disable-static --enable-shared --enable-gpl --disable-debug --disable-stripping --shlibdir=/usr/lib64 --enable-lto --enable-libmfx --enable-runtime-cpudetect
  libavutil      57. 17.100 / 57. 17.100
  libavcodec     59. 18.100 / 59. 18.100
  libavformat    59. 16.100 / 59. 16.100
  libavdevice    59.  4.100 / 59.  4.100
  libavfilter     8. 24.100 /  8. 24.100
  libswscale      6.  4.100 /  6.  4.100
  libswresample   4.  3.100 /  4.  3.100
  libpostproc    56.  3.100 / 56.  3.100
Input #0, matroska,webm, from '/home/kyjus25/big-buck-bunny_trailer.webm':
  Metadata:
    encoder         : http://sourceforge.net/projects/yamka
    creation_time   : 2010-05-20T08:21:12.000000Z
  Duration: 00:00:32.48, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 533 kb/s
  Stream #0:0(eng): Video: vp8, yuv420p(progressive), 640x360, SAR 1:1 DAR 16:9, 25 fps, 25 tbr, 1k tbn (default)
  Stream #0:1(eng): Audio: vorbis, 44100 Hz, mono, fltp (default)
HandShake: client signature does not match!
Stream mapping:
  Stream #0:0 -> #0:0 (vp8 (native) -> flv1 (flv))
  Stream #0:1 -> #0:1 (vorbis (native) -> mp3 (libmp3lame))
Press [q] to stop, [?] for help
Output #0, flv, to 'rtmp://example.com/live':
  Metadata:
    encoder         : Lavf59.16.100
  Stream #0:0(eng): Video: flv1 ([2][0][0][0] / 0x0002), yuv420p(tv, bt470bg/unknown/unknown, progressive), 640x360 [SAR 1:1 DAR 16:9], q=2-31, 200 kb/s, 25 fps, 1k tbn (default)
    Metadata:
      encoder         : Lavc59.18.100 flv
    Side data:
      cpb: bitrate max/min/avg: 0/0/200000 buffer size: 0 vbv_delay: N/A
  Stream #0:1(eng): Audio: mp3 ([2][0][0][0] / 0x0002), 44100 Hz, mono, fltp (default)
    Metadata:
      encoder         : Lavc59.18.100 libmp3lame
WriteN, RTMP send error 32 (136 bytes)7kB time=00:00:00.39 bitrate= 136.7kbits/s speed=71.2x    
WriteN, RTMP send error 32 (35 bytes)
WriteN, RTMP send error 9 (42 bytes)
av_interleaved_write_frame(): Operation not permitted
    Last message repeated 1 times
[flv @ 0x55d0dd0af700] Failed to update header with correct duration.
[flv @ 0x55d0dd0af700] Failed to update header with correct filesize.
Error writing trailer of rtmp://example.com/live: Operation not permitted
frame=   53 fps=0.0 q=4.3 Lsize=     146kB time=00:00:02.45 bitrate= 486.8kbits/s speed=42.8x    
video:128kB audio:19kB subtitle:0kB other streams:0kB global headers:0kB muxing overhead: unknown
Error closing file rtmp://example.com/live: Operation not permitted
Conversion failed!


  


  There are several interesting rabbit holes to follow here, but after following all of them I've come up with nothing.

  


  • HandShake: client signature does not match! :
  
More of a warning than an error, I assumed because I was going from "WEBM -> FLV" instead of the more traditional "MP4 -> FLV".

  


  • av_interleaved_write_frame(): Operation not permitted :
  
I found several issues on this. One of them calling it a storage issue, the other calling it a file permissions issue. I have plenty of disk space and have tried setting the input file to 777 permissions. However, the examples I've found on it being a file permissions issue all deal with outputting to a file rather than to an an RTMP IP.

  


  • Failed to update header with correct duration :
  
Advice I found was to add -flvflags no_duration_filesize to the command, which does suppress both "Failed to update..." errors, but does not fix the over-arching issue.

  


  What I've Tried

  


  • Multi-format transcoding

  


  MP4 to RTMP does work correctly :
  
ffmpeg -i ~/Downloads/big-buck-bunny_trailer.mp4 -f flv "rtmp://example.com/live"
  
Theoretically, I could stream the WEBM to a file, transcode that to an MP4 file, and then transcode that to FLV/RTMP. Sounds awful.

  


  • Pay for a service (Wowza, Flashphoner, api.video, etc)

  


  Unfortunately precisely what I am trying to avoid.

  


  • WebRTC to RTMP ?

  


  WebRTC seems to be a peer-to-peer connection and doesn't play nicely with a server/client scenario.

  


  • WebRTC to other ingest formats

  


  Restreamer also supports incoming streams of HLS, DASH, RTP, RTSP, RTMP, and SRT. However, these all seem to be examples of network sources that would be exposed via an IP URL. I am not sure that FFmpeg can do that.

  


  • Utilizing ffmpeg-wasm instead of CLI

  


  Available here, I thought that maybe by using a browser implementation I may get different results. But no. Not even an error to the console.

  


  • Streaming from OBS

  


  For the record, yes, I have tried streaming from OBS instead of going through FFmpeg and the Restreamer platform itself does work for normal use. I use it often.

  


  Post Script

  


  I've not been able to find any relevant solutions online. I am shocked that streaming from a browser webcam has not been solved 1000 times prior. This is related to a question made 7 years ago but it was not resolved and Flash is no longer an option.

  


  Recommendations

  


  • Adding -c:v libx264 -flags:v +global_header -c:a aac -ac 2 :
  

  


  ffmpeg version 5.0.1 Copyright (c) 2000-2022 the FFmpeg developers
  built with gcc 12 (GCC)
  configuration: --prefix=/usr --bindir=/usr/bin --datadir=/usr/share/ffmpeg --docdir=/usr/share/doc/ffmpeg --incdir=/usr/include/ffmpeg --libdir=/usr/lib64 --mandir=/usr/share/man --arch=x86_64 --optflags='-O2 -flto=auto -ffat-lto-objects -fexceptions -g -grecord-gcc-switches -pipe -Wall -Werror=format-security -Wp,-D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -Wp,-D_GLIBCXX_ASSERTIONS -specs=/usr/lib/rpm/redhat/redhat-hardened-cc1 -fstack-protector-strong -specs=/usr/lib/rpm/redhat/redhat-annobin-cc1 -m64 -mtune=generic -fasynchronous-unwind-tables -fstack-clash-protection -fcf-protection' --extra-ldflags='-Wl,-z,relro -Wl,--as-needed -Wl,-z,now -specs=/usr/lib/rpm/redhat/redhat-hardened-ld -specs=/usr/lib/rpm/redhat/redhat-annobin-cc1 -Wl,--build-id=sha1 ' --extra-cflags=' -I/usr/include/rav1e' --enable-libopencore-amrnb --enable-libopencore-amrwb --enable-libvo-amrwbenc --enable-version3 --enable-bzlib --enable-chromaprint --disable-crystalhd --enable-fontconfig --enable-frei0r --enable-gcrypt --enable-gnutls --enable-ladspa --enable-libaom --enable-libdav1d --enable-libass --enable-libbluray --enable-libbs2b --enable-libcdio --enable-libdrm --enable-libjack --enable-libfreetype --enable-libfribidi --enable-libgsm --enable-libilbc --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libmysofa --enable-nvenc --enable-openal --enable-opencl --enable-opengl --enable-libopenjpeg --enable-libopenmpt --enable-libopus --enable-libpulse --enable-librsvg --enable-librav1e --enable-librtmp --enable-librubberband --enable-libsmbclient --enable-version3 --enable-libsnappy --enable-libsoxr --enable-libspeex --enable-libsrt --enable-libssh --enable-libsvtav1 --enable-libtesseract --enable-libtheora --enable-libtwolame --enable-libvorbis --enable-libv4l2 --enable-libvidstab --enable-libvmaf --enable-version3 --enable-vapoursynth --enable-libvpx --enable-vulkan --enable-libglslang --enable-libwebp --enable-libx264 --enable-libx265 --enable-libxvid --enable-libxml2 --enable-libzimg --enable-libzmq --enable-libzvbi --enable-lv2 --enable-avfilter --enable-libmodplug --enable-postproc --enable-pthreads --disable-static --enable-shared --enable-gpl --disable-debug --disable-stripping --shlibdir=/usr/lib64 --enable-lto --enable-libmfx --enable-runtime-cpudetect
  libavutil      57. 17.100 / 57. 17.100
  libavcodec     59. 18.100 / 59. 18.100
  libavformat    59. 16.100 / 59. 16.100
  libavdevice    59.  4.100 / 59.  4.100
  libavfilter     8. 24.100 /  8. 24.100
  libswscale      6.  4.100 /  6.  4.100
  libswresample   4.  3.100 /  4.  3.100
  libpostproc    56.  3.100 / 56.  3.100
Input #0, matroska,webm, from '/home/kyjus25/big-buck-bunny_trailer.webm':
  Metadata:
    encoder         : http://sourceforge.net/projects/yamka
    creation_time   : 2010-05-20T08:21:12.000000Z
  Duration: 00:00:32.48, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 533 kb/s
  Stream #0:0(eng): Video: vp8, yuv420p(progressive), 640x360, SAR 1:1 DAR 16:9, 25 fps, 25 tbr, 1k tbn (default)
  Stream #0:1(eng): Audio: vorbis, 44100 Hz, mono, fltp (default)
HandShake: client signature does not match!
Stream mapping:
  Stream #0:0 -> #0:0 (vp8 (native) -> h264 (libx264))
  Stream #0:1 -> #0:1 (vorbis (native) -> aac (native))
Press [q] to stop, [?] for help
[libx264 @ 0x561564271fc0] using SAR=1/1
[libx264 @ 0x561564271fc0] using cpu capabilities: MMX2 SSE2Fast SSSE3 SSE4.2 AVX FMA3 BMI2 AVX2
[libx264 @ 0x561564271fc0] profile High, level 3.0, 4:2:0, 8-bit
[libx264 @ 0x561564271fc0] 264 - core 163 r3060 5db6aa6 - H.264/MPEG-4 AVC codec - Copyleft 2003-2021 - http://www.videolan.org/x264.html - options: cabac=1 ref=3 deblock=1:0:0 analyse=0x3:0x113 me=hex subme=7 psy=1 psy_rd=1.00:0.00 mixed_ref=1 me_range=16 chroma_me=1 trellis=1 8x8dct=1 cqm=0 deadzone=21,11 fast_pskip=1 chroma_qp_offset=-2 threads=11 lookahead_threads=1 sliced_threads=0 nr=0 decimate=1 interlaced=0 bluray_compat=0 constrained_intra=0 bframes=3 b_pyramid=2 b_adapt=1 b_bias=0 direct=1 weightb=1 open_gop=0 weightp=2 keyint=250 keyint_min=25 scenecut=40 intra_refresh=0 rc_lookahead=40 rc=crf mbtree=1 crf=23.0 qcomp=0.60 qpmin=0 qpmax=69 qpstep=4 ip_ratio=1.40 aq=1:1.00
Output #0, flv, to 'rtmp://example.com/live':
  Metadata:
    encoder         : Lavf59.16.100
  Stream #0:0(eng): Video: h264 ([7][0][0][0] / 0x0007), yuv420p(tv, bt470bg/unknown/unknown, progressive), 640x360 [SAR 1:1 DAR 16:9], q=2-31, 25 fps, 1k tbn (default)
    Metadata:
      encoder         : Lavc59.18.100 libx264
    Side data:
      cpb: bitrate max/min/avg: 0/0/0 buffer size: 0 vbv_delay: N/A
  Stream #0:1(eng): Audio: aac (LC) ([10][0][0][0] / 0x000A), 44100 Hz, stereo, fltp, 128 kb/s (default)
    Metadata:
      encoder         : Lavc59.18.100 aac
Larger timestamp than 24-bit: 0xffffff77kB time=00:00:30.18 bitrate= 460.0kbits/s speed=19.7x    
[flv @ 0x56156425e440] Failed to update header with correct duration.
[flv @ 0x56156425e440] Failed to update header with correct filesize.
frame=  812 fps=475 q=-1.0 Lsize=    1901kB time=00:00:32.52 bitrate= 479.0kbits/s speed=  19x    
video:1354kB audio:508kB subtitle:0kB other streams:0kB global headers:0kB muxing overhead: 2.123872%
[libx264 @ 0x561564271fc0] frame I:21    Avg QP:15.05  size:  8839
[libx264 @ 0x561564271fc0] frame P:293   Avg QP:20.78  size:  3087
[libx264 @ 0x561564271fc0] frame B:498   Avg QP:22.20  size:   593
[libx264 @ 0x561564271fc0] consecutive B-frames: 14.7%  7.6%  9.2% 68.5%
[libx264 @ 0x561564271fc0] mb I  I16..4: 42.6% 41.9% 15.5%
[libx264 @ 0x561564271fc0] mb P  I16..4:  4.0%  8.0%  0.9%  P16..4: 22.7%  8.0%  4.0%  0.0%  0.0%    skip:52.4%
[libx264 @ 0x561564271fc0] mb B  I16..4:  1.4%  1.5%  0.2%  B16..8: 12.0%  1.0%  0.2%  direct: 3.3%  skip:80.5%  L0:44.1% L1:47.1% BI: 8.8%
[libx264 @ 0x561564271fc0] 8x8 transform intra:53.6% inter:57.0%
[libx264 @ 0x561564271fc0] coded y,uvDC,uvAC intra: 35.1% 37.7% 11.2% inter: 7.8% 9.5% 2.4%
[libx264 @ 0x561564271fc0] i16 v,h,dc,p: 56% 21% 14%  9%
[libx264 @ 0x561564271fc0] i8 v,h,dc,ddl,ddr,vr,hd,vl,hu: 32% 26% 21%  3%  3%  4%  4%  3%  4%
[libx264 @ 0x561564271fc0] i4 v,h,dc,ddl,ddr,vr,hd,vl,hu: 27% 21% 18%  4%  7%  7%  6%  5%  4%
[libx264 @ 0x561564271fc0] i8c dc,h,v,p: 62% 21% 15%  2%
[libx264 @ 0x561564271fc0] Weighted P-Frames: Y:20.8% UV:19.5%
[libx264 @ 0x561564271fc0] ref P L0: 70.3% 17.7%  9.0%  2.9%  0.0%
[libx264 @ 0x561564271fc0] ref B L0: 89.3%  8.9%  1.9%
[libx264 @ 0x561564271fc0] ref B L1: 96.4%  3.6%
[libx264 @ 0x561564271fc0] kb/s:341.30
[aac @ 0x561564223140] Qavg: 952.636


  


  Seems to complete successfully, but does so rather quickly. Log outputs a new Larger timestamp than 24-bit: 0xffffff77kB

  


• Why Matomo is a serious alternative to Google Analytics 360

  12 décembre 2018, par Jake Thornton — Marketing
  There’s no doubt about it, the free version of Google Analytics offers great value when it comes to making data-driven decisions for your business. But as your business starts to grow, so does the need for a more powerful web analytics tool.

  Why would I need to use a different web analytics tool ? It’s because Google Analytics (free version) is very limited when it comes to meeting the needs of a fast growing business whose website plays a pivotal role in converting its customers.

  This is where the Google Analytics 360 suite comes in, which is designed to meet the needs of businesses looking to get more accurate and insightful metrics.

  So what’s holding a growing business back from using Google Analytics 360 ?

  While GA360 sounds like a great option when upgrading your web analytics platform, we have found there are three core reasons holding businesses back from taking the leap :

  • Businesses can’t bear to swallow the US$150,000+ price tag (per year !) that comes with upgrading
  • Businesses can’t rely on GA360 to give them all the insights they need
  • Businesses want more control and ownership of their data

  Thankfully there are (only a few) alternatives and as the leading open-source alternative to Google Analytics, we hope to share insights on why Matomo Analytics can be the perfect solution for anyone at this crossroads in their web analytics journey.

  First, what does Google Analytics 360 offer that Google Analytics (free) doesn’t ?

  There’s no doubt about it, the GA360 suite is designed for larger sized businesses with demanding data limits, big budgets to use across the Google Marketing Platform (Google Adwords, DoubleClick etc.) and to get more advanced reporting visualisations and options.
  

  Data Sampling

  Data sampling is the elephant in the room when it comes to comparing GA360 with the freemium version. This is an entire article in its own right but at a basic level, Google Analytics samples your data (makes assumptions based on patterns) once the number of traffic visiting your website reaches a certain limit.

  Google Analytics provides the following information :

  Ad-hoc queries of your data are subject to the following general thresholds for sampling :

  Analytics Standard : 500k sessions at the property level for the date range you are using

  Analytics 360 : 100M sessions at the view level for the date range you are using

  In short, sampled data means inaccurate data. This is why as businesses grow, GA360 becomes a more attractive prospect because there’s no point making data-driven business decisions based on inaccurate data. This is a key weapon Google uses when selling to large businesses, however, this may not seem as concerning if you’re a small business within the sampled data range. For small businesses though, make sure you know the full extent of how this can affect your metrics, for example, your ecommerce data could be sampled, hence your GA reporting not matching your CRM/Ecommerce store data.

  Benefit of using Matomo : There is no data sampling anywhere in Matomo Analytics, that’s why we say 100% Accurate Data reporting across all plans.

  

  Integration with the Google Marketing Platform

  Yes ok, we’ll admit it, GA does a great job at integrating seamlessly with its own products like Google Ads, Google Optimize etc. with a touch of Salesforce integration ; while GA360 takes this to another level compared to it’s freemium version (integration with Google Search 360, Google Display & Video 360 etc.)

  But… what about non-Google advertising platforms ? Well with Google being a dominant leader as a search engine, web browser, email provider, social media channel ; sometimes Google needs to keep its best interests at heart.

  Google is an online advertising giant and a bonus of Google Search 360 is that you can integrate your Bing Ads, Baidu and Yahoo Japan Search campaigns but that’s about it when it comes to integrations from its direct competitors. 

  Benefit of using Matomo : No biased treatment. You can integrate your Google, Yahoo and Bing search consoles for accurate search engine reporting, and in early 2019, Matomo will be releasing a Google Ads, Bing Ads and Facebook Ads Manager integration feature.

  Roll-Up Reporting
  

  Roll-up reporting lets you combine multiple accounts and properties into one view. This is a great benefit when upgrading from GA freemium to GA360. For example, if you’re a digital agency with multiple clients or you manage multiple websites under the one account, the roll-up reporting feature is wonderful when you need to combine data and reporting, instantly.

  Benefit of using Matomo : Matomo’s got this covered ! Roll-up reporting is available in the Matomo Business package (starting at $29 per month) for cloud hosting or you can purchase as a Premium Feature for On-Premise starting at $99 per year.

  Staying in full control of your data

  Who would have thought that one of biggest reasons people choose Matomo isn’t because of anything that leads to a higher ROI, but for the fact that users want more control of their data.
  

  Matomo’s philosophy around data ownership is simple, you own your data, no one else. If you choose to host Matomo Analytics On-Premise then you are in complete control because your data is stored on your own servers where no one can gain access to it in whichever country you choose.

  So what about when you cloud host Matomo ? For users who don’t have the technical knowledge to host Matomo On-Premise, you can still have 100% data ownership and fully respect your user’s privacy when choosing to host Matomo Analytics through our cloud service.

  The difference between cloud hosting Matomo Analytics vs Google Analytics is that when you choose Matomo, we acknowledge you own the data and we have no right to access it. This means we can’t on-sell it to third-parties, we can’t claim ownership of it, you can export your data at anytime (how awesome is that !) and you can migrate between cloud hosting and hosting on-premise for ultimate flexibility whenever you want.

  Matomo also prides itself in allowing its users to be GDPR compliant with ease with a powerful GDPR Manager.

  Businesses can’t rely on Google Analytics 360 to give them all the insights they need

  Unlike Google Analytics 360, Matomo blends its Premium Web Analytics platform with Conversion Optimization features to allow its users to fully evaluate the user-experience on your website.

  Matomo is designed to be a complete analytics platform, meaning you have everything you need all in the one place which gives you greater insights and better business outcomes.

  
  These features include :

  Premium Web Analytics – You can still (accurately) measure all the basic metrics you love and are familiar with in Google Analytics like Location, Referrer traffic, Multi Attribution, Campaign Tracking and Ecommerce etc.

  Conversion Optimization – Eliminate the need for multiple analytics tools to get what Google Analytics doesn’t offer. These features include Heatmaps, Session Recordings, Form Analytics and more – giving you the best chance possible to convert more traffic by evaluating the user-experience.

  By having one tool for all your features you can integrate metrics, have one single view for all your data and it’s easy to use.

  Enhanced SEO – Get more insights into the performance of your search campaigns with unbiased search engine reporting, keyword ranking positions, integration with multiple search consoles and crawling stats. Google Analytics offers limited features to help with your SEO campaigns and only integrates with Google products.

  Visitor Profiles – Get a detailed life-time evaluation of every user who visits your website.

  Tag Manager – A powerful open-source Tag Manager tool to embed your third-party marketing tags. By being open-source and with our commitment to giving you 100% data ownership, you can always ensure you are in full control.

  Full Matomo vs Google Analytics 360 Comparison Table

  Just putting it out there ...

  Google leads the market with its freemium tool which offers great insights for businesses (fyi – Matomo has a forever free analytics tool too !), but when it comes to upgrading to get accurate reporting (kind of a big deal), owning your own data (a huge deal !) and having a complete range of features to excel ROI for your business, Matomo Analytics is often a preferred option to the Google Analytics 360 suite.

  Matomo is designed to be easy to use, is fully flexible and gives users full peace of mind by respecting user privacy. Want to learn more about the benefits of Matomo ?

• Multi-Site Management (Quick-Start Guide)

  18 juillet 2024, par Erin

  Do you run multiple websites ?

  Or, you’re expanding from one to two sites ?

  Multi-site management isn’t an easy task.

  While there are dozens of reasons why you may need to operate several sites, like brick and mortar stores opening new locations in different regions, you need to ensure you’re following the right strategies so you remain successful.

  So, how do you actually manage multiple websites at the same time without spreading yourself thin ?

  Using a single dashboard.

  In this guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about managing multiple sites in a single location at once so you can lead a successful digital strategy.

  What is multi-site management ?

  Multi-site management is the process of organising and operating multiple websites from a single location. It helps with congruent branding and improved productivity.

  Enterprise businesses that use multiple, language-specific versions of their site to target their audience in specific countries or regions can also benefit from managing their multiple sites from a single location. 

  

  By analysing a few websites at once, marketers and analysts can oversee a few different business websites without having to switch between multiple platforms and technologies.

  Whatever the reason is for managing multiple sites, multi-site management helps marketers and analysts establish a consistent brand presence, improve workflow efficiencies and scale operations.

  7 Benefits of multi-site management

  Multi-site management allows you to navigate and control a few websites all in one centralised location.

  

  Here are a few of the main benefits of multi-site management :

  1. Save time by reusing code between websites

  Saving time is the main benefit of multi-site management. Rather than managing websites from multiple platforms, logins and infrastructures, you can manage everything from one place.

  Multi-site management allows you to easily reuse core code, infrastructure and other digital assets from other sites all within one dashboard.

  So, when you need to update all of your websites, you can do it all at once in a fraction of the time.

  2. Improve productivity by having everything in one place

  How many tools do you currently use for your job on a daily basis ?

  Five ? Ten ?

  Now, imagine adding on another handful of tools, logins and technology for every site you manage.

  It’s a lot, especially if you’re managing dozens of logins, usernames and passwords.

  With multi-site management, you don’t need to have multiple login credentials. Everything’s all in one place and within one system.

  You don’t need to switch between multiple tools and platforms to get things done.

  The same strategy applies to your web analytics. If you want to streamline your productivity, make sure you’re tracking all of the data from your different websites in one place. Matomo lets you track multiple sites, domains and subdomains in one centralised location with the ‘All Websites’ dashboard which is a roll-up report. This is ideal for enterprises managing and analysing numerous sites.

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  3. Maintain brand image with consistent design across sites

  If you have multiple websites, subsidiaries or sister companies, it can take a great deal of effort to maintain branding consistency.

  But, if you’re leveraging a multi-site content management system, you can update your branding and design between all sites at the same time.

  If you need to make a change with your design, you don’t need to update each individual site with your new initiative. Instead, you can update multiple sites at once, allowing your visual branding to stay congruent, giving you uniformity in messaging.

  The result is an optimised user experience, which helps you increase trust with your audience, improve engagement and keep them coming back for years to come.

  4. Increase security through centralised management

  The greater your digital presence is, the more you can reach a wider range of people.

  But, there’s one downside : you expose yourself to more risk.

  Keeping multiple websites secure isn’t as easy to do if you’re leveraging dozens of different platforms and logins. 

  Instead, when you have all of your websites in one location, it can help you easily track every document. You can also control site versions for easy updates to prevent malicious attacks.

  5. Optimise scalability and flexibility

  If you plan on scaling your companies and digital presence, you need to ensure you’re able to do so without having to tear down your entire infrastructure or spend a ton of money upfront.

  For enterprise companies, multi-site management allows you to easily launch new regional sites as your company expands.

  Plus, if you have new product or marketing campaigns, you can simply add on microsites as needed by simply adding it to your current website lineup.

  This allows you to stay flexible in your marketing and growth strategies without adding extra risk or financial burden.

  6. Improve targeting and personalisation in marketing

  If you want to reach your audience better, but you’re managing multiple websites, it can be hard to not spread yourself too thin.

  But, if you’re managing a few websites in one place, it’s easier to track your audience’s interests, behaviour, wants and needs.

  By using a web analytics tool like Matomo to track the performance of multiple websites, you can see what’s resonating with your audience so you’re able to improve your targeting and offer personalised campaigns.

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  7. Streamline collaboration between team members

  Making your team juggle multiple platforms, websites and tools is a surefire way to give them a headache.

  Multi-site management is one of the best ways to bring your entire team into one centralised location so you can foster seamless collaboration without leaving your team confused or frustrated.

  By placing your entire website management in one place, markters, designers, developers, writers and other team members can collaborate effectively so you can get more done in less time.

  With multi-site management, you bring your entire team into a single location to work on your websites so you can speed up your content creation process, speed up problem solving and streamline communication.

  6 Best practices of multi-site management

  When you have multiple websites, you can expand your brand presence. But, one main problem arises : it becomes overwhelming for anyone managing them.

  Since each website comes with its own platform, login credentials and assets, it becomes incredibly difficult for developers, marketers and others to maintain the sites. And, if your sites aren’t looked after properly, you could end up with technical issues and branding inconsistencies, causing you to lose conversions and negatively impact the user experience.

  Thankfully, multi-site management can help you streamline your efforts, improve productivity and scale your business.

  But, before you dive into your multi-site management process, you need to ensure you implement the right strategy.

  

  Here are a few best practices to follow to succeed with multi-site management :

  1. Use a multi-site CMS

  If you want to manage multiple websites, you need to make sure you’re leveraging a CMS that offers multi-site management capabilities.

  A multi-site CMS allows you to make simple content, design or management changes simultaneously without having to switch between different systems.

  Here are a few examples of CMS’ that offer multi-site management :

  • WordPress
  • Sanity
  • Drupal

  2. Integrate a headless CMS

  One of the most versatile types of content management systems is what’s known as a “headless CMS.”

  This is a CMS that lets you disconnect the front end from the back end of your website management.

  Here are a few examples of headless (and open source) CMS’ :

  • Strapi
  • Directus
  • Ghost

  A headless CMS can help you add versatility in the way you present content across multiple sites. It uses an API to give you more flexibility so you can push content to websites as well as apps, etc.

  Using a headless CMS can help you improve page load times, website performance and user experience by simplifying your tech stack.

  3. Implement cross-domain and mult-isite Matomo analytics tracking

  If you want to track the website analytics data of multiple sites, you need to implement cross-domain tracking.

  The best way to do this is by leveraging a web analytics solution like Matomo. It lets you track the performance of multiple subdomains or websites.

  With Matomo, you get easy data grouping and data roll-up reporting for streamlined tracking.

  

  This means you can track the individual performance of each site or group them together to see the shared performance.

  4. Enable multiuser management

  If you’re working with different team members who need access to your CMS, then you should consider enabling multiuser management.

  This allows several people to work within your multi-site CMS and also gives you the ability to grant or restrict access to certain abilities within the platform.

  This is handy if you have a few different stakeholders working in your CMS.

  By enabling different user permissions and access, you can improve the security of your website and protect sensitive company information.

  5. Leverage composable content

  Creating a few different websites is a great way to increase your brand reach. But, it can be time-consuming having to continuously create and update content within multiple sites.

  That’s where composable content comes in.

  It allows you to create similar content between sites using pre-made “blocks.” Content blocks act as templates so you can quickly add similar content pieces to each site without having to start over from scratch each time.

  This speeds up productivity for your designers, writers and editors and keeps brand image consistent across different sites.

  6. Use version control

  What happens if you update all of your websites with a redesign, but it flops ?

  Well, rather than having to tear it all down and redesign your site infrastructure, you can leverage version control to restore your website to a previous version.

  Version control is especially handy when you’re managing multiple sites at once and you have multiple team members working in your CMS.

  Version control is also helpful if you’re A/B testing different content. By saving previous versions of your websites, you can run tests to help you optimise your web performance. 

  For example, if you use Matomo’s A/B testing feature to experiment with different landing page designs for a lead magnet, but find that your previous version performed better, you can simply restore your websites to a previous version in seconds.

  Track web analytics for multiple websites with Matomo

  If you’re looking to expand your digital presence, then creating new websites is one of the best ways to grow your brand.

  Multi-site management can help you save time, improve productivity and maintain a consistent brand image across your empire.

  One challenge of multi-site management is tracking the performance of your websites.

  That’s where Matomo has you covered.

  Matomo is a privacy-friendly web analytics tool that collects, stores, and tracks data across multiple websites and subdomains, allowing you to improve your performance. 

  With over 1 million websites using Matomo, you can rely on it for accurate data without sampling, ensuring compliance with privacy regulations like GDPR and CCPA. 

  Matomo is especially beneficial for enterprises. It offers advanced roll-up reporting, enabling you to see the performance of multiple websites in one centralised dashboard. This feature, along with heatmaps, session recordings, and A/B testing, provides deeper insights into your website performance.

  Discover how Matomo can transform your web analytics with a demo. Request your demo now.

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