How-To Guides
Why Your Website Traffic in the Storagely Dashboard May Differ from GA4
10 min
storagely uses matomo analytics to power the website traffic data you see in your dashboard you might notice differences between your storagely dashboard numbers and what appears in google analytics 4 (ga4) this article explains why those differences happen β and why the traffic data in storagely is still accurate and reliable quick summary storagely uses matomo , not ga4, to report website traffic matomo and ga4 define visits/sessions differently , which leads to different totals storagely filters traffic based on specific domain and page urls , which ga4 may not you donβt have access to matomo , but our team can investigate if you spot discrepancies the traffic data shown in your storagely dashboard is correct based on matomoβs tracking logic π§ βvisitβ vs βsessionβ whatβs the difference? π matomo (used by storagely) a visit is counted when someone lands on your website and interacts (e g , views a page) the session ends after 30 minutes of inactivity we filter only for your facilityβs specific domain or urls only tracked pages (with the matomo tag) are included π google analytics 4 (ga4) uses a different model sessions are event based ga4 sessions can end at midnight when the source/campaign changes includes broader traffic (like bots, external sources, or unfiltered events) ga4 may include more visits that donβt meet matomo's stricter tracking filters π https //matomo org/matomo vs google analytics comparison/ π why storagely uses matomo instead of ga4 we chose matomo as our analytics platform because it offers several key advantages over google analytics 4 β especially for operators who value accuracy, privacy, and simplicity β
key benefits of matomo benefit why it matters privacy first matomo is fully gdpr and ccpa compliant and doesnβt require cookie consent banners more accurate filtering we can filter traffic by exact domain, page, and parameter β giving you cleaner data own your data unlike ga4, matomo gives us full control and ownership over the analytics data we collect less sampling ga4 often samples data on high traffic sites; matomo reports exact visit counts customizable tracking we can set precise tracking rules to focus only on what matters for your business no google dependence matomo is a fully independent platform, which means fewer ecosystem constraints and no hidden data sharing with ad networks by using matomo, we're able to give you a cleaner, more focused view of the traffic that truly matters to your facilityβs website β without the noise of broad, unfiltered session data from external campaigns or bot traffic π§© common reasons for discrepancies reason explanation different definitions ga4 and matomo count sessions differently, leading to mismatched totals filtered domains we only track traffic to your exact domain and specific pages using matomo missing tags if a page isnβt tagged with matomo, it wonβt be counted β even if ga4 tracks it api differences storagely uses matomoβs visitssummary getvisits api to pull accurate visit totals gmb and other sources ga4 might include traffic from sources like google my business or paid campaigns π οΈ what changed in september 2025 in september 2025 , we made a major update to improve how visits are counted in your dashboard before we used a matomo api that returned only 10 recent visits ( live getlastvisitsdetails ) now we use the visitssummary getvisits api, which returns the full and accurate total for your selected date range and domain this change ensures that your website traffic data reflects the true numbers matomo reports π why your ga4 numbers donβt match ours storagely (matomo) google analytics 4 (ga4) visit = meaningful interaction session = event stream ends after 30 mins of inactivity ends at midnight or source change filters by domain and page may include multiple domains or all traffic strict tracking (tag required) includes all recorded events fully privacy compliant uses broader event based tracking π‘ what you can do even though you donβt have access to matomo, weβre here to help if you see traffic in ga4 or google my business (gmb) that looks significantly higher than whatβs in your storagely dashboard let us know! weβll investigate on your behalf using matomo make sure you're comparing the same date range and same domain in ga4 if youβre checking gmb, remember that clicks donβt always result in valid visits (e g , bots, quick bounces) π pro tip for the most accurate check, compare visits in storagely after september 23, 2025 , when our fix was deployed π§ final takeaway while itβs common to see different numbers between ga4 and storagely the visit data in your storagely dashboard is accurate β it reflects filtered, validated results directly from matomo if you need help reconciling your reports or believe something looks off, our team is happy to review the data and provide insights as always, if you ever have any questions throughout this process, our customer success team is always ready to help! we have a couple of ways you can reach out, choose what is best for you ! all methods of contact flow into the same support team, which means no method will provide you a faster response than others email helpdesk\@storagely io com https //d1s7s share hsforms com/297gkkisitsmdgskuyt9s2g
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