Recherche avancée

Sur d’autres sites (5845)

• RTMP server with OpenCV (python)

  12 février 2024, par Overnout

  I'm trying to process an RTMP stream in Python, using OpenCV2 but I'm not able to get OpenCV to capture it (i.e. act as RTMP server).

  


  I can run FFmpeg/FFplay from the command line and receive the stream successfully.
What could cause OpenCV to fail opening the stream in listening mode ?

  


  Here is my code :

  


  import cv2

cap = cv2.VideoCapture("rtmp://0.0.0.0:8000/live", cv2.CAP_FFMPEG)

if not cap.isOpened():
    print("Cannot open video source")
    exit()


  


  And the output :

  


  [tcp @ 00000192c490d640] Connection to tcp://0.0.0.0:8000 failed: Error number -138 occurred
[rtmp @ 00000192c490d580] Cannot open connection tcp://0.0.0.0:8000 
Cannot open video source


  


  edit2 : Output with debug logging turned on :

  


  output of the python script with debug logging on:
[DEBUG:0@0.017] global videoio_registry.cpp:218 cv::`anonymous-namespace'::VideoBackendRegistry::VideoBackendRegistry VIDEOIO: Builtin backends(9): FFMPEG(1000); GSTREAMER(990); INTEL_MFX(980); MSMF(970); DSHOW(960); CV_IMAGES(950); CV_MJPEG(940); UEYE(930); OBSENSOR(920)
[DEBUG:0@0.026] global videoio_registry.cpp:242 cv::`anonymous-namespace'::VideoBackendRegistry::VideoBackendRegistry VIDEOIO: Available backends(9): FFMPEG(1000); GSTREAMER(990); INTEL_MFX(980); MSMF(970); DSHOW(960); CV_IMAGES(950); CV_MJPEG(940); UEYE(930); OBSENSOR(920)
[ INFO:0@0.031] global videoio_registry.cpp:244 cv::`anonymous-namespace'::VideoBackendRegistry::VideoBackendRegistry VIDEOIO: Enabled backends(9, sorted by priority): FFMPEG(1000); GSTREAMER(990); INTEL_MFX(980); MSMF(970); DSHOW(960); CV_IMAGES(950); CV_MJPEG(940); UEYE(930); OBSENSOR(920)
[ WARN:0@0.037] global cap.cpp:132 cv::VideoCapture::open VIDEOIO(FFMPEG): trying capture filename='rtmp://192.168.254.101:8000/live' ...
[ INFO:0@0.040] global backend_plugin.cpp:383 cv::impl::getPluginCandidates Found 2 plugin(s) for FFMPEG
[ INFO:0@0.043] global plugin_loader.impl.hpp:67 cv::plugin::impl::DynamicLib::libraryLoad load C:\Users\me\src\opencv\.venv\Lib\site-packages\cv2\opencv_videoio_ffmpeg490_64.dll => OK
[ INFO:0@0.047] global backend_plugin.cpp:50 cv::impl::PluginBackend::initCaptureAPI Found entry: 'opencv_videoio_capture_plugin_init_v1'
[ INFO:0@0.049] global backend_plugin.cpp:169 cv::impl::PluginBackend::checkCompatibility Video I/O: initialized 'FFmpeg OpenCV Video I/O Capture plugin': built with OpenCV 4.9 (ABI/API = 1/1), current OpenCV version is '4.9.0' (ABI/API = 1/1)
[ INFO:0@0.055] global backend_plugin.cpp:69 cv::impl::PluginBackend::initCaptureAPI Video I/O: plugin is ready to use 'FFmpeg OpenCV Video I/O Capture plugin'
[ INFO:0@0.058] global backend_plugin.cpp:84 cv::impl::PluginBackend::initWriterAPI Found entry: 'opencv_videoio_writer_plugin_init_v1'
[ INFO:0@0.061] global backend_plugin.cpp:169 cv::impl::PluginBackend::checkCompatibility Video I/O: initialized 'FFmpeg OpenCV Video I/O Writer plugin': built with OpenCV 4.9 (ABI/API = 1/1), current OpenCV version is '4.9.0' (ABI/API = 1/1)
[ INFO:0@0.065] global backend_plugin.cpp:103 cv::impl::PluginBackend::initWriterAPI Video I/O: plugin is ready to use 'FFmpeg OpenCV Video I/O Writer plugin'
[tcp @ 00000266b2f0d0c0] Connection to tcp://192.168.254.101:8000 failed: Error number -138 occurred
[rtmp @ 00000266b2f0cfc0] Cannot open connection tcp://192.168.254.101:8000
[ WARN:0@5.630] global cap.cpp:155 cv::VideoCapture::open VIDEOIO(FFMPEG): can't create capture
[DEBUG:0@5.632] global cap.cpp:225 cv::VideoCapture::open VIDEOIO: choosen backend does not work or wrong. Please make sure that your computer support chosen backend and OpenCV built with right flags.
Cannot open video source
[ INFO:1@5.661] global plugin_loader.impl.hpp:74 cv::plugin::impl::DynamicLib::libraryRelease unload C:\Users\me\src\opencv\.venv\Lib\site-packages\cv2\opencv_videoio_ffmpeg490_64.dll


  


  Here is the output of cv2.getBuildInformation()

  


  General configuration for OpenCV 4.9.0 =====================================
  Version control:               4.9.0

  Platform:
    Timestamp:                   2023-12-31T11:21:12Z
    Host:                        Windows 10.0.17763 AMD64
    CMake:                       3.24.2
    CMake generator:             Visual Studio 14 2015
    CMake build tool:            MSBuild.exe
    MSVC:                        1900
    Configuration:               Debug Release

  CPU/HW features:
    Baseline:                    SSE SSE2 SSE3
      requested:                 SSE3
    Dispatched code generation:  SSE4_1 SSE4_2 FP16 AVX AVX2
      requested:                 SSE4_1 SSE4_2 AVX FP16 AVX2 AVX512_SKX
      SSE4_1 (16 files):         + SSSE3 SSE4_1
      SSE4_2 (1 files):          + SSSE3 SSE4_1 POPCNT SSE4_2
      FP16 (0 files):            + SSSE3 SSE4_1 POPCNT SSE4_2 FP16 AVX
      AVX (8 files):             + SSSE3 SSE4_1 POPCNT SSE4_2 AVX
      AVX2 (36 files):           + SSSE3 SSE4_1 POPCNT SSE4_2 FP16 FMA3 AVX AVX2

  C/C++:
    Built as dynamic libs?:      NO
    C++ standard:                11
    C++ Compiler:                C:/Program Files (x86)/Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0/VC/bin/x86_amd64/cl.exe  (ver 19.0.24247.2)
    C++ flags (Release):         /DWIN32 /D_WINDOWS /W4 /GR  /D _CRT_SECURE_NO_DEPRECATE /D _CRT_NONSTDC_NO_DEPRECATE /D _SCL_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS /Gy /bigobj /Oi  /fp:precise     /EHa /wd4127 /wd4251 /wd4324 /wd4275 /wd4512 /wd4589 /wd4819 /MP  /O2 /Ob2 /DNDEBUG 
    C++ flags (Debug):           /DWIN32 /D_WINDOWS /W4 /GR  /D _CRT_SECURE_NO_DEPRECATE /D _CRT_NONSTDC_NO_DEPRECATE /D _SCL_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS /Gy /bigobj /Oi  /fp:precise     /EHa /wd4127 /wd4251 /wd4324 /wd4275 /wd4512 /wd4589 /wd4819 /MP  /Zi /Ob0 /Od /RTC1 
    C Compiler:                  C:/Program Files (x86)/Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0/VC/bin/x86_amd64/cl.exe
    C flags (Release):           /DWIN32 /D_WINDOWS /W3  /D _CRT_SECURE_NO_DEPRECATE /D _CRT_NONSTDC_NO_DEPRECATE /D _SCL_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS /Gy /bigobj /Oi  /fp:precise     /MP   /O2 /Ob2 /DNDEBUG 
    C flags (Debug):             /DWIN32 /D_WINDOWS /W3  /D _CRT_SECURE_NO_DEPRECATE /D _CRT_NONSTDC_NO_DEPRECATE /D _SCL_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS /Gy /bigobj /Oi  /fp:precise     /MP /Zi /Ob0 /Od /RTC1 
    Linker flags (Release):      /machine:x64  /NODEFAULTLIB:atlthunk.lib /INCREMENTAL:NO  /NODEFAULTLIB:libcmtd.lib /NODEFAULTLIB:libcpmtd.lib /NODEFAULTLIB:msvcrtd.lib
    Linker flags (Debug):        /machine:x64  /NODEFAULTLIB:atlthunk.lib /debug /INCREMENTAL  /NODEFAULTLIB:libcmt.lib /NODEFAULTLIB:libcpmt.lib /NODEFAULTLIB:msvcrt.lib
    ccache:                      NO
    Precompiled headers:         YES
    Extra dependencies:          wsock32 comctl32 gdi32 ole32 setupapi ws2_32
    3rdparty dependencies:       libprotobuf ade ittnotify libjpeg-turbo libwebp libpng libtiff libopenjp2 IlmImf zlib ippiw ippicv

  OpenCV modules:
    To be built:                 calib3d core dnn features2d flann gapi highgui imgcodecs imgproc ml objdetect photo python3 stitching video videoio
    Disabled:                    java world
    Disabled by dependency:      -
    Unavailable:                 python2 ts
    Applications:                -
    Documentation:               NO
    Non-free algorithms:         NO

  Windows RT support:            NO

  GUI:                           WIN32UI
    Win32 UI:                    YES
    VTK support:                 NO

  Media I/O: 
    ZLib:                        build (ver 1.3)
    JPEG:                        build-libjpeg-turbo (ver 2.1.3-62)
      SIMD Support Request:      YES
      SIMD Support:              NO
    WEBP:                        build (ver encoder: 0x020f)
    PNG:                         build (ver 1.6.37)
    TIFF:                        build (ver 42 - 4.2.0)
    JPEG 2000:                   build (ver 2.5.0)
    OpenEXR:                     build (ver 2.3.0)
    HDR:                         YES
    SUNRASTER:                   YES
    PXM:                         YES
    PFM:                         YES

  Video I/O:
    DC1394:                      NO
    FFMPEG:                      YES (prebuilt binaries)
      avcodec:                   YES (58.134.100)
      avformat:                  YES (58.76.100)
      avutil:                    YES (56.70.100)
      swscale:                   YES (5.9.100)
      avresample:                YES (4.0.0)
    GStreamer:                   NO
    DirectShow:                  YES
    Media Foundation:            YES
      DXVA:                      YES

  Parallel framework:            Concurrency

  Trace:                         YES (with Intel ITT)

  Other third-party libraries:
    Intel IPP:                   2021.11.0 [2021.11.0]
           at:                   D:/a/opencv-python/opencv-python/_skbuild/win-amd64-3.7/cmake-build/3rdparty/ippicv/ippicv_win/icv
    Intel IPP IW:                sources (2021.11.0)
              at:                D:/a/opencv-python/opencv-python/_skbuild/win-amd64-3.7/cmake-build/3rdparty/ippicv/ippicv_win/iw
    Lapack:                      NO
    Eigen:                       NO
    Custom HAL:                  NO
    Protobuf:                    build (3.19.1)
    Flatbuffers:                 builtin/3rdparty (23.5.9)

  OpenCL:                        YES (NVD3D11)
    Include path:                D:/a/opencv-python/opencv-python/opencv/3rdparty/include/opencl/1.2
    Link libraries:              Dynamic load

  Python 3:
    Interpreter:                 C:/hostedtoolcache/windows/Python/3.7.9/x64/python.exe (ver 3.7.9)
    Libraries:                   C:/hostedtoolcache/windows/Python/3.7.9/x64/libs/python37.lib (ver 3.7.9)
    numpy:                       C:/hostedtoolcache/windows/Python/3.7.9/x64/lib/site-packages/numpy/core/include (ver 1.17.0)
    install path:                python/cv2/python-3

  Python (for build):            C:\hostedtoolcache\windows\Python\3.7.9\x64\python.exe

  Java:                          
    ant:                         NO
    Java:                        YES (ver 1.8.0.392)
    JNI:                         C:/hostedtoolcache/windows/Java_Temurin-Hotspot_jdk/8.0.392-8/x64/include C:/hostedtoolcache/windows/Java_Temurin-Hotspot_jdk/8.0.392-8/x64/include/win32 C:/hostedtoolcache/windows/Java_Temurin-Hotspot_jdk/8.0.392-8/x64/include
    Java wrappers:               NO
    Java tests:                  NO

  Install to:                    D:/a/opencv-python/opencv-python/_skbuild/win-amd64-3.7/cmake-install
-----------------------------------------------------------------


  


  edit : Receiving the stream with ffplay from command line :

  


  >ffplay.exe -i "rtmp://0.0.0.0:8000/live"  -listen 1 -f flv
ffplay version 2024-02-04-git-7375a6ca7b-full_build-www.gyan.dev Copyright (c) 2003-2024 the FFmpeg developers
  built with gcc 12.2.0 (Rev10, Built by MSYS2 project)
  configuration: --enable-gpl --enable-version3 --enable-static --pkg-config=pkgconf --disable-w32threads --disable-autodetect --enable-fontconfig --enable-iconv --enable-gnutls --enable-libxml2 --enable-gmp --enable-bzlib --enable-lzma --enable-libsnappy --enable-zlib --enable-librist --enable-libsrt --enable-libssh --enable-libzmq --enable-avisynth --enable-libbluray --enable-libcaca --enable-sdl2 --enable-libaribb24 --enable-libaribcaption --enable-libdav1d --enable-libdavs2 --enable-libuavs3d --enable-libzvbi --enable-librav1e --enable-libsvtav1 --enable-libwebp --enable-libx264 --enable-libx265 --enable-libxavs2 --enable-libxvid --enable-libaom --enable-libjxl --enable-libopenjpeg --enable-libvpx --enable-mediafoundation --enable-libass --enable-frei0r --enable-libfreetype --enable-libfribidi --enable-libharfbuzz --enable-liblensfun --enable-libvidstab --enable-libvmaf --enable-libzimg --enable-amf --enable-cuda-llvm --enable-cuvid --enable-ffnvcodec --enable-nvdec --enable-nvenc --enable-dxva2 --enable-d3d11va --enable-libvpl --enable-libshaderc --enable-vulkan --enable-libplacebo --enable-opencl --enable-libcdio --enable-libgme --enable-libmodplug --enable-libopenmpt --enable-libopencore-amrwb --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libshine --enable-libtheora --enable-libtwolame --enable-libvo-amrwbenc --enable-libcodec2 --enable-libilbc --enable-libgsm --enable-libopencore-amrnb --enable-libopus --enable-libspeex --enable-libvorbis --enable-ladspa --enable-libbs2b --enable-libflite --enable-libmysofa --enable-librubberband --enable-libsoxr --enable-chromaprint
  libavutil      58. 36.101 / 58. 36.101
  libavcodec     60. 38.100 / 60. 38.100
  libavformat    60. 20.100 / 60. 20.100
  libavdevice    60.  4.100 / 60.  4.100
  libavfilter     9. 17.100 /  9. 17.100
  libswscale      7.  6.100 /  7.  6.100
  libswresample   4. 13.100 /  4. 13.100
  libpostproc    57.  4.100 / 57.  4.100
[rtmp @ 0000018a564ed340] Unexpected stream , expecting livef=0/0
    Last message repeated 1 times
Input #0, flv, from 'rtmp://0.0.0.0:8000/live':KB sq=    0B f=0/0
  Metadata:
    fileSize        : 0
    audiochannels   : 2
    2.1             : false
    3.1             : false
    4.0             : false
    4.1             : false
    5.1             : false
    7.1             : false
    encoder         : obs-output module (libobs version 30.0.2)
  Duration: 00:00:00.00, start: 0.000000, bitrate: N/A
  Stream #0:0: Audio: aac (LC), 48000 Hz, stereo, fltp, 163 kb/s
  Stream #0:1: Video: h264 (Constrained Baseline), yuv420p(tv, bt709, progressive), 1280x720 [SAR 1:1 DAR 16:9], 2560 kb/s, 30 fps, 30 tbr, 1k tbn
   7.54 A-V: -0.024 fd=  18 aq=   24KB vq=  498KB sq=    0B f=0/0


  


• What is White Label Analytics ? Everything You Need to Know

  6 février 2024, par Erin

  Reports are a core part of a marketing agency’s offering. It’s how you build trust with clients by highlighting your efforts and demonstrating your results. 

  But all too often, those reports deliver a jarring and incohesive experience. The culprit ? The logos, colours and names of third-party brands your agency uses to deliver work and create the reports. 

  Luckily, there’s a way to make sure your reports elevate your agency’s stature ; not undermine it. 

  By white labelling your tools, you can deliver a clear and cohesive brand experience — one that strengthens the client relationship rather than diminishing it. 

  In this article, we explain what white label analytics tools are, why it’s important to white label your analytics solution and how you can do it using Matomo. 

  What is white label analytics ?

  White labelling is the process of redesigning a product or service using your company’s brand. The term comes from the act of putting a white label on a product that covers the original branding and allows the reseller to personalise the product.

  White label analytics, then, is a way to customise your analytics software with your agency’s logo and colours. When you white label your analytics, you ensure your reports, dashboards and interface provide a consistent and familiar user experience.

  

  The alternative is to provide your clients with an analytics report containing the logo and branding of your analytics software provider — whether that’s Google Analytics, Matomo, or another tool. 

  For some clients, it can create a confusing experience that takes attention away from your agency’s results.

  Why white label analytics is important

  There are plenty of reasons to white label your analytics tool, from improving your client’s experience to generating additional revenue. Here are four of the most important benefits to know :

  

  Improve the client experience

  You want your clients to have a seamless user experience with your agency’s brand, whether they visit your website, log into their client portal, or read one of your reports. 

  By white labelling your analytics platform, you can give your clients a visually appealing experience that stays in line with the rest of your branding and doesn’t leave them confused about who they are interacting with or which company is providing the service they pay for. 

  This is especially important if your agency uses other third-party tools like a client portal or productivity platform that also allows for custom branding. 

  Strengthen client relationships

  When you use white labelling to remove solution providers’ logos, you ensure your brand gets all of the credit for the hard work you’ve been doing. This can strengthen the agency-client relationship and reaffirm the importance of your agency. 

  But, white labelling allows you to tell a better story through your reports and increases the perceived value you offer. There are no other brands, logos, or names to confuse the narrative or detract from your key points — or to stop the client from understanding just how much value you provide. 

  Save time and increase productivity 

  White labelling your analytics platform can save your team a significant amount of time when creating client reports. 

  There’s no need to carefully screenshot graphs to add them to your own branded report. You can simply email clients a report using your white labelled analytics platform, assuring them of a seamlessly branded experience.

  The upshot is that your team can spend more time on billable work, improving the value they deliver to existing clients or opening up capacity to take on even more work. 

  Increase monetisation opportunities

  Whether you are an agency or consultant, white labelling an analytics solution gives you the opportunity to package and sell analytics as part of your own services. This can open up new revenue streams, help you to diversify your income, and reach a wider audience.

  The beauty of a white label offering is that there is no allusion to the company providing the underlying service.

  The most important elements of an analytics platform to white label 

  A white label analytics solution should offer a broad range of customisation options that range from surface-level branding to functional elements like tracking codes. 

  Below we take a look at the top components you should be able to customise with your chosen platform. 

  Logo and Favicon

  The logo is the first thing clients will see when they open up their analytics platform or look at your reports. It should make your services instantly recognisable, which is why it’s so jarring when clients read a report with another company’s brand slapped on every chart. 

  This should be the very first thing you change since it will be on almost every page and report your client views. Don’t stop there, however. If you send clients web-based reports, you’ll also want to change the platform’s favicon — the small logo you see next to your website in a browser. 

  Customising both your logo and favicon is easy with Matomo. 

  Just head to Administration, then General Settings and click Use a custom Logo under Brand settings.

  

  Upload your brand, click Save, and it will automatically populate your brand in place of the Matomo logo across the platform, just like in the image above.

  Brand name

  Most analytics platforms will mention their brand names repeatedly across the site, so it’s important to change these, too.

  Otherwise, you risk clients reading your analytics reports in detail or playing around with your platform’s settings and getting confused when another seemingly unrelated name keeps popping up. 

  Again, this is easily done with Matomo’s White Label plugin. 

  Head to Administration, then General Settings. Scroll to the bottom of the page to find WhiteLabel settings.

  Enter your brand or product name in the first box and click Save. 

  

  Just like your logo, this will replace every instance of Matomo’s brand name with your own.

  Brand colours

  Changing your analytics platform’s colours to match your own is almost as important as swapping out the logo. 

  Failure to do so could mean the charts and graphs you add to your client reports could cause confusion. 

  You can also use Matomo’s WhiteLabel settings to change the platform’s background and font colours. 

  Just enter a new header background and font colour using hexadecimal values.

  

  This change will also apply to automated email reports. 

  Custom tracking

  Tracking requests and links are an overlooked element of analytics when it comes to white labelling. Most people wouldn’t think twice about them, but they are an easy way for someone in the know to identify which platform you are using. 

  With Matomo’s White Label plugin, it’s possible to customise every request Matomo makes to your clients’ websites. 

  If left unbranded, tracking requests contain the following references : matomo.js and matomo.php. 

  By clicking the Whitelabel tracking endpoint box on the WhiteLabel settings page, those references will be replaced with js/tracker.js and js/tracker.php

  You’ll need to update your tracking code to reflect these changes, otherwise, requests will still contain Matomo branding. 

  Try Matomo for Free

  Get the web insights you need, without compromising data accuracy.

  Start for free

  No credit card required

  Links

  Finally, you’ll want to remove any links to any additional content offered by the analytics company. These are usually included to improve the user experience, but they are best removed if you are letting clients access your platform. 

  With Matomo, you can remove all links by clicking the relevant box in WhiteLabel settings. 

  You can also use the Show Marketplace only to Super Users checkbox to limit the visibility of Matomo’s Marketplace to everyone bar Super Users.

  Can you white label Google Analytics ?

  In a word : no. 

  Google Analytics might be the most popular analytics platform, but it comes up short if you want to customise its appearance. 

  This can be a particular problem for agencies that need to stand out from competitors offering the same generic reports. You can add more context, detail and graphs to your analytics reports, of course. But you’ll never be able to create completely custom, brand-cohesive reports using Google Analytics. 

  3 analytics platforms you can white label

  While you can’t white label Google Analytics, there are several web analytics providers that do offer a white labelling service. Here are three of the best :

  Matomo

  As you’ve already seen, Matomo is the ideal web analytics platform if you want to let your own brand shine through. Matomo lets you personalise the entire dashboard and all of your reports. That includes :

  • Adding your brand logo and favicon
  • Changing the font and background colours 
  • Removing third-party links
  • Tracking using custom URLs 
  • Develop your own custom theme

  Matomo offers a 21-day free trial (no credit card required). If you want to get remove the Matomo branding, you need the White Label plugin, which starts at just $179 per year after a free trial.

  Try Matomo for Free

  Get the web insights you need, without compromising data accuracy.

  Start for free

  No credit card required

  Clicky

  Clicky is a simple, privacy-focused web analytics platform with a white label offering. Like Matomo, you can add your logo and change the platform’s colours. 

  Clicky offers a seven-day free trial and charges a $99 setup fee, with prices starting from $49 and rising to $399. 

  Plausible 

  Plausible is another privacy-focused Google Analytics alternative that offers white labelling. The difference here is that it’s pretty complex to set up. 

  Rather than customising Plausible’s platform, for instance, you need to embed its dashboard into your own user interface. If you want to create your own custom dashboard, you’ll need to use an API. 

  Plausible offers a 30-day free trial.

  Leverage white label analytics today with Matomo

  Don’t put up with confusing unbranded clients a moment longer. White label your analytics platform so the next time you sit down to share insights with your clients, they’ll only see one brand : yours.

  Matomo makes it quick and easy to customise the look of your analytics platform and all of the reports you generate. If you already use Matomo, try the White Label plugin free for 30 days.

  If not, try Matomo with a free 21-day trial. No credit card required. 

  Try Matomo for Free

  21 day free trial. No credit card required.

  
  

  Your email address
  

  Your website address
  

  Your Analytics subdomain will be .matomo.cloud (change)

  Choose your analytics subdomain
  

  .matomo.cloud

  I accept the terms and conditions and data processing agreement (DPA)

  
  Your information will be used to create an account on our cloud service. For more information please consult our privacy policy.
  
  
  

  Start improving your websites now

  

• How to Increase Conversions With Form Analysis

  30 janvier 2024, par Erin

  Forms are one of the most important elements of your website. They are also one of the most difficult elements to analyse and improve. 

  Unlike a webpage, forms aren’t all that easy to analyse with standard web analytics tools. You need to learn how to conduct form analysis if you want to improve your forms’ conversion rates and increase revenue. 

  In this article, we’ll explain what form analysis is and why conducting a thorough form analysis is so important. 

  What is form analysis ?

  Form analysis is a process that measures the effectiveness of your forms. Form analysis uses several tools and techniques like a form analytics platform, heatmaps, and session recordings to collect user data and understand how visitors behave when filling in forms. 

  The goal is to improve the design and effectiveness of your forms, reducing abandonment rate and encouraging more users to submit them. 

  There are plenty of reasons visitors could be having trouble with your forms, from confusing form fields to poor design and lengthy verification processes. Form analytics can help you pinpoint why your form’s conversion rate is so low or why so many users abandon your form halfway through filling it in. 

  Why is form analysis important ?

  Website forms have some of the highest bounce rates and abandonments of any website element. By analysing your forms, you can achieve the following outcomes :

  

  Reduce form abandonment

  When it’s tough enough to get users to start filling in your form, the last thing you want them to do is abandon it halfway through. But that’s probably what your users are doing more than you’d like to think. 

  Why are they abandoning it ? Even if you’re humble enough to admit you didn’t create the greatest form the world’s ever seen, it can still be incredibly difficult to pin down why users give up on your form.

  That’s unless you conduct a form analysis. By analysing metrics and user behaviour, you can pinpoint and rectify the issues that cause users to abandon your form. 

  Improve the user experience

  Best practices will only take you so far. How users behave when filling in a form on your website may be completely different to how they behave on another site. That’s why you need to use form analysis to understand how users behave specifically on your website — and then use that information to optimise the design, layout, and content of the form to better suit them. 

  If one field is regularly left empty, for example, you can delete it. If users spend several minutes filling out a form with a high abandonment rate, you could shorten it. 

  The goal isn’t to make the best form ever but to make the best form for your audience. 

  Increase conversions

  Ultimately, form analysis helps you improve your form’s most important metric : conversions. Reducing your abandonment rate will naturally lead to more completions, but so will taking advantage of other optimisation opportunities that only become clear with form analysis. This can include optimisations like :

  • Moving the form higher up on the page
  • Shortening the form
  • Changing the heading and CTAs
  • Renaming field labels 

  A thorough form analysis process can ensure your forms generate as many conversions as possible. 

  Why do users abandon forms ?

  Are you already suffering from high form abandonment rates ? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. Marketers regularly make the same mistakes when creating forms that cause users to give up halfway through completion.

  Here are some of the most common reasons for form abandonment :

  • There are too many steps. If you’re telling users they’ve just completed step 2 of 12, you can bet they won’t bother finishing your form. 
  • They ask for too much information. No one wants to fill out a long form, and often, users won’t have the information on hand if you ask for too much. Just look at the rate left blank from the Unneeded Fields report in the screenshot below :

  

  • The form is confusing. Unclear form fields or directions can put users off. 
  • All the fields are free text and time-consuming. Filling out forms with long text fields takes too much time. To speed things up, use dropdown options in the fields, but keep the options to a minimum. This not only helps users finish the form faster but also makes it easier to analyse the data later because it keeps the data format consistent so you can organise the information more efficiently. 
  • Users don’t trust the form. This is a particular problem on checkout pages where users are entering sensitive information.

  How to conduct form analysis

  You need to collect user behaviour data to effectively analyse your forms. But a lot of traditional website analytics tools won’t have the required functionality. 

  Matomo is different. Our web analytics solution offers comprehensive web analytics as well as additional features like Heatmaps, Session Recordings, A/B Testing, and Form Analytics to provide all the functionality you need. 

  Now if you don’t use Matomo, you can try it free for 21 days (no credit card required) to see if it’s the right tool for you.

  Whether you use Matomo or not is up to you. But, once you have a suitable tool in place, just follow the steps below to conduct a form analysis. 

  Check your analytics

  Tracking and analysing specific form metrics should be the first place you start. We recommend collecting data on the following metrics :

  • Form starter rate : the percentage of visitors who actually start to fill in your form
  • Completion rate : the percentage of visitors who complete the form
  • Form abandonment rate : the percentage of users who gave up filling in your form
  • Time spent completing your form : the average length of time users spend on your form

  Let’s look at these metrics are in Matomo’s Form Analytics :

  

  The dashboard shows an overview of these metrics over a given period, allowing you to see at a glance whether there are issues you need to rectify. 

  Next, deep dive into the performance of each form to see things like :

  • Drop off fields
  • Unused fields
  • Entry field
  • Most corrected fields 

  You can even use Matomo’s visitor log to see who’s behind every submission.

  Try Matomo for Free

  Get the web insights you need, without compromising data accuracy.

  Start for free

  No credit card required

  Use a heatmap

  A heatmap is a colour-based graphical representation of data. A heatmap will show what users to do on your website, including : 

  • How far they scroll
  • Which buttons they click on
  • Where they focus their attention

  When used on a webpage with a form, you’ll be able to see how often users interact with your form based on the heatmap colour, with warmer colours representing greater engagement levels.

  Let’s look at a heatmap in Matomo :

  

  This heatmap is showing us how far down users have scrolled. It’s clear that only 63% of visitors are reaching the point above our call to action to see all features. We might want to consider moving that call to action up in order to get more engagement. 

  A heatmap is a great way to see whether your form’s placement gets the level of attention you want from visitors and to what extent visitors interact with your field.

  Record user sessions

  Session replays go even further than heatmaps, recording a real-life user interacting with your site. It’s like looking over a visitor’s shoulder while they use your site.

  

  With Matomo, you can record any sessions where the user takes a certain action (like starting to fill in a form), allowing you to build a rich library of qualitative data. 

  You can then replay a recorded session at your leisure to understand exactly how users interact with your forms.

  Segment users

  If you really want to understand how visitors use your forms, then it’s essential to segment your data. 

  You can segment all Form Analytics reports by over 100 pre-built segments in Matomo.

  

  One way to segment your data is by comparing the average time on form of those who completed the form with those who abandoned it. 

  If users abandon a form quickly, that could indicate your form is irrelevant to this audience or too long. If users spend a lot of time on the form, however, it’s probably safe to assume that it is relevant but there is something wrong with the form itself. 

  Looking at the Field Timings report will help you pinpoint which field visitors are spending the most time on and causing frustration. 

  

  The Field Timings example report in Matomo above, it’s evident that the “Overview of your needs” field takes up the most time (avg. time spent is 1 min 40s). To improve this, we might want to change it to a dropdown field. This way, users can quickly select options, and if necessary, provide additional details.

  Try Matomo for Free

  Get the web insights you need, without compromising data accuracy.

  Start for free

  No credit card required

  Another way is to segment data by traffic source and compare each source’s conversion rate. This will show whether one traffic source converts better than another or if one source isn’t interested in your form at all.

  How to optimise web forms

  Want to implement what you’ve learnt from your form analysis ? Follow these steps to optimise your existing web forms. 

  Define your form’s purpose

  The first step in optimising your existing web forms is to give a clear and definitive purpose to every single one. 

  When you have a defined goal, creating a form users will complete is much easier. After all, if you don’t know why people should fill in one of your forms, how would a visitor possibly know ?

  Take a look at one of our forms below :

  

  The purpose of this form is to get users to sign up for a free trial of our web analytics platform, and every element works towards that goal :

  • The headline directs the user to take action
  • The copy explains that it’s a free trial that doesn’t require credit card details
  • The green call-to-action button reinforces the action and benefit 
  • There is validation to support this under the form – “Trusted on over 1 million websites in over 190+ countries”

  Our clear instructions leave users no doubt about why they should fill in the form or what will happen. 

  Choose the right type of form

  You can use several forms on your website, each with different designs, form fields, and goals.

  For example :

  • Registration forms are fairly minimalist and designed to collect the least amount of data possible. 
  • Contact forms are concise so that it’s easy for potential customers to reach your team. 
  • Checkout forms balance a need to collect important data with a streamlined design that doesn’t put users off.
  • Lead generation forms are compelling and usually include qualifying questions so sales teams can score leads.

  Make sure you are using the right type of form to avoid abandonments and other issues. For example, requiring users to fill in a lengthy lead generation-style form when you want them to sign up for a free trial will probably kill your conversion rate. 

  Test form elements

  If your form analysis has shed light on one or two issues, you can use A/B or multivariate testing to trial new elements or designs and see how they compare.

  There’s no shortage of elements you can test, including the form’s :

  • Headline
  • Placement
  • Design
  • CTA button
  • Colour-scheme
  • Length
  • Form fields

  

  Matomo makes it easy to create and run A/B tests on your website’s forms. 

  Move your form above the fold

  One of the simplest ways to optimise your web form is to move it above the fold — that’s the section of the screen users see when they load your page. 

  Why ? Well, the more people who see your form, the more people will fill it in. And when it’s above the fold, users can’t help but see it.

  Conclusion

  Forms are one of the most important elements on your website, so why not treat them as such and regularly run a thorough form analysis ? By doing so, you’ll identify ways to optimise your form, improve the user experience, and improve conversions. 

  Matomo is the best platform for conducting form analysis. Our combination of web analytics, Form Analytics, Session Recordings, and Heatmaps means you have all the tools you need to learn exactly how visitors interact with your forms. 

  See just how powerful Matomo’s tools are by starting a free 21-day trial, no credit card required. 

  Try Matomo for Free

  21 day free trial. No credit card required.

  
  

  Your email address
  

  Your website address
  

  Your Analytics subdomain will be .matomo.cloud (change)

  Choose your analytics subdomain
  

  .matomo.cloud

  I accept the terms and conditions and data processing agreement (DPA)

  
  Your information will be used to create an account on our cloud service. For more information please consult our privacy policy.
  
  
  

  Start improving your websites now