Can I ask why any private website even needs analytics? I just don't see the point. Is it just vanity, or making sure anyone actually reads the articles/content, or trying to adapt to audience preferences/search queries/...?

I get the point for any commercial venture but for most sides I simply don't see the added value. If you want to know whether people like your work add a comment section or a newsletter signup - why do you need to spy on your users with intrusive tools, send their data around the globe to kraken like google, just to have a few statistics?