Why You Should Launch Your SaaS with Analytics from Day One

When starting a SaaS business, you might hear a lot about how analytics are just vanity metrics, distracting startups from the real task at hand: engaging directly with customers. The prevailing wisdom suggests that you should wait until your business starts to scale before integrating any form of analytics.

But let’s challenge that notion.

Here’s why I firmly believe in launching your product with analytics right from the get-go.

It’s Not All Black and White

The discussion around analytics isn’t a simple yes or no question. Analytics is a powerful tool, and like any tool, their effectiveness comes down to how well you use it.

Here are three reasons to consider analytics from the start:

Immediate Insights

Analytics can provide immediate, actionable insights if you know where to look. For example, in one of our projects, we noticed that a significant portion of our traffic was directed to a specific blog post about creating a time tracker and timesheets in Notion. Further analysis showed that most of this traffic came from a related YouTube video. This information was gold—it told us that there was a strong interest in time management solutions for Notion users, and that YouTube could be an effective channel for our marketing efforts.

Evolving Needs

Setting up analytics is not a one-off task. Your needs will evolve as your business grows, and so will your analytics setup. Starting early means you can adapt your tracking to meet your needs without scrambling to catch up later. For example, as you scale, you might find that initial metrics you tracked are no longer relevant, and new ones are needed. This adaptability is crucial.

Developing Expertise

Like any skill, mastery of analytics takes time. By integrating analytics from day one, you start the learning curve early. Initially, you might only track basic metrics like overall site traffic, but gradually, you can expand to more complex analyses like goal tracking and campaign performance.

Choosing the Right Analytics Tool

The are a few popular ones to choose from. Google Analytics is widely used, but it can be complex for beginners. I personally prefer using Fathom* for its simplicity and strong focus on privacy.

Conclusion

“Don’t obsess over analytics” is only a precaution, not a prescription. It's easy to dismiss analytics as mere vanity metrics, but they are more than that.

By integrating analytics from the beginning, you lay a foundation for informed decision-making. You don’t have to obsess over the numbers from day one, but having them collected in the background means they're ready when you are.

By the time you’re ready to dive deep into your data, you’ll have a treasure trove of insights waiting for you.

• This is an affiliate link which will give you a $10 discount if you sign up to Fathom.

Original post: https://farez.substack.com/p/why-you-should-launch-your-saas-with