Analytics Platform Guides | Blue Frog Docs

Analytics Platform Guides

Configure and validate data pipelines for analytics suites, CDPs, and tag managers.

The analytics platform collection documents how your analytics team connects, audits, and extends your measurement stack. Each guide covers:

  • Step-by-step setup instructions and access requirements.
  • Event governance, data retention, and privacy controls to enable.
  • Diagnostics for broken dashboards, lost conversions, or misfiring tags.
  • Integrations with ad platforms, CRMs, and downstream BI tools.

Use the sidebar to choose the analytics technology you are implementing or troubleshooting.

Overview

Modern analytics platforms fall into several categories, each serving distinct measurement needs within your digital ecosystem. Blue Frog Analytics monitors and validates implementations across all major analytics technologies, ensuring data accuracy, compliance, and operational reliability.

Our platform guides help you navigate the complexity of multi-vendor analytics stacks, providing actionable guidance for configuration, debugging, and optimization. Whether you're migrating from legacy tools, implementing a new measurement framework, or troubleshooting existing deployments, these guides provide the technical depth required for successful implementations.

Platform Categories

Web Analytics Platforms

Traditional web analytics platforms measure visitor behavior, traffic sources, and content performance across websites and web applications.

Enterprise Solutions:

  • Google Analytics 4 - Google's event-based analytics platform with machine learning insights and BigQuery integration
  • Adobe Analytics - Enterprise-grade analytics with advanced segmentation, attribution, and real-time processing
  • Matomo (Piwik PRO) - Privacy-focused analytics with on-premise deployment options and full data ownership

Privacy-First Analytics:

  • Plausible - Lightweight, GDPR-compliant analytics without cookies
  • Simple Analytics - Privacy-friendly metrics with straightforward implementation
  • Fathom Analytics - Cookie-free analytics emphasizing visitor privacy
  • Pirsch - Server-side analytics with minimal client-side footprint
  • Umami - Open-source, self-hosted analytics platform

Product Analytics Platforms

Product analytics platforms track user interactions within applications, enabling product teams to understand feature usage, user journeys, and retention patterns.

Event-Based Analytics:

  • Mixpanel - Event tracking with funnel analysis, cohort retention, and user profile enrichment
  • Amplitude - Behavioral analytics with advanced cohort analysis and data taxonomy management
  • Heap - Autocapture analytics with retroactive event definition
  • Pendo - Product analytics combined with in-app guides and user feedback
  • PostHog - Open-source product analytics with session recording and feature flags

Customer Data Platforms (CDPs)

CDPs collect, unify, and activate customer data across multiple touchpoints and systems.

Tag-Based CDPs:

  • Segment - Customer data infrastructure with 300+ integrations for routing event data
  • mParticle - Multi-platform data orchestration for mobile and web
  • RudderStack - Open-source CDP with warehouse-first architecture

Marketing CDPs:

  • Tealium - Enterprise tag management and customer data orchestration
  • BlueConic - First-party data platform for customer lifecycle orchestration

Tag Management Systems

Tag managers allow marketers and developers to deploy and manage tracking tags without direct code changes.

Enterprise Tag Managers:

Server-Side Tag Management:

  • Google Tag Manager Server-Side - Server-side tagging to improve performance and data accuracy
  • Segment - Server-side event routing and transformation

Analytics APIs & Data Warehouses

Raw data access and warehouse integration for custom analytics and business intelligence.

Warehouse Connectors:

  • BigQuery (GA4) - Native export from Google Analytics 4 to BigQuery
  • Snowflake - Data warehouse integrations from multiple analytics platforms
  • Databricks - Unified analytics platform with multi-source data ingestion

Choosing the Right Platform

Selecting analytics platforms requires balancing several factors:

Business Requirements

Use Case Alignment:

  • Content publishers - Focus on pageviews, engagement, and traffic sources (GA4, Plausible, Simple Analytics)
  • SaaS products - Emphasize feature usage, retention, and user journeys (Mixpanel, Amplitude, Pendo)
  • E-commerce - Prioritize conversion funnels, revenue attribution, and customer lifetime value (GA4, Adobe Analytics)
  • Mobile apps - Require SDK support and app-specific event tracking (Amplitude, Mixpanel, mParticle)

Technical Considerations

Implementation Complexity:

  • Low-code options - Simple Analytics, Plausible, Fathom require minimal technical setup
  • Moderate complexity - GA4, Mixpanel, Segment need thoughtful event planning
  • High complexity - Adobe Analytics, Snowplow, custom implementations require dedicated analytics engineering

Data Volume:

  • Small sites (under 100k monthly visitors) - Any platform will suffice; choose based on features and privacy
  • Medium traffic (100k-10M monthly visitors) - Consider cost scaling and data sampling limits
  • High volume (over 10M monthly visitors) - Evaluate enterprise pricing, data limits, and processing capabilities

Privacy & Compliance

Data Residency:

  • EU data residency required - Matomo (self-hosted), Plausible (EU-hosted option), Piwik PRO
  • U.S.-based data processing acceptable - Google Analytics 4, Adobe Analytics, most SaaS platforms
  • Self-hosted requirement - Matomo, Umami, PostHog (open-source)

Cookie Compliance:

  • Cookie-free measurement - Plausible, Simple Analytics, Fathom, Pirsch (server-side mode)
  • First-party cookies only - Most platforms with proper configuration
  • Third-party cookies - Legacy implementations (avoid when possible)

Common Setup Patterns

Single-Platform Implementation

Most organizations start with a single analytics platform:

  1. Install tracking code - Deploy via tag manager or direct embed
  2. Configure data layer - Structure events and custom dimensions
  3. Validate data collection - Use debugging tools and real-time reports
  4. Set up conversion tracking - Define goals, events, or custom conversions
  5. Configure user permissions - Establish access controls and data governance
  6. Enable integrations - Connect to ad platforms, CRMs, or BI tools

Multi-Platform Strategy

Advanced implementations often combine multiple platforms:

Common Patterns:

  • Web analytics + Product analytics - GA4 for marketing insights + Mixpanel for product usage
  • CDP + Specialized tools - Segment routes data to GA4, Amplitude, and ad platforms
  • Privacy-first + Enterprise - Plausible for public metrics + GA4 for internal analysis
  • Open source + SaaS - Matomo for main tracking + Segment for third-party integration

Migration Planning

Transitioning between platforms requires careful planning:

Pre-Migration:

  1. Audit existing implementation (tracked events, custom dimensions, integrations)
  2. Document conversion definitions and attribution models
  3. Establish baseline metrics for validation
  4. Plan for historical data export/import (if supported)

Migration Execution:

  1. Deploy new platform in parallel with existing tool
  2. Validate data parity between platforms
  3. Update integrations and downstream consumers
  4. Train team members on new interface and features
  5. Monitor for data quality issues

Post-Migration:

  1. Decommission legacy platform after validation period
  2. Archive historical data per retention policies
  3. Update documentation and dashboards
  4. Conduct team retrospective

Data Quality & Governance

Event Naming Conventions

Consistent event taxonomy prevents downstream confusion:

Best Practices:

  • Use snake_case or camelCase consistently
  • Include object_action pattern (e.g., button_clicked, form_submitted)
  • Namespace events by product area (e.g., checkout_step_completed, profile_updated)
  • Version event schemas to manage breaking changes

Custom Dimensions & Properties

Structure custom data for analytical flexibility:

User Properties:

  • Subscription tier
  • Account creation date
  • Geographic location
  • Device category

Event Properties:

  • Product SKU
  • Transaction value
  • Content category
  • Campaign source

Data Retention Policies

Balance analytical needs with privacy and storage costs:

Typical Retention Periods:

  • Regulatory minimum - As required by GDPR (e.g., delete on request)
  • Operational analytics - 13-26 months for year-over-year comparison
  • Historical archives - 3-7 years for long-term trend analysis
  • Personally identifiable data - Minimize retention; pseudonymize when possible

Troubleshooting Common Issues

Data Not Appearing

Diagnostic Steps:

  1. Verify tracking code installation using browser developer tools
  2. Check for JavaScript errors blocking script execution
  3. Confirm domain allowlisting in platform configuration
  4. Review data processing delays (real-time vs. batch processing)
  5. Validate user permissions for data access

Data Discrepancies

Common Causes:

  • Sampling - Platforms like GA4 sample data in high-volume properties
  • Session definitions - Different platforms define sessions differently
  • Bot filtering - Varying approaches to bot and spam traffic exclusion
  • Attribution windows - Conversion attribution lookback periods differ
  • Timezone settings - Mismatched timezone configuration between platforms

Performance Issues

Page Load Impact:

  • Minimize number of synchronous scripts
  • Use tag managers to control execution order
  • Implement server-side tracking where appropriate
  • Defer non-critical analytics to reduce blocking time

Integration Patterns

Ad Platform Connections

Most analytics platforms integrate with advertising platforms for:

  • Conversion import - Send conversion events to ad platforms for optimization
  • Audience export - Create remarketing audiences based on analytics data
  • Attribution - Link ad exposure to downstream conversions

CRM & Marketing Automation

Connect analytics to customer relationship management:

  • Lead scoring - Enrich CRM records with behavioral data
  • Segmentation - Trigger marketing automation based on product usage
  • Customer success - Alert CSMs to churn risk signals

Business Intelligence Tools

Export analytics data to BI platforms:

  • Tableau - Connect via native connectors or APIs
  • Looker - Query analytics platforms directly or via data warehouse
  • Power BI - Import data for custom visualization

Getting Started

For New Implementations

  1. Review platform-specific guides in the sidebar
  2. Choose your analytics platform based on use case and requirements
  3. Follow setup instructions for initial implementation
  4. Configure privacy controls appropriate to your compliance obligations
  5. Validate data collection using platform-specific debugging tools
  6. Set up integrations with ad platforms and other tools
  7. Monitor data quality using Blue Frog Analytics scanning

For Existing Deployments

  1. Audit current implementation for tracking accuracy
  2. Review compliance status against privacy regulations
  3. Optimize performance by consolidating redundant tags
  4. Fix broken tracking using troubleshooting guides
  5. Enhance data quality with improved event taxonomy
  6. Document your setup for team knowledge sharing

For Multi-Platform Deployments

  1. Map data flow across all platforms in your stack
  2. Establish governance with clear ownership and approval workflows
  3. Implement testing procedures for changes
  4. Monitor integrations for data sync issues
  5. Maintain documentation of each platform's role and configuration

Platform-Specific Guides

Browse the sidebar to access detailed implementation, configuration, and troubleshooting documentation for each analytics platform we support. Each guide includes:

  • Setup & Configuration - Installation, initial setup, and platform-specific settings
  • Event Tracking - Custom event implementation and data layer configuration
  • Privacy & Compliance - GDPR, CCPA, and other regulatory requirements
  • Integrations - Connections to ad platforms, CRMs, and other tools
  • Troubleshooting - Common issues and diagnostic procedures
  • Best Practices - Optimization tips and recommended configurations

Select your platform from the navigation menu to get started.

Need Help?

If you're uncertain which analytics platform best fits your needs, or need assistance with implementation:

  • Contact our team for platform selection guidance
  • Review use case documentation for scenario-specific recommendations
  • Join our community to learn from other Blue Frog Analytics users
  • Schedule a consultation for complex multi-platform deployments

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