Should you use MonsterInsights or SiteKit?

When managing your Google Analytics account, which plugin is best for WordPress?

Video transcript:

David: You say, my client already has Google Analytics for WordPress by MonsterInsights and Google Tag Manager plugins installed. Can I remove these two plugins and add Google Site Kit? Just wanna make sure it will not cause a problem. When both are activated, it gives a conflict error. Also, I ran the checker you recommend to see if it comes on all pages. It looks like the homepage is the only one with code.

Well, okay. So, first of all, I wanna commend you for being so thorough to check all this. That is great that you’ve already uncovered that the analytics comes only on the homepage is huge, and so, yes, these are conflicting. The MonsterInsights plugin is a great plugin. I used it for years, but it does the same thing as Site Kit. And the tag manager plugin, there was a Duracell [SP] Tony, I think was his name. Had a really great plugin, used it for years, but Site Kit replaced it. It does the same thing.

So, I, frankly, would recommend removing those and moving Site Kit on because there are certain advantages to having Site Kit. Now, you don’t want both because it will double, but I would check to make sure. I guess here’s what I would do, I would…You know how we always say, “Use Site Kit to serve Tag Manager and don’t use Site Kit to serve analytics.” I would like to do a test first, however. I would go ahead and use Site Kit to serve analytics before you even use Site Kit to serve Tag Manager.

And test to make sure analytics is on every page of the site with Site Kit because there could be a fundamental way the theme was coded incorrectly. Not allowing the header codes to be inserted onto subpages of the site. And if that is what you determine when you do the Site Kit plugin, then there needs to be some coding fixes to interior templates to even allow any plugin, whether Site Kit, maybe even Yoast, or whatever, to even be affected on those interior template pages.

Tricia: I have a question when you were talking about that.

David: Okay. I wanna make sure that LaVonya’s following first.

Tricia: Okay.

LaVonya: Okay. So, you’re saying I disabled Google…the MonsterInsights, I left Tag manager active. So, you said I can remove the MonsterInsights and put Google Site Kit on there?

David: And remove the Tag Manager plugin…

LaVonya: Tag Manager.

David: …as well.

LaVonya: Okay, remove that, too. Okay.

David: Yeah, because the Site Kit will replace two plugins. Okay? And normally…So you’ll also need Tag Manager access because you’ll want it to grant Site Kit access to your Tag Manager. But, I am worried that even Site Kit won’t be able to add the Google Analytics code to any pages outside the homepage because of the way the template was built in WordPress. So, once you do Site Kit, test it again, and then if you find out that the code is not on interior pages, then there’s something wrong with the template…the theme.

LaVonya: Okay.
Tricia: I hadn’t really thought about that there was a theme?

David: Yeah. Tim would know the nomenclature better than me, but there is a hierarchy of files in WordPress, and ideally, every template calls the header and the footer. And if it doesn’t, then things like MonsterInsights can’t insert Google Analytics in the header. It can’t change the header.

Tricia: Okay. Yikes.

David: And if that is a problem with MonsterInsights, it might be a problem with Site Kit.

Tricia: [crosstalk 00:04:52.437]

David: Then again, it might’ve been a problem with something else, but in other words, just because you’re using Site Kit, I’d still test. And if that Site Kit, if analytics isn’t on every page of the site at that point, there is a theme problem.