Goatcounter for blog analytics

Going into 2024, I wanted to minimize the footprint of how.wtf.

This included:

1. Removing ads
2. Removing giscus, the commenting system
3. Removing Google Analytics
4. Reducing the website’s size to less than 20kb
5. Changing the theme to be super minimal with a focus on content

I have nothing against Google Analytics; I simply wanted something with less impact on my website’s loading speeds. Additionally, GDPR compliance requires companies using Google Analytics to gain explicit user consent for data collection. Personally, I just want a simple analytics - not a full-blown suite of tools.

What is Goatcounter

After careful consideration, I chose Goatcounter. It’s a minimal, opensource analytics tool that is easy to configure, privacy-aware, and lightweight. Like Google Analytics, I easily integrated it using a single script:

1<script data-goatcounter="https://yoursite.goatcounter.com/count" async src="//gc.zgo.at/count.js"></script>

It provides a streamlined interface that gives exactly what I’m looking for:

Why I chose Goatcounter

Philosophically, I prefer minimalism. Goatcounter met my preferences and provided a streamlined integration and set up process. After a few clicks to setup my account, I immediately had analytics flowing. There’s always the option to self-host in the future, which is awesome!

To summarize here are my top reasons:

1. Open-source
2. Dead simple UI
3. Small (~3.5kb script)
4. Privacy-first
5. Seemingly GDPR compliant
6. Self-hosted option
7. API is easy to use if I ever need to
8. JavaScript-free options such as pixel tracking or logfile parsing