A recent article on the BBC news website https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce8y2eez8y2o
discussed why people are cutting back their online profile. The piece explained that some people – worried particularly about AI and how much personal data they have online - are actively using cookie-blockers and selecting web browsers with privacy controls, to keep their data private.
While it’s completely understandable that individuals might want to restrict their profile and access to their online activity, this does offer challenges to companies wanting to market to these people. After all, access to analytics help you to start making data-driven decisions. Web blockers restrict the effectiveness of web analytics, which are used to collect data on how people find your site, what they do once they get there and whether they take action.
Most web analytics tools work by adding a tracking script to your site. This script runs in the visitor’s browser and records information like page views, clicks, time on site and device type. The data is then sent to external servers, processed and presented in reports and/or dashboards. However, this approach often relies heavily on browser cookies which can be blocked by ad blockers or privacy settings.
Compare this with a ‘bricks and mortar’ shop. If you run a store and have a desk near the entrance, you can easily acknowledge the fact that somebody has walked through the door and then interact with them accordingly. With tracking turned off online, it’s as if you – as the shop owner – is sitting there blindfolded…
If a consumer has very high privacy settings and everything possible is blocked, then – according to Google – it’s as if that visitor never existed. However, this visitor did hit your server and, for this reason, there’s been a shift over recent times to companies using server-side analytics or server-side tracking. Here, user data is collected and processed from web and mobile applications directly, rather than being collected on the user’s device.
Arguably, server-side data offers greater control, accuracy and resilience. Here are some advantages of server-side analytics:
- Improved data accuracy: Data is captured server-to-server, bypassing ad blockers etc. Also, events are less likely to be lost due to actions such as JavaScript errors, ad blockers, browser limitations, network interruptions or users leaving the page too quickly.
- Immune to browser tracking restrictions: Modern browsers limit client-side tracking with, for instance, Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP) and Enhanced Tracking Protection (ETP). However, care still needs to be taken to comply with users’ consent levels, as you can’t simply ignore consent.
- Full data ownership and security: Data is collected on your server first, so you control which data is stored and shared with third parties and how long data is retained, leading to better security and privacy. This could lead to improvements in compliance with, for example, the GDPR, since you can anonymise or filter sensitive data before sending it to any external tool.
- Faster website performance: Server-side tracking offloads some data processing tasks from the user’s device to the server, which leads to faster website performance. In addition, minimal client-side JavaScript is needed, resulting in faster page loads and lower bounce rates.
- Flexibility: You are not locked into a single platform, such as Google Analytics and it can future-proof your data strategy in case analytics vendors or privacy laws change.
- More reliable conversion tracking: Key customer events, such as purchases, subscriptions and form submissions, can be validated server-side.
As a Silver Partner of Umbraco, Lake Solutions has access to Umbraco Exchange and, instead of relying on third-party scripts, this uses server-side tracking to collect first-party data directly within your own infrastructure. When a visitor visits your website, Umbraco Engage code checks whether you already have an Umbraco Engage cookie. If not, it creates one and sends it back to you.
At the same time the visitor is making a request, they send all kinds of data to the server:
- Which browser the visitors are using
- Which URL is requested
- If there was any referring page (where did the visitor come from)
- At what time the page is requested
- Which IP Address is used
- Which operation system is used
- Which type of device is used
- Which cookies are sent
As Umbraco explains: “This means you maintain full control of your data while ensuring higher accuracy and stronger privacy compliance. Since the data doesn’t leave your environment for processing elsewhere, you avoid common tracking limitations and can trust the insights you’re seeing. This makes Umbraco Engage a future-proof solution, designed to keep your analytics reliable, even as browsers and privacy laws evolve.”
If you want to talk to us about how server-side analytics can benefit your business, then contact Lake Solutions today: 0203 397 3222.