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To track visitors on a WordPress website, use Site Kit by Google to connect Google Analytics and view its reports in WordPress, or use Jetpack Stats for visit and site-activity summaries in the WordPress admin. Choose the service that fits the reports you need, configure consent and privacy settings, and avoid treating numbers from different services as directly interchangeable.
Choose a tracking method
| Option | What it reports | Where you see it | Best fit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Analytics through Site Kit | Analytics reports, including metrics such as unique visitors, time on page and popular content. | Site Kit dashboard and related WordPress views. | You want Google Analytics data available from WordPress and need its reporting depth. |
| Jetpack Stats | Aggregate site activity, including post and page views, outbound link clicks, referrals, search terms and country. | WordPress admin Stats views. | You want visit and activity summaries in the WordPress admin. |
Site Kit displays data from a connected Google Analytics property; its dashboard summaries are views of that Analytics data, not an independent visitor count. Jetpack Stats is a separate reporting service. Collection settings and metric definitions can differ, and Jetpack warns that its figures may not match those from another analytics service. Compare what each service counts and how it is configured before drawing conclusions. Jetpack’s troubleshooting guidance covers discrepancies.
Set up Google Analytics with Site Kit
- Install and activate Site Kit by Google. Use the WordPress admin to add the official Site Kit plugin, then open Site Kit and follow its setup flow.
- Connect the Google account that should manage the site’s Google services. During setup, choose to connect Google Analytics if you already have a property to use.
- Connect Analytics later if needed. If you skip it initially, open Site Kit settings and connect Google Analytics there.
- Open the Site Kit dashboard to review reports. Site Kit documents summary metrics such as unique visitors, time on page and popular content, as well as visitor groups and more detailed Analytics views.
Exact labels and available views can change. Site Kit’s setup documentation explains the connection flow and where Analytics data appears: connecting services in Site Kit.
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Use Jetpack Stats for WordPress activity reports
Jetpack Stats provides site visits and activity reporting in the WordPress admin. Its summaries can include page and post views, outbound link clicks, referrals, search terms and visitor country. Review the current Stats settings and the feature availability for your Jetpack setup; feature tiers and interfaces can change.
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Jetpack says that its Stats interface does not expose explicitly identifying details such as a visitor’s IP address or WordPress.com identity to the site owner. Jetpack also states that Stats logs containing visitor IP addresses and, when available, WordPress.com usernames are retained by Automattic for 28 days and used only to power the feature. This is Jetpack’s stated retention practice for Stats, not a general retention rule for analytics tools. See Jetpack Stats documentation for its current explanation of collection and settings.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Configure consent and privacy deliberately
Google Analytics and consent
Consent choices can affect whether Google tags store information and whether Analytics data is collected. Site Kit documents consent mode and integrations with consent management plugins. A consent management plugin can communicate a visitor’s choice to Google tags; when consent is denied, the documented behavior avoids storing cookie data, and Analytics reporting may use modeling rather than the same data available when consent is granted. Site Kit also describes handling for visitors in the EEA, Switzerland and the UK when consent mode is not enabled. Consult Site Kit’s consent mode documentation and check the behavior of your chosen consent plugin.
These product behaviors are not a legal determination. Requirements depend on the site’s audience, configuration and applicable rules; make sure your consent setup and privacy disclosures reflect how the site actually operates.
Jetpack Stats and Do Not Track
Jetpack says Stats can be configured to honor a visitor’s Do Not Track preference. It also documents Stats as activated by default and provides settings for disabling it. Check your site’s current configuration rather than assuming a default matches your privacy policy. See Jetpack’s Stats settings documentation.
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Make the numbers useful
- Decide what you want to learn. For broad Analytics reporting, connect a Google Analytics property through Site Kit. For WordPress-admin summaries of visits and site activity, consider Jetpack Stats.
- Check the reporting period and metric definition. A visit, a visitor and a page view are different measures; compare like with like when reviewing trends.
- Keep settings consistent when comparing periods. Consent behavior, tracking configuration and changes to the site can affect reported totals.
- Use one service consistently for a trend. Differences between services are not, by themselves, proof that one is broken. Investigate metric definitions and settings before interpreting a mismatch.
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