diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index fafee0e..d53418d 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -16,13 +16,16 @@ Publish the configuration file (optional):
 php artisan vendor:publish --tag=mattitja-analytics-config
 ```
 
-Add your site key to your `.env` file:
+Add your site key and ingest secret to your `.env` file:
 
 ```env
 MATTITJA_ANALYTICS_SITE_KEY=your-site-key
+MATTITJA_ANALYTICS_INGEST_SECRET=your-ingest-secret
 MATTITJA_ANALYTICS_ENABLED=true
 ```
 
+Both values are found under **Site → Install** in Mattitja Analytics. Click "Generate secret" to create the ingest secret. Without it the API ignores the forwarded visitor IP and user agent and rejects the request, so nothing is tracked.
+
 ## Usage
 
 The package automatically registers middleware for the `web` group and starts collecting analytics data immediately after installation and configuration.
@@ -42,6 +45,10 @@ Route::middleware(['mattitja-analytics'])->group(function () {
 
 ### Basic Settings
 - `MATTITJA_ANALYTICS_SITE_KEY` - Your site key from Mattitja Analytics (required)
+- `MATTITJA_ANALYTICS_INGEST_SECRET` - Your site's ingest secret, sent as a Bearer token (required)
+- `MATTITJA_ANALYTICS_TIMEOUT` - HTTP timeout in seconds (default: 1)
+- `MATTITJA_ANALYTICS_CONNECT_TIMEOUT` - Connect timeout in seconds (default: 0.5)
+- `MATTITJA_ANALYTICS_PAUSE_ON_FAILURE` - Seconds to stop sending after the API is unreachable or returns 5xx (default: 60, `0` disables)
 - `MATTITJA_ANALYTICS_ENABLED` - Enable/disable tracking (default: true)
 - `MATTITJA_ANALYTICS_BOTS` - Track bots (default: false)
 
@@ -53,7 +60,7 @@ You can configure paths and IP addresses to ignore in the config file.
 
 ## Data Sent
 
-The package sends the following data to `https://analytics.mattitja.cloud/api/send`:
+The package sends the following data to `https://analytics.mattitja.se/api/send`:
 
 - `k` - Site key
 - `u` - Full URL of the visited page
@@ -61,10 +68,15 @@ The package sends the following data to `https://analytics.mattitja.cloud/api/se
 - `ip` - Visitor's complete IP address
 - `ua` - User agent string
 
+The request is authenticated with `Authorization: Bearer <ingest secret>`, and the visitor's `Accept-Language` header is forwarded.
+
+Only successful `GET` requests that render HTML count as pageviews. Form posts, redirects, JSON responses and requests that expect JSON are skipped.
 ## Security
 
-- Data is sent synchronously directly from middleware
+- Data is sent from the middleware's `terminate()` step, after the response has been sent to the browser
 - IP addresses are NOT anonymized (needed for geolocation)
+- No queue, worker or cache is required. If the API is down, sending pauses for `pause_on_failure` seconds, tracked with a marker file in `storage/framework`, so visitors and PHP workers are never held up
+- All errors are caught and logged, so the API being down never breaks your site
 - Bot traffic is filtered out by default
 - Do Not Track header is respected by default
 
diff --git a/config/mattitja-analytics.php b/config/mattitja-analytics.php
index 743b649..fbfb6a2 100644
--- a/config/mattitja-analytics.php
+++ b/config/mattitja-analytics.php
@@ -12,6 +12,19 @@ return [
 
     'site_key' => env('MATTITJA_ANALYTICS_SITE_KEY'),
 
+    // Site ingest secret (Site -> Install in Mattitja Analytics). Sent as a
+    // Bearer token so the API trusts the visitor IP and user agent we forward.
+    'ingest_secret' => env('MATTITJA_ANALYTICS_INGEST_SECRET'),
+
+    // HTTP timeouts in seconds. Sending runs after the response is sent, but
+    // still occupies the PHP worker, so keep these short.
+    'timeout' => env('MATTITJA_ANALYTICS_TIMEOUT', 1),
+    'connect_timeout' => env('MATTITJA_ANALYTICS_CONNECT_TIMEOUT', 0.5),
+
+    // When the API is unreachable or returns 5xx, pause sending for this many
+    // seconds (tracked with a file in storage/framework, no cache needed).
+    'pause_on_failure' => env('MATTITJA_ANALYTICS_PAUSE_ON_FAILURE', 60),
+
     /*
     |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
     | Capture Configuration
diff --git a/src/AnalyticsServiceProvider.php b/src/AnalyticsServiceProvider.php
index 6ccecc9..d30fff1 100644
--- a/src/AnalyticsServiceProvider.php
+++ b/src/AnalyticsServiceProvider.php
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ class AnalyticsServiceProvider extends ServiceProvider
         }
 
         $this->registerMiddleware();
-        $this->warnIfSiteKeyMissing();
+        $this->warnIfConfigMissing();
     }
 
     /**
@@ -57,16 +57,20 @@ class AnalyticsServiceProvider extends ServiceProvider
     }
 
     /**
-     * Log a warning if site_key is not configured.
+     * Log a warning if site_key or ingest_secret is not configured.
      */
-    private function warnIfSiteKeyMissing(): void
+    private function warnIfConfigMissing(): void
     {
-        if ($this->app->runningInConsole()) {
+        if ($this->app->runningInConsole() || ! config('mattitja-analytics.enabled', true)) {
             return;
         }
 
         if (empty(config('mattitja-analytics.site_key'))) {
             Log::warning('Mattitja Analytics: site_key is not configured. Add MATTITJA_ANALYTICS_SITE_KEY to your .env file.');
         }
+
+        if (empty(config('mattitja-analytics.ingest_secret'))) {
+            Log::warning('Mattitja Analytics: ingest_secret is not configured. Add MATTITJA_ANALYTICS_INGEST_SECRET to your .env file.');
+        }
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/Console/InstallCommand.php b/src/Console/InstallCommand.php
index f2688fd..26ed158 100644
--- a/src/Console/InstallCommand.php
+++ b/src/Console/InstallCommand.php
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ class InstallCommand extends Command
 
         $this->components->info('Mattitja Analytics installed successfully!');
         $this->components->warn('Add your site key to .env: MATTITJA_ANALYTICS_SITE_KEY=your-key');
+        $this->components->warn('Add your ingest secret to .env: MATTITJA_ANALYTICS_INGEST_SECRET=your-secret');
 
         return Command::SUCCESS;
     }
@@ -33,9 +34,16 @@ class InstallCommand extends Command
         }
 
         $envContent = file_get_contents($envPath);
+        $additions = '';
 
-        if (! str_contains($envContent, 'MATTITJA_ANALYTICS_SITE_KEY')) {
-            file_put_contents($envPath, $envContent."\nMATTITJA_ANALYTICS_SITE_KEY=\n");
+        foreach (['MATTITJA_ANALYTICS_SITE_KEY', 'MATTITJA_ANALYTICS_INGEST_SECRET'] as $key) {
+            if (! str_contains($envContent, $key)) {
+                $additions .= "{$key}=\n";
+            }
+        }
+
+        if ($additions !== '') {
+            file_put_contents($envPath, $envContent."\n".$additions);
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/Data/PageviewData.php b/src/Data/PageviewData.php
index 414ec7f..0bdce23 100644
--- a/src/Data/PageviewData.php
+++ b/src/Data/PageviewData.php
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ readonly class PageviewData
         public string $ip,
         public string $userAgent,
         public ?string $referrer = null,
+        public ?string $acceptLanguage = null,
     ) {}
 
     public function toArray(): array
diff --git a/src/Middleware/AnalyticsMiddleware.php b/src/Middleware/AnalyticsMiddleware.php
index 4725788..970760b 100644
--- a/src/Middleware/AnalyticsMiddleware.php
+++ b/src/Middleware/AnalyticsMiddleware.php
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ class AnalyticsMiddleware
     {
         $response = $next($request);
 
-        if ($this->shouldCaptureAnalytics($request)) {
+        if ($this->shouldCaptureAnalytics($request, $response)) {
             $this->pendingData = $this->buildAnalyticsData($request);
         }
 
@@ -56,10 +56,12 @@ class AnalyticsMiddleware
     /**
      * Determine if analytics should be captured for this request.
      */
-    protected function shouldCaptureAnalytics(Request $request): bool
+    protected function shouldCaptureAnalytics(Request $request, Response $response): bool
     {
         return $this->isAnalyticsEnabled()
             && $this->hasSiteKey()
+            && $this->hasIngestSecret()
+            && $this->isPageview($request, $response)
             && ! $this->isIgnoredPath($request)
             && ! $this->isIgnoredIp($request)
             && ! $this->shouldIgnoreBot($request)
@@ -82,6 +84,34 @@ class AnalyticsMiddleware
         return ! empty(config('mattitja-analytics.site_key'));
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Check if the ingest secret is configured. Without it the API ignores the
+     * forwarded visitor IP/UA and rejects the server-to-server request.
+     */
+    private function hasIngestSecret(): bool
+    {
+        return ! empty(config('mattitja-analytics.ingest_secret'));
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Only successful GET requests rendering HTML count as pageviews
+     * (skips form posts, redirects, JSON/Livewire calls and assets).
+     */
+    protected function isPageview(Request $request, Response $response): bool
+    {
+        if (! $request->isMethod('GET') || $request->expectsJson()) {
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        if (! $response->isSuccessful()) {
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        $contentType = (string) $response->headers->get('Content-Type', 'text/html');
+
+        return str_contains($contentType, 'text/html');
+    }
+
     /**
      * Check if bot traffic should be ignored.
      */
@@ -156,6 +186,7 @@ class AnalyticsMiddleware
             ip: $request->ip(),
             userAgent: $request->userAgent() ?? '',
             referrer: $request->header('referer'),
+            acceptLanguage: $request->header('Accept-Language'),
         );
     }
 
@@ -166,7 +197,7 @@ class AnalyticsMiddleware
     {
         try {
             app(AnalyticsClient::class)->send($data);
-        } catch (\Exception $e) {
+        } catch (\Throwable $e) {
             Log::error('Failed to send analytics data', [
                 'error' => $e->getMessage(),
             ]);
diff --git a/src/Services/AnalyticsClient.php b/src/Services/AnalyticsClient.php
index 1bf3e63..de229c7 100644
--- a/src/Services/AnalyticsClient.php
+++ b/src/Services/AnalyticsClient.php
@@ -11,30 +11,87 @@ class AnalyticsClient
     /**
      * The Mattitja Analytics API endpoint.
      */
-    private const string ENDPOINT = 'https://analytics.mattitja.cloud/api/send';
-
-    /**
-     * HTTP request timeout in seconds.
-     */
-    private const int TIMEOUT = 5;
+    private const string ENDPOINT = 'https://analytics.mattitja.se/api/send';
 
     /**
      * Send analytics data to the Mattitja Analytics API.
      */
     public function send(PageviewData $data): void
     {
-        if (! $this->validateData($data)) {
+        if (! $this->validateData($data) || $this->isPaused()) {
             return;
         }
 
         try {
-            Http::timeout(self::TIMEOUT)
+            $response = Http::withOptions([
+                'timeout' => (float) config('mattitja-analytics.timeout', 1),
+                'connect_timeout' => (float) config('mattitja-analytics.connect_timeout', 0.5),
+            ])
+                ->acceptJson()
+                ->withToken((string) config('mattitja-analytics.ingest_secret'))
+                ->withHeaders(array_filter([
+                    'Accept-Language' => $data->acceptLanguage,
+                ]))
                 ->post(self::ENDPOINT, $data->toArray());
-        } catch (\Exception) {
-            // Fail silently to not break user experience
+
+            if ($response->serverError()) {
+                $this->pause();
+            } elseif ($response->successful()) {
+                $this->resume();
+            }
+
+            if (! $response->successful()) {
+                Log::warning('Mattitja Analytics: API rejected pageview', [
+                    'status' => $response->status(),
+                    'body' => mb_substr($response->body(), 0, 500),
+                ]);
+            }
+        } catch (\Throwable $e) {
+            // Never break the host application; back off and try again later.
+            $this->pause();
+
+            Log::warning('Mattitja Analytics: failed to reach API, pausing', [
+                'error' => $e->getMessage(),
+            ]);
         }
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Whether sending is paused after a recent failure.
+     */
+    public function isPaused(): bool
+    {
+        $pausedAt = @filemtime($this->pauseFile());
+
+        return $pausedAt !== false
+            && $pausedAt > time() - (int) config('mattitja-analytics.pause_on_failure', 60);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Pause sending (circuit breaker) by touching a marker file.
+     */
+    protected function pause(): void
+    {
+        if ((int) config('mattitja-analytics.pause_on_failure', 60) > 0) {
+            @touch($this->pauseFile());
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Clear the pause marker after a successful request.
+     */
+    protected function resume(): void
+    {
+        if (is_file($this->pauseFile())) {
+            @unlink($this->pauseFile());
+        }
+    }
+
+    protected function pauseFile(): string
+    {
+        return storage_path('framework/mattitja-analytics.paused');
+    }
+
     /**
      * Validate that all required fields are present and not empty.
      */
diff --git a/tests/Feature/AnalyticsMiddlewareTest.php b/tests/Feature/AnalyticsMiddlewareTest.php
index 4e6668a..caf9328 100644
--- a/tests/Feature/AnalyticsMiddlewareTest.php
+++ b/tests/Feature/AnalyticsMiddlewareTest.php
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ it('captures analytics data for web requests', function () {
     Http::assertSent(function ($request) {
         $data = $request->data();
 
-        return $request->url() === 'https://analytics.mattitja.cloud/api/send' &&
+        return $request->url() === 'https://analytics.mattitja.se/api/send' &&
                $data['k'] === 'testsiteky' &&
                $data['u'] === 'https://example.com/test' &&
                $data['r'] === 'https://google.com' &&
@@ -140,3 +140,50 @@ it('handles empty user agent gracefully', function () {
         return array_key_exists('ua', $data) && $data['ua'] === '';
     });
 });
+
+it('does not capture analytics without an ingest secret', function () {
+    config(['mattitja-analytics.ingest_secret' => null]);
+
+    handleRequest(createMiddleware(), createTestRequest());
+
+    Http::assertNothingSent();
+});
+
+it('forwards the visitor Accept-Language header', function () {
+    $request = createTestRequest();
+    $request->headers->set('Accept-Language', 'sv-SE,sv;q=0.9');
+
+    handleRequest(createMiddleware(), $request);
+
+    Http::assertSent(fn ($request) => $request->hasHeader('Accept-Language', 'sv-SE,sv;q=0.9'));
+});
+
+it('ignores non-GET requests', function () {
+    handleRequest(createMiddleware(), createTestRequest(method: 'POST'));
+
+    Http::assertNothingSent();
+});
+
+it('ignores JSON responses and redirects', function () {
+    $middleware = createMiddleware();
+    $request = createTestRequest();
+
+    foreach ([
+        new \Illuminate\Http\JsonResponse(['ok' => true]),
+        new \Illuminate\Http\RedirectResponse('https://example.com/elsewhere'),
+    ] as $response) {
+        $result = $middleware->handle($request, fn () => $response);
+        $middleware->terminate($request, $result);
+    }
+
+    Http::assertNothingSent();
+});
+
+it('ignores requests expecting JSON', function () {
+    $request = createTestRequest();
+    $request->headers->set('Accept', 'application/json');
+
+    handleRequest(createMiddleware(), $request);
+
+    Http::assertNothingSent();
+});
diff --git a/tests/Feature/InstallCommandTest.php b/tests/Feature/InstallCommandTest.php
index 929ee80..f5d320d 100644
--- a/tests/Feature/InstallCommandTest.php
+++ b/tests/Feature/InstallCommandTest.php
@@ -45,7 +45,8 @@ it('adds env variable if .env exists and key is missing', function () {
 
     $envContent = File::get($this->envPath);
 
-    expect($envContent)->toContain('MATTITJA_ANALYTICS_SITE_KEY=');
+    expect($envContent)->toContain('MATTITJA_ANALYTICS_SITE_KEY=')
+        ->toContain('MATTITJA_ANALYTICS_INGEST_SECRET=');
 
     File::put($this->envPath, $originalContent);
 });
diff --git a/tests/TestCase.php b/tests/TestCase.php
index 4724096..62940aa 100644
--- a/tests/TestCase.php
+++ b/tests/TestCase.php
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ class TestCase extends Orchestra
     public function getEnvironmentSetUp($app)
     {
         config()->set('mattitja-analytics.site_key', 'testsiteky');
+        config()->set('mattitja-analytics.ingest_secret', 'test-secret');
         config()->set('mattitja-analytics.enabled', true);
     }
 }
diff --git a/tests/Unit/AnalyticsClientTest.php b/tests/Unit/AnalyticsClientTest.php
index bbb8d49..bb77e52 100644
--- a/tests/Unit/AnalyticsClientTest.php
+++ b/tests/Unit/AnalyticsClientTest.php
@@ -6,8 +6,23 @@ use Mattitja\Analytics\Services\AnalyticsClient;
 
 beforeEach(function () {
     Http::fake();
+    @unlink(storage_path('framework/mattitja-analytics.paused'));
 });
 
+afterEach(function () {
+    @unlink(storage_path('framework/mattitja-analytics.paused'));
+});
+
+function testPageview(): PageviewData
+{
+    return new PageviewData(
+        siteKey: 'testsiteky',
+        url: 'https://example.com/test',
+        ip: '192.168.1.1',
+        userAgent: 'Mozilla/5.0 Chrome',
+    );
+}
+
 it('sends analytics data to the correct endpoint', function () {
     $client = new AnalyticsClient;
     $data = new PageviewData(
@@ -21,7 +36,7 @@ it('sends analytics data to the correct endpoint', function () {
     $client->send($data);
 
     Http::assertSent(function ($request) {
-        return $request->url() === 'https://analytics.mattitja.cloud/api/send' &&
+        return $request->url() === 'https://analytics.mattitja.se/api/send' &&
                $request->method() === 'POST' &&
                $request->data() === [
                    'k' => 'testsiteky',
@@ -35,7 +50,7 @@ it('sends analytics data to the correct endpoint', function () {
 
 it('handles API failures gracefully', function () {
     Http::fake([
-        'analytics.mattitja.cloud/*' => Http::response('Server Error', 500),
+        'analytics.mattitja.se/*' => Http::response('Server Error', 500),
     ]);
 
     $client = new AnalyticsClient;
@@ -140,3 +155,85 @@ it('excludes null referrer from payload', function () {
         return ! isset($request->data()['r']);
     });
 });
+
+it('sends the ingest secret as bearer token and forwards Accept-Language', function () {
+    (new AnalyticsClient)->send(new PageviewData(
+        siteKey: 'testsiteky',
+        url: 'https://example.com/test',
+        ip: '192.168.1.1',
+        userAgent: 'Mozilla/5.0 Chrome',
+        acceptLanguage: 'sv-SE,sv;q=0.9',
+    ));
+
+    Http::assertSent(function ($request) {
+        return $request->hasHeader('Authorization', 'Bearer test-secret')
+            && $request->hasHeader('Accept-Language', 'sv-SE,sv;q=0.9')
+            && ! array_key_exists('acceptLanguage', $request->data());
+    });
+});
+
+it('logs a warning when the API rejects the pageview', function () {
+    Http::swap(new \Illuminate\Http\Client\Factory);
+    Http::fake(['*' => Http::response('', 401)]);
+    \Illuminate\Support\Facades\Log::spy();
+
+    (new AnalyticsClient)->send(new PageviewData(
+        siteKey: 'testsiteky',
+        url: 'https://example.com/test',
+        ip: '192.168.1.1',
+        userAgent: 'Mozilla/5.0 Chrome',
+    ));
+
+    \Illuminate\Support\Facades\Log::shouldHaveReceived('warning')
+        ->withArgs(fn ($message, $context) => str_contains($message, 'rejected') && $context['status'] === 401)
+        ->once();
+});
+
+it('pauses sending after a connection failure', function () {
+    Http::swap(new \Illuminate\Http\Client\Factory);
+    $attempts = 0;
+    Http::fake(function () use (&$attempts) {
+        $attempts++;
+
+        throw new \Illuminate\Http\Client\ConnectionException('timeout');
+    });
+
+    $client = new AnalyticsClient;
+    $client->send(testPageview());
+    $client->send(testPageview());
+
+    expect($client->isPaused())->toBeTrue()
+        ->and($attempts)->toBe(1);
+});
+
+it('pauses sending after a server error', function () {
+    Http::swap(new \Illuminate\Http\Client\Factory);
+    Http::fake(['*' => Http::response('', 503)]);
+
+    $client = new AnalyticsClient;
+    $client->send(testPageview());
+    $client->send(testPageview());
+
+    expect($client->isPaused())->toBeTrue();
+    Http::assertSentCount(1);
+});
+
+it('does not pause on client errors', function () {
+    Http::swap(new \Illuminate\Http\Client\Factory);
+    Http::fake(['*' => Http::response('', 401)]);
+
+    $client = new AnalyticsClient;
+    $client->send(testPageview());
+
+    expect($client->isPaused())->toBeFalse();
+});
+
+it('resumes sending after the pause expires', function () {
+    touch(storage_path('framework/mattitja-analytics.paused'), time() - 120);
+
+    $client = new AnalyticsClient;
+    $client->send(testPageview());
+
+    Http::assertSentCount(1);
+    expect(file_exists(storage_path('framework/mattitja-analytics.paused')))->toBeFalse();
+});