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• Consent management platforms : Keys to compliance and user trust

  14 juin, par Joe

  Today’s marketing managers and data analysts face a tricky balancing act : gaining meaningful customer insights while respecting user privacy. Finding ways to navigate the maze of complex privacy regulations while managing consent at scale can be daunting. 

  Consent management platforms (CMPs) offer a solution. They allow companies to collect data ethically, manage user consent efficiently, and comply with privacy regulations like Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).

  This guide explains everything you need to know about CMPs : how they function, why they’re essential for data governance, and how they work hand-in-hand with analytics platforms to promote transparency and build trust with users.

  What is a consent management platform (CMP) and what is it for ?

  A consent management platform (CMP) helps organisations collect, organise, and store user consent for personal data processing purposes. In short, it’s a tool that ensures data collection respects user privacy and complies with regulations like the GDPR and CCPA.

  Without a CMP, businesses could face hefty fines and penalties for violating data privacy laws in different parts of the world. This shows how vital these tools are to all modern businesses.

  How do consent management platforms work ?

  CMPs give users a clear and straightforward way to provide explicit consent for data collection. These platforms manage both the technical aspects of consent storage and the user experience on your site or app.

  Here’s a simplified breakdown :

  • Cookie consent banners : The CMP displays a banner whenever a user visits your website. This banner explains the types of personal information collected and for what purpose.
  • User choice : The user can accept or reject cookies and trackers. They can often customise their preferences to choose which specific data types they’re willing to share.
  • Preference storage : The CMP stores the user’s choices. This information helps ensure that you only collect and process the permitted data.
  • Integration with other systems : CMPs integrate with other systems, such as analytics platforms and advertising networks, to ensure that data collection and processing comply with the user’s choices throughout the customer experience.

  

  A key feature of CMPs is their role in shaping privacy policy design. This design encompasses the layout, visual elements, and cues employed to seek user consent.

  A recent study by Karlstad University in Sweden showed that privacy policy design significantly influences user comprehension and willingness to disclose information. In other words, it affects consent rates considerably and is key to enhancing data collection.

  Importance of consent management for compliance

  As the world becomes increasingly interconnected, consent management is taking centre stage. Although it applies to all technologies and systems that gather or handle personal data, few instances are as relevant as smart homes.

  Smart home devices have unique access to our personal spaces and private lives. They represent a unique challenge to consent management since one person is potentially granting access to personal data from themselves and other people who may be inside or around the house.

  A 2023 study by the University College London and the University of Oxford pointed out that clear design principles and granular, contextual permission structures are essential in these situations.

  However, consent management isn’t just best practice. It’s a widespread legal requirement. Not meeting these requirements can result in hefty penalties and reputational damage to your organisation.

  Consent management under GDPR

  The European Union’s GDPR is a data protection law applicable to organisations that process the personal data of individuals residing in the European Economic Area (EEA). It’s based on the principle of opting in.

  The GDPR is one of the strongest data privacy laws globally. For non-compliance, fines can be up to €20 million or 4% of the company’s total global turnover (whichever is higher).

  It’s also one of the most heavily enforced privacy laws. According to enforcementtracker.com, Meta was fined €1.2 billion in 2023, with GDPR fines reaching over €2 billion that year alone. In the UK, the largest GDPR fine is €22.05 million, according to Statista. It pays to comply.

  The GDPR has specific rules around consent, including that it must be :

  • Freely given : Users must not be pressured or coerced.
  • Specific : Must be given for specific data processing purposes.
  • Informed : Users must be provided with clear and concise information.
  • Unambiguous : Permission must be granted through clear and affirmative action, such as checking a box or tapping a button.

  CMPs help you meet these requirements by providing a transparent and user-friendly way to obtain and manage consent.

  Consent management under CCPA

  The CCPA is another privacy protection law for businesses collecting personal information from California residents. It grants Californians the right to know what data is being collected about them, to prevent it from being sold, and to request its deletion.

  CMPs support CCPA compliance by enabling users to exercise their rights and ensuring transparent data collection practices.

  Managing consent under other regulatory frameworks

  In addition to the GDPR and CCPA, numerous other privacy regulations can impact your organisation. These regulations include :

  • The COPPA in the US
  • Brazil’s LGPD
  • Japan’s APPI
  • Canada’s PIPEDA.
  • Australia’s Privacy Act 1988 

  A CMP will help streamline the process by providing a clear, practical framework to ensure you meet all applicable requirements.

  Key features to look for in a CMP

  Choosing the right CMP is crucial for global business.

  Here are some key features to consider :

  Custom banners

  Consent banners are often among users’ first digital interactions with your brand. It should be clear, concise and visually appealing. Look for a CMP that allows you to :

  • Customise the banner’s design to match your website’s branding and aesthetics.
  • Control the banner’s positioning for optimal visibility.

  End-user management tools

  The CMP should also offer a user-friendly interface allowing visitors to grant, manage and withdraw consent.

  This includes customisable banners, granular permissions, and a preference centre. The latter is a dedicated space where users can manage their preferences anytime.

  Integration capabilities with existing systems

  The CMP should integrate with your existing technology stack, including your analytics platform, marketing automation tools and CRM. This integration ensures a smooth workflow and prevents data silos.

  How to select the right CMP for your organisation

  To find the perfect CMP, focus on your specific needs and priorities. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you make an informed decision :

  Assessing organisational needs and goals

  Start by clearly defining your organisation’s requirements. Consider the following :

  • Types of data collected : What personal data do you collect (for example, cookies, IP addresses, location data) ?
  • Compliance requirements : Which privacy regulations must you comply with (GDPR, CCPA, COPPA) ?
  • Website or app complexity : How complex is your website or app in terms of user interactions and data collection points ?
  • Budget : How much are you willing to invest in a CMP ?

  Comparing features and pricing

  Once you thoroughly understand your needs, you can compare the features and pricing of various CMPs. Look for key features like :

  • Customisable banners
  • Granular options
  • Preference centre
  • Integration with existing systems
  • Analytics and reporting

  Once you’ve shortlisted a few options, compare the pricing and choose the best value for your budget. Take advantage of free trials before committing to a paid plan.

  Checking verified user reviews

  Read user reviews on platforms like G2 or Trustpilot to get an idea of the strengths and weaknesses of different CMPs. Look for reviews from similar organisations regarding size, industry and compliance requirements.

  Integration with a privacy-focused analytics platform

  A consent management platform acts as the bridge between your users and your analytics and marketing teams. It ensures user preferences are communicated to your analytics setup, so data collection and analysis align with their choices and comply with privacy regulations. 

  Finding a consent manager integration that works with your analytics setup is essential for businesses.

  Top five consent management platforms

  The CMP market is pretty competitive, with many players providing excellent solutions. According to Emergen Research, it was valued at $320.9 million in 2021 and is growing at 21.2%.

  Here are five of our top choices 

  1. usercentrics

  usercentrics is a comprehensive CMP with customisable banners, granular consent options and a preference centre.

  

  usercentrics geolocation rulesets page (Source : Usercentrics)

  This Google-certified CMP allows you to create global and regional consent rules to ensure compliance with local regulations like GDPR, CCPA and LGPD. For a smooth implementation, usercentrics provides access to a knowledgeable support team and a dedicated customer success executive.

  It’s worth noting that Usercentrics is the CMP we use here at Matomo. It helps us in our mission to collect and analyse data ethically and with a privacy-first mindset.

  • Key features : Customisable banners, granular permissions, cross-domain and cross-device capabilities, automatic website scans, reporting and analytics.
  • Pricing : Usercentrics offers a free plan and four paid subscription plans from €7 to €50 per month.

  2. Osano

  Osano is a user-friendly CMP focusing on transparency and ease of use.

  

  Osano’s main dashboard (Source : Osano)

  Osano can scan websites for tracking technologies without impacting the user experience.

  • Key features : Customisable banners, multi-language support, granular consent options, a preference centre and access to a knowledgeable team of compliance specialists.
  • Pricing : Osano offers a self-service free plan and a paid plan at $199 per month.

  3. Cookiebot

  Cookiebot is another popular CMP with numerous integration options, including Matomo and other analytics tools. 

  

  Cookiebot consent banner options (Source : Cookiebot)

  • Key features : A cookie scanner, a privacy trigger or button allowing users to change their consent settings, a consent management API and advanced analytics.
  • Pricing : Cookiebot offers a free plan and paid plans ranging from €7 to €50 per month.

  4. CookieYes

  CookieYes is well-suited for small businesses and websites with basic privacy needs. 

  

  CookieYes cookie banner options (Source : CookieYes)

  It offers various features, including multilingual support, geo-targeting, privacy policy generation, and a preference centre. CookieYes also integrates with analytics and CMS tools, making it easy to implement as part of your stack.

  • Key features : Customisable consent banners, granular consent options, preference centre, integration with Matomo, reporting and analytics.
  • Pricing : You can use CookieYes for free or subscribe to one of their three paid plans, which range from $10 to $55 per month.

  5. Tarte au Citron

  Tarte au Citron is an open-source, lightweight, and customisable CMP developed in France.

  

  (Source : Tarte au Citron)

  Its focus is on transparency and user experience. It provides many features free of charge, but many do require some technical knowledge to deploy. There’s also a paid subscription with ongoing support and faster implementation.

  Tarte au Citron integrates with Matomo, which is also open-source. If you’re building an open-source stack for your analytics, Matomo and Tarte au Citron make an excellent pair.

  • Key features : Open-source, customisable consent banners, integration with Matomo, works with over 220 services.
  • Pricing : You can deploy the open-source core for free, but Tarte au Citron offers three paid licenses starting at €190 for one year and reaching €690 for a lifetime license.

  How to implement cookie consent the right way

  Implementing cookie consent requires precision, time and effort. But doing it wrong can result in significant legal penalties and severe reputational damage, eroding user trust and impacting your brand’s standing. Here are the key dos and don’ts of consent :

  

  Provide clear and concise information

  Use plain language that is easy for anyone to understand. Avoid using technical terms or legal jargon that may confuse users.

  Prioritise transparency

  Be upfront about your data collection practices. Clearly state what data you collect, how you use it and who you share it with. Provide links to your privacy and cookie policies for users who want to learn more.

  Offer granular control

  Give users detailed control over as many of their cookie preferences as possible. Allow them to choose which categories of tracking cookies they consent to, such as strictly necessary, performance and marketing cookies.

  Implement user-friendly banners

  Ensure banners are prominently displayed, easy to understand, and use clear and concise language. Also, make sure they’re accessible to all users, including those with disabilities.

  Respect “do not track” settings

  It’s essential to honour users’ choices when they enable their “do not track” browser setting.

  Document consent

  Maintain a record of user consent. This will help you demonstrate compliance with data privacy regulations and provide evidence of user consent in case of an audit or investigation.

  Regularly review and update consent policies

  Review and update your customer consent policies regularly to ensure they comply with evolving data privacy regulations and reflect your current data collection practices.

  Cookie consent pitfalls to avoid

  Here are some common pitfalls to avoid that may lead to legal penalties, loss of user trust or inaccurate analytics :

  • Avoid lengthy and complicated explanations. Overwhelming users with dense legal jargon or overly technical details can lead to consent fatigue and reduce the likelihood of informed consent.
  • Don’t force users to accept all cookies or none. Blanket consent options violate user autonomy and fail to comply with regulations like the GDPR.
  • Don’t make information about your data collection practices hard to find. Hidden or buried privacy policies breed suspicion and erode trust.
  • Avoid pre-checking all cookie consents. Pre-checked boxes imply consent without explicit user action, which is not compliant with GDPR and similar regulations. Users must actively opt in, not out.

  Emerging consent management trends 

  Consent management is constantly evolving and driven by new technologies, regulations, and user expectations. Here are some emerging trends to watch out for in the short term :

  • Increased automation : AI and machine learning are helping automate consent management processes, making them more efficient and effective.
  • Enhanced user experience : CMPs are becoming more user-friendly, focusing on providing an intuitive experience.
  • Privacy-preserving analytics : CMPs are being integrated with privacy-preserving analytics platforms, such as Matomo, to enable organisations to gain insights into user behaviour without compromising privacy.
  • Google Consent Mode : In 2024, Google rolled out Consent Mode v2 to align with the Digital Markets Act. Due to upcoming privacy regulations, more versions may be coming soon.

  The Privacy Governance Report 2024 also highlights the increasing complexity of managing data privacy, with more than four in five privacy professionals taking on additional responsibilities in their existing roles. This trend will likely continue in the coming years as more privacy laws are enacted.

  Addressing upcoming privacy regulations

  Data privacy and user consent requirements continue to emerge and evolve. Businesses must stay informed and adapt their practices accordingly.

  

  In 2025, several new privacy regulations are going into effect, including :

  • New state-level privacy laws in eight US states :
    • Delaware (1 January 2025)
    • Iowa (1 January 2025)
    • Nebraska (1 January 2025)
    • New Hampshire (1 January 2025)
    • New Jersey (15 January 2025)
    • Tennessee (1 July 2025)
    • Minnesota (31 July 2025)
    • Maryland (1 October 2025)
  • The EU’s Artificial Intelligence Act (which will be implemented from 1 August 2024 through 2 August 2026) and other AI-focused regulations.
  • The UK Adequacy Decision Review has a deadline of 27 December 2025.

  Organisations that collect, process or otherwise handle data from Europe and the above-named US states should proactively prepare for these changes by :

  • Conducting regular privacy impact assessments
  • Reviewing consent mechanisms regularly
  • Implementing data minimisation strategies
  • Providing user-friendly privacy controls

  Future-proofing your consent management strategy

  CMPs are essential for managing consent preferences, protecting user privacy, and earning customers’ trust through transparency and ethical data practices.

  When choosing a CMP, you should consider key features such as integration capabilities, customisation options and user-friendly interfaces.

  Integrating a CMP with a privacy-first analytics solution like Matomo allows you to collect and analyse data in a way that’s compliant and respectful of user preferences. This combination helps maintain data integrity while demonstrating a strong commitment to privacy. 

  Start your 21-day free trial today.

• Why Matomo is the top Google Analytics alternative

  17 juin, par Joe

  You probably made the switch to Google Analytics 4 (GA4) when Google stopped collecting Universal Analytics (UA) data in July 2023. Up to that point, UA had long been the default analytics platform, despite its many limitations. 

  This was mostly because everyone loved its free nature and simple setup. A Google account was all you needed — even a free legacy G-Suite account worked perfectly. Looking at the analytics for just about any website was easy.

  That all changed with GA4, which addressed many of UA’s shortcomings by introducing a completely new way to model website data. Unfortunately, this also meant you couldn’t transfer historical data from UA into GA4, leading to more criticism. 

  Then there’s the added cost. GA4 is still free, but its limited functionality encourages you to upgrade to the enterprise version, Google Analytics 360 (GA360). Sure, you get lots of great functionality, less data sampling, and longer data retention periods, but it comes at a hefty price — $50,000 per year, to be exact.

  There are other options, though, and Matomo Analytics is one of the best. It’s an open-source, privacy-centric platform that offers advanced features of GA360 and more. 

  In this article, we’ll compare GA4, GA360, and Matomo and give you what you need to make an informed decision.

  Google Analytics 4 in a nutshell

  Google Analytics 4 is a great tool to use to start learning about web analytics. But soon enough, you’ll likely find that GA4 doesn’t quite cover all of your needs. 

  For example, it can’t provide a detailed view of user experiences, and Google doesn’t offer dedicated support or onboarding. There are other shortcomings, too.

  Data sampling

  Google only processes a selected sample of website activity rather than every individual data point. Rather than looking at the whole picture, it sets a threshold and selects a [hopefully] representative sample for analysis. 

  This inevitably creates gaps in data. Google attempts to fill them in using AI and machine learning, inferring the rest from data patterns. Since the results rely on assumptions and estimates, they aren’t always precise.

  In practical terms, this means that the accuracy of GA4 analysis will likely decline as website traffic increases.

  

  (Image source)

  Data collection limits

  GA4’s 25 million monthly events limit seems like a lot, but they add up quickly. 

  All user interactions are recorded as events, including :

  • Session start : User visits the site.
  • Page view : User loads a page (tracked automatically).
  • First visit : User accesses the site for the first time.
  • User engagement : User stays on a page for a set time period.
  • Scroll : User scrolls past 90% of the page (enhanced measurement).
  • Click : User clicks on any element (links, buttons, etc.).
  • Video start/complete : User starts or completes a video (enhanced measurement).
  • File download : User downloads a file (enhanced measurement).

  For context, consider a website averaging 50 events per session per user. If every user logs on every third day, on average, you’ll need 10,000 individual visitors a month to reach that 25 million. But that’s not the problem. 

  The problem is that collection limits in GA4 affect your ability to capture, secure, and analyse customer data effectively.

  Customisation

  GA4 users also face configuration limits that restrict their customisation options. For example : 

  • Audience limits : Since only 100 audiences are allowed, it’s necessary to combine or optimise segments rather than track too many small groups. 
  • Retention limits : Data retention is limited to only 14 months, so external storage solutions may be necessary in situations where historical data needs to be preserved.
  • Conversion events : GA4 will only track up to 30 conversion events, so it’s best to focus on high-value interactions (e.g., purchases and lead form submissions). 
  • Event-scoped dimensions : Since e-commerce operations are limited to 50 event-scoped dimensions, they need to carefully consider custom dimensions and key metrics. This makes it important to be selective about which product details to track (color, size, discount code, etc.).

  Data privacy

  GA4 isn’t GDPR-compliant out of the box. In fact, Google Analytics 4 is banned in seven EU countries because they believe the way it collects and transfers data violates GDPR.

  Data privacy regulations may or may not be a big concern, depending on where your customers are. However, if some are in the UK or any of the 30 countries that make up the European Economic Area (EEA), you must comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). 

  It tells your customers that you don’t respect their data if you don’t. It can also get very expensive.

  Limited attribution models

  Attribution models track how different marketing touchpoints lead to a conversion (such as a purchase, sign-up, or lead generation). They help businesses understand which marketing channels and strategies are most effective in driving results.

  GA4 supports only two of the six standard attribution models previously supported in Universal Analytics. Organisations wanting data-driven or last-click attribution models will find them in Google Analytics. But they’ll need to look elsewhere if they’re going to use any of these models :

  • First click attribution
  • Linear attribution
  • Time decay attribution
  • Position-based attribution (u-shaped)

  GA360 isn’t a solution either

  Fundamentally, GA360 is the same product as GA4, without the above limits and restrictions. For companies that pay $50,000 (or more) each year, the only changes involve how much data is collected, how long it stays and data sampling thresholds.

  Above all, the GDPR-compliance issue remains. That can be a real problem for organisations with operations that collect personal data in the EEA or the UK.

  And the problem could soon be much bigger than just those 31 countries. Many countries currently implementing data privacy laws are modelling their efforts on GDPR, which may rule out both GA4 and GA360.

  

  What makes Matomo the top alternative ?

  No data limits

  One way to overcome all these challenges is to switch to Matomo Analytics. 

  There’s no data sampling and no data collection limits whatsoever with on-premise implementation. Matomo also supports all six attribution models, is open source and fully customisable and complies with GDPR out of the box. 

  Imagine trying to change your business strategy or marketing campaigns if you’re not confident that your data is reliable and accurate.

  It’s no secret that data sampling can negatively affect the accuracy of the data, and inaccurate data can lead to poor decision-making.
  

  With Matomo, there are no limits. We don’t restrict the size of containers within the Tag Manager nor the number of containers or tags within each container. You have more control over your customers’ data. 

  And you get to make your decisions based on all that data. That’s important because data quality is critical for high-impact decisions. 

  Open source

  Open-source software allows anyone to inspect, audit, and improve the source code for security and efficiency. That means no hidden data collection, faster bug fixes, and no vendor lock-in. As a bonus, these things make complying with data privacy laws and regulations easier.

  Matomo can also be modified in any way, which provides unlimited customisation possibilities. There’s also a very active developer community around Matomo, so you don’t have to make changes yourself — you can hire someone who has the technical knowledge and expertise. They can : 

  • Modify tracking scripts for advanced analytics
  • Create custom attribution models, tracking methods and dashboards
  • Integrate Matomo with any system (CRM, eCommerce, CMS, etc.)

  Data ownership

  Matomo’s open-source nature also means full data ownership. No third parties can access the data, and there’s no risk of Google using that data for ads or AI training. Furthermore, Matomo follows privacy-first tracking principles, meaning that there’s :

  • No third-party data sharing
  • Full user consent control
  • Support for cookie-less tracking
  • IP Anonymisation, by default
  • Do Not Track (DNT) support

  All of that underlines the fact that Matomo collects, stores, and tracks data 100% ethically.

  On-premise and cloud-based options

  You can use the Matomo On-Premise web analytics solution if local data privacy laws require that you store data locally. Here’s a helpful tip : many of them do. However, this might not be necessary. 

  Due to GDPR, several countries recognise the EEA as an acceptable storage location for their citizens’ data. That means servers hosted in any of those 30 countries are already compliant in terms of data location. 

  Alternatively, you could embrace modernity and choose Matomo Cloud — our servers are also in Europe. While GA4 and GA360 are cloud-based, Google’s servers are in the US, and that’s a big problem for GDPR.

  

  Comprehensive analytics

  If you need a sophisticated web analytics platform that offers full control of your data and you have privacy concerns, Matomo is a solid choice. 

  It has built-in behavioural analytics features like Heatmaps, Scroll Depth and Session Recording. These tools allow you to collect and analyse data without relying on cookies or resorting to data sampling.

  Those standout features can’t be found in GA4 or GA360. Google also doesn’t offer an on-premise solution.

  The one area where Matomo can’t compete with Google Analytics is in its tight integration with the Google ecosystem : Google Ads, Gemini and Firebase. 

  Key things to consider before switching to Matomo

  There are pros and cons to switching from GA4 (or even GA360) to Matomo. That’s because no software is perfect. There are always tradeoffs somewhere. With Matomo, there are a few things to consider before switching :

  • Learning curve. Matomo is a full-featured analytics platform with many advanced features (session replay, custom event tracking, etc.). That can overwhelm new users and take time to understand well enough to maximise the benefits.
  • Technical resources. Choosing a Matomo On-Premise solution requires technical resources, such as a server and skills.
  • Third-party integration. Matomo provides pre-built integration tools for about a hundred platforms. However, it’s open source, so technical resources are required. On the plus side, it does make it possible to add to the list of APIs and connectors.

  Head-to-head : GA4 vs GA360 vs Matomo

  It’s always helpful to look at how different products stack up in terms of features and capabilities :

  	GA4	GA360	Matomo
  Data ownership			✔
  Event-based data	✔	✔	✔
  Session-based data			✔
  Unsampled data			✔
  Real-time data	✔	✔	✔
  Heatmaps			✔
  Session recordings			✔
  A/B testing			✔
  Open source			✔
  On-premise hosting			✔
  Data privacy	Subject to Google’s data policies	Subject to Google’s data policies	GDPR, CCPA compliant ; full control over data storage
  Custom dimensions	Yes (limited in free version)	Yes (higher limits)	Yes (unlimited in self-hosted)
  Attribution models	Last click, data-driven	Last click, data-driven, advanced Google Ads integration	Last click, first click, linear, time decay, position-based, custom
  Data retention	Up to 14 months (free)	Up to 50 months	Unlimited (self-hosted)
  Integrations	Google Ads, Search Console, BigQuery (limited in free version)	Advanced integrations (Google Ads, BigQuery, Salesforce, etc.)	100+ integrations (Google Ads, WordPress, Shopify, etc.)
  BigQuery export	Free (limited to 1M events/day)	Free (unlimited)	Paid add-on (via plugin)
  Custom reports	Limited customisation	Advanced customisation	Fully customisable
  Scalability	Suitable for small to medium businesses	Designed for large enterprises	Scalable without limits (self-hosted or cloud)
  Ease of use	Simple, requires onboarding	Steeper learning curve	Flexible, setup-intensive.
  Pricing	Free	Premium (starts at $50,000/year)	Free open-source (self-hosted) ; Cloud starts at $29/month

  So, is Matomo the right solution for you ?

  That’d be a ‘yes’ if you want a Google Analytics alternative that ticks all these boxes :

  • Complies natively with privacy laws and regulations
  • Offers real-time data and custom event tracking
  • Enables a deeper understanding of user behaviour
  • Allows you to fine-tune user experiences
  • Provides full control over your customers’ data
  • Offers conversion funnels, session recordings and heatmaps
  • Has session replay to trace user interactions
  • Includes plenty of readily actionable insights

  Find out why millions of websites trust Matomo

  Matomo is an easy-to-use, all-in-one web analytics tool with advanced behavioural analytics functionality.

  It’ll also help you future-proof your business because it supports compliance with global privacy laws in 162 countries. With an ethical alternative like Matomo, you don’t need to risk your business or customers’ private data.

  It’s not just about avoiding fines. It’s also about building trust with your customers. That’s why you need a privacy-focused, ethical solution like Matomo. 

  See for yourself : download Matomo On-Premise today, or start your 21-day free trial of Matomo Cloud (no credit card required).

• Multilingual SEO : A Marketer’s Guide to Measuring and Optimising Multilingual Websites

  26 juin, par Joe

  The web—and search engines in particular—make it easier than ever for businesses of any size to reach an international audience. 

   
  A multilingual website makes sense, especially when the majority of websites are in English. After all, you want to stand out to customers by speaking their local language. But it’s no good having a multilingual site if people can’t find it. 

  That’s where multilingual SEO comes in. 

  In this article, we’ll show you how to build a multilingual website that ranks in Google and other local search engines. You’ll learn why multilingual SEO is about more than translating your content and specific tasks you need to tick off to make your multilingual site as visible as possible. 

  ¡Vamos !

  What is multilingual SEO ? 

  Multilingual SEO is the process of optimising your website to improve search visibility in more than one language. It involves creating high-quality translations (including SEO metadata), targeting language-specific keywords and building links in the target language. 

  

  The goal is to make your site as discoverable and accessible as possible for users searching Google and other search engines in their local language. 

  It’s worth pointing out that multilingual SEO differs slightly from international SEO, even if the terms are used interchangeably. With multilingual SEO, you are optimising for a language (so Spanish targets every Spanish-speaking country, not just Spain). In international SEO, you target specific countries, so you might have a different strategy for targeting Argentinian customers vs. Mexican customers. 

  Why adopt a multilingual SEO strategy ?

  There are two major reasons to adopt a multilingual SEO strategy : to reach more customers and to deliver the best experience possible. 

  

  Reach a wider audience

  Not everyone searches the web in English. Even if non-native speakers eventually resort to English, many will try Googling in their own language first. That means if you target customers in multiple non-English-speaking countries, then creating a multilingual SEO is a must to reach as many of them as possible. 

  A multilingual SEO strategy also boosts your website’s chances of appearing in country-specific search engines like Baidu and Yandex — and in localised versions of Google like Google.fr and Google.de.

  Deliver a better user experience

  Multilingual SEO gives your customers what they want : the ability to search, browse and shop in their native language. This is a big deal, with 89% of consumers saying it’s important to deal with a brand in their own language.

  Improving the user experience also increases the likelihood of non-English-speaking customers converting. As many as 82% of people won’t make a purchase in major consumer categories without local language support. 

  How to prepare for multilingual SEO success

  Before you start creating multilingual SEO content, you need to take care of a couple of things. 

  Identify target markets

  The first step is to identify the languages you want to target. You know your customers better than anyone, so it’s likely you have one or two languages in mind already. 

  But if you don’t, why not analyse your existing website traffic to discover which languages to target first ? The Locations report in Matomo (found in the Visitors section of Matomo’s navigation) shows you which countries your visitors hail from. 

  

  In the example above, targeting German and Indonesian searchers would be a sensible strategy. 

  Target local keywords

  Once you’ve decided on your target markets, it’s time to find localised keywords. Keywords are the backbone of any SEO campaign, so take your time to find ones that are specific to your local markets.

  Yes, that means you shouldn’t just translate your English keywords into French or Spanish ! French or Spanish searchers may use completely different terms to find your products or services. 

  That’s why it’s vital to use a tool like Ahrefs or Semrush to do multilingual keyword research. 

  

  This may be a bit tricky if you aren’t a native speaker of your target language, but you can translate your English keywords using Google Translate to get started. 

  Remember, search volumes won’t be as high as English keywords since fewer people are searching for them. So don’t be scared off by small keyword volumes. Besides, even in the U.S. around 95% of keywords get 10 searches per month or fewer. 

  Choose your URL structure

  The final step in preparing your multilingual SEO strategy is deciding on your URL structure, whether that’s using separate domains, subdomains or subfolders. 

  This is important for SEO as it will avoid duplicate content issues. Using language indicators within these URLs will also help both users and search engines differentiate versions of your site. 

  The first option is to have a separate domain for each target language. 

  • yoursite.com
  • yoursite.fr
  • yoursite.es

  Using subdomains would mean you keep one domain but have completely separate sites :

  • fr.yoursite.com
  • es.yoursite.com
  • de.yoursite.com

  Using subfolders keeps everything clean but can result in long URLs :

  • yoursite.com/en
  • yoursite.com/de
  • yoursite.com/es

  As you can see in the image below, we use subdomains to separate multilingual versions of you site :

  

  While separate domains provide more precise targeting, it’s a lot of work to manage them. So, unless you have a keyword-rich, unbranded domain name that needs translating, we’d recommend using either subdomains or subdirectories. It’s slightly easier to manage subfolders, but subdomains offer users a clearer divide between different versions of your site. 

  If you want to make your site even easier to navigate, then you can incorporate language indicators into your page’s design to make it easy for consumers to switch languages. These are the little dropdown menus you see containing various flags that let users browse in different languages.

  5 multilingual SEO strategies to use in 2024

  Now you’ve got the basics in order, use the following SEO strategies to improve your multilingual rankings. 

  Use hreflang tags

  There’s another way that Google and other search engines use to determine the language and region your website is targeting : hreflang..

  Hreflang is an HTML attribute that Google and other search engines use to ensure they serve users the right version of the page.

  You can insert it into the header section of the page like this example for a German subdomain :

  <link rel=”alternate” href=”https://yourwebsite.com/de” hreflang=”de” />

  Or you can add the relevant markup to your website’s sitemap. Here’s what the same German markup would look like :

  <xhtml:link rel=”alternate” hreflang=”de” href=”https://yourwebsite.com/de/” /> 

  Whichever method you include one language code in ISO 639-1 format. You can also include a region code in ISO 3166-1 Alpha 2 format. Note that you can include multiple region codes. A web page in German, for example, could target German and Austrian consumers. 

  Hreflang tags also avoid duplicate content issues. 

  With a multilingual site, you could have a dozen different versions of the same page, showing the same content but in a different language. Without an hreflang tag specifying that these are different versions of the same page, Google may penalise your site.

  Invest in high-quality translations

  Google rewards good content. And, while you’d hope Google Translate would be good enough, it usually isn’t.

  Instead, make sure you are using professional linguists to translate your content. They won’t only be able to produce accurate and contextually relevant translations — the kind that Google may reward with higher rankings — but they’ll also be able to account for cultural differences between languages. 

  Imagine you are translating a web page from U.S. English into Italian, for example. You’ve not only got to translate the words themselves but also the measurements (from inches to cm), dates (from mm/dd/yy to dd/mm/yy), currencies, idioms and more. 

  Translate your metadata, too

  You need to translate more than just the content of your website. You should translate its metadata — the descriptive information search engines use to understand your page — to help you rank better in Google and localised search engines. 

  As you can see in the image below, we’ve translated the French version of our homepage’s title and meta description :

  

  Page titles and meta descriptions aren’t the only pieces of metadata you need to pay attention to. Make sure you translate the following :

  • URLs
  • Image alt tags
  • Canonical tags
  • Structured data markup

  While you’re at it, make sure you have translated all of your website’s content, too. It’s easy to miss error messages, contact forms and checkout pages that would otherwise ruin the user experience. 

  Build multilingual backlinks

  Building backlinks is an important step in any SEO strategy. But it’s doubly important in multilingual SEO, where your links in your target language also help Google to understand that you have a translated website. 

  While you want to prioritise links from websites in your target language, make sure that websites are relevant to your niche. It’s no good having a link from a Spanish recipe blog if you have a marketing SaaS tool. 

  A great place to start is by mining the links of competitors in your target market. Your competitors have already done the hard work acquiring these links, and there’s every chance these websites will link to your translated content, too.

  

  Don’t forget about internal linking pages in the same language, either. This will obviously help users stay in the same language while navigating your site, but it will also show Google the depth of your multilingual content.

  Monitor the SEO health of your multilingual site

  The technical performance of your multilingual pages has a significant impact on your ability to rank and convert. 

  We know for a fact that Google uses page performance metrics in the form of Core Web Vitals as a search ranking factor. What’s more, research by WP Rocker finds that a side loading in one second has a three times better conversion rate than a site loading in five seconds. 

  With that in mind, make sure your site is performing at optimal levels using Matomo’s SEO Web Vitals report. Our SEO Web Vitals feature tracks all of Google’s Core Web Vitals, including :

  • Page Speed Score
  • First Contentful Paint (FCP)
  • Final Input Delay (FID)
  • Last Contentful Paint (LCP)
  • Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)

  The report displays each metric in a different colour depending on your site’s performance, with green meaning good, orange meaning average, and red meaning poor.

  

  Check in on these metrics regularly or set up custom alerts to automatically notify you when a specific metric drops below or exceeds a certain threshold — like if your Page Speed score falls below 50, for example. 

  How to track your multilingual SEO efforts with Matomo

  Matomo isn’t just a great tool to track your site’s SEO health ; you can also use our privacy-focused analytics platform to track your multilingual SEO success.

  For example, you could use the report to focus your multilingual SEO efforts on a single language if searches are starting to rival English. Or you decide to translate your most trafficked English keywords into your target languages, regardless if a tool like Ahrefs or Semrush tells you whether these keywords get searches or not.

  If you want to analyse the performance of your new language, for example, you can segment traffic by URL. In our case, we use the segment “Page URL contains fr.matomo.org” to measure the impact of our French website. 

  We can also track the performance of every language except French by using the segment “Page URL does not contain fr.matomo.org”.

  You can use Matomo to track your Keyword performance, too. Unlike search engine-owned platforms like Google Analytics and Google Search Console that no longer share keyword data, Matomo lets users see exactly which keywords users search to find your site in the Combined keywords report :

  

  This is valuable information you can use to identify new keyword opportunities and improve your multilingual content strategy. 

  For example, you could use the report to focus your multilingual SEO efforts on a single language if searches are starting to rival English. Or you decide to translate your most trafficked English keywords into your target languages, regardless if a tool like Ahrefs or Semrush tells you whether these keywords get searches or not.

  For international brands that have separate websites and apps for each target language or region, Matomo’s Roll-Up Reporting lets you keep track of aggregate data in one place. 

  

  Roll-Up Reporting lets you view data from multiple websites and apps as if they were a single site. This lets you quickly answer questions like :

  • How many visits happened across all of my multilingual websites ?
  • Which languages contributed the most conversions ?
  • How does the performance of my Spanish app compare to my Spanish website ?

  Is it any wonder, then, that Matomo is used by over one million sites in 190 countries to track their web and SEO performance in a privacy-friendly way ?

  Join them today by trying Matomo free for 21 days, no credit card required. Alternatively, request a demo to see how Matomo can help you track your multilingual SEO efforts.