What is web analytics and what can it never tell you?

Web analytics collects and reports data on website usage, describing where visitors came from, what they did, and where they left. It answers questions of what and where with reasonable accuracy. It cannot answer why. No analytics platform will explain that visitors abandoned a form because a question felt intrusive, or that a page confused rather than persuaded. Organisations relying on analytics alone accumulate precise descriptions of behaviour they cannot explain, then design solutions for causes they have inferred.

What is the difference between quantitative and qualitative research?

Quantitative research measures what happens at scale. Qualitative research explains why through interviews, session recordings, and usability testing. Each is nearly useless without the other.

How accurate is web analytics data?

Approximate. Ad blockers, consent refusal, cross-device behaviour, and bot traffic all distort it. Treat figures as directional indicators rather than precise counts, and be suspicious of any decision requiring precision.

What should I actually track?

Whatever you would act upon. Every additional tracked event adds maintenance cost and dashboard clutter. A tracking plan should begin with the decisions to be made and work backwards to the data required.