Status: Accepted Date: 2026-04-25
The tutorial site needed analytics to measure search performance and reader engagement. The options ranged from free (Google Search Console, Google Analytics) to privacy-focused paid tools (Plausible, Fathom).
Use Google Search Console (GSC) for all Code with Branko tutorials. Reserve Plausible for commercial products (Wuseria) where privacy-first analytics justify the cost.
- Google Analytics: Free and full-featured, but heavy JavaScript bundle, cookie banners required, and privacy concerns for a developer audience
- Plausible for everything: Clean and privacy-first, but costs money per site — unnecessary for free tutorials where GSC covers the key metrics (impressions, clicks, indexing)
- No analytics: Leaves content decisions ungrounded — no way to know which chapters attract readers or which queries drive traffic
- GSC is free and sufficient for tutorials — covers search performance, indexing, and sitemap validation
- No client-side analytics script on tutorial pages — faster load, no cookie banner
- Plausible cost is only incurred for commercial products