Awesome Stuff to Buy is a huge curated list of cool products and gift ideas (with a lot of funny random ones). It's founded and managed by Andy Feliciotti since 2012.
We caught up with him to talk about the way he uses Simple Analytics to improve his business.
We'll touch upon why he switched from Google Analytics and how he leverages the API to get the most vital data.
Let’s dive in!
Andy from Awesome Stuff to Buy
- A Look Back at Traditional Analytics
- The Shift to Simple Analytics
- Leveraging the Simple Analytics API
- Final Thoughts
A Look Back at Traditional Analytics
Google Analytics has always been the tool of choice for most. However, the recent shift towards GA4 and increasing concerns regarding user privacy sparked an interest to look beyond it.
It became evident that the need for simplified yet efficient tools was growing. There are only so many tools you can deal with, and especially using Google Analytics added unnecessary complexity to the process.
The complexity of data collection in tools like Google Analytics often moved the attention from the core focus areas like product development and user experience.
The Shift to Simple Analytics
There is a growing need for simplicity and a focus on vital web data as everything around us seems to be getting more complex. Simple Analytics is just doing that.
Tools with massive amounts of data collection can lead you to easily get lost in analytics day-to-day, instead of focusing on your product and users' experience. This is why I love Simple Analytics. It's just that... simple! - Andy Feliciotti
Leveraging the Simple Analytics API
The platform's JSON API was particularly appealing, since its very easy to get started with.
I tried building something similar on my site for "trending products" with Google Analytics, and the API was so complex and inaccessible that I just gave up. Simple Analytics' API, on the other hand, is a breeze to use - Andy Feliciotti
A cron job in the site backend facilitated easy extraction of daily outbound link event clicks for each product.
With this data recorded in a custom field on his wordpress website, it is really simple to create custom features. For example, Andy now builds custom functionalities based on user interactions.
You can get data from the Simple Analytics API such as pageviews, custom events and much more. You can also export the data directly using our export function.
Final Thoughts
There is a growing need for analytics tools that address data privacy and user-centric design. Simple Analytics is doing that. Anytime Andy builds a site now one of the first things he does is add Simple Analytics.
Simple Analytics has been such an incredibly powerful and intuitive platform for my analytical needs - Andy Feliciotti
Its simplicity, focus on user privacy, and easily accessible API make it an indispensable tool for affiliate websites.
Feel free to see for yourself and give it a try!