How to Set Up Google Analytics on Your Website

Adding Google Analytics (GA) to your website is a great idea for businesses of any size.

GA lets you gain insight into who is visiting your website and what type of content resonates best with them, as well as purchasing and demographic information and behavior data.

In other words, Google Analytics is a free way to track the return on investment (ROI) of your digital marketing endeavors.

More than 56% of all websites use Google Analytics. Here’s how to become one of them and take advantage of one of the most popular digital marketing tools …

Google Analytics will help transform your website data into leads.

Learn Google Analytics Setup

Google Analytics is a complex tool. For that reason, a lot of business owners – particularly small business owners – shy away from it. Below, we break down everything you need to get started in five steps.

How to set up Google Analytics:

1. Create your Google Analytics account for free
2. Take the Google Analytics for Beginners course
3. Set up Google Tags Manager
4. Implement the Google Analytics tracking tag on your website
5. Set up Google Analytics goals

#1: Create Your Free Google Analytics Account

There are three important steps:

• Go to the special Google link and create your account
• Set up a property
• Set up your view

First, you’ll need to create an account if you don’t already have one. Visit this link to create and account, or sign in to your existing account.

Once your account is created, you’ll need to set up a property. According to Google, “A property represents your website or app, and is the collection point in Analytics for the data from your site or app.” To lean how to set up a GA property, click this link.

After you’ve set up a property, it’s time to set up your view. Views filter your data. At PointA, we set up views for unfiltered data to have all our raw data in case we ever need it, and a view for filtered data. Typically, we exclude the IP addresses of our employees to get an accurate idea of the property’s actual traffic, and we primarily use the filtered view. There are lots of other reasons to set up a view, though. To learn how to set up a view, click this link.

#2: Take the Google Analytics for Beginners Course

Once you have your account, property and view set up, take the Google Analytics for Beginners Course so you understand how to use the different functionalities of Google Analytics. This course, among other things, will teach you:

• A basic overview of Google Analytics and setup
• How to set up filtered views
• Understanding audience, acquisition and behavior data and reports
• Basic campaign and conversion tracking (includes URL tracking)

#3: Set Up Google Tag Manager

Use Google Tag Manager to set up multiple specific Google Analytics tracking tags for all the websites you manage.

Follow these steps straight from Google to set up your Google Tag Manager account:

1. Create a Google Tag Manager account, or use an existing account, at tagmanager.google.com. (A new container (a collection of tags and other configurations on a website) is created by default, and you can create additional containers within each account.)
2. Install the container in your website or mobile app.
3. Add and publish your tags.

Using Google Tag Manager is a great way to keep track of your advertising and website marketing endeavors. This is especially helpful if you have multiple websites and ad campaigns.

#4: Implement the Google Analytics Tracking Code on Your Website

You also receive a global site tracking code, or ID, straight in Google Analytics. “Creating a property generates a unique Tracking ID and a global site tag that includes the Tracking ID for that property.” You’ll need this unique Tracking ID pasted into the code of each web page you want to measure and collect data from. Remember to verify that your Tracking ID is working before you proceed by checking Real-Time Reports in Google Analytics.

#5: Set Up Google Analytics Goals

Creating goals in Google Analytics customizes GA to convey your company’s key performance indicators (KPIs) within your Google Analytics account. Essentially, Google will know how to recognize success for your website if you set up your unique goals in Google Analytics. Click Admin, then click Goal and create your goals from there.

Setting Up Google Analytics Made Easy

Google Analytics is an essential tool for a website’s – and a business’s – success. For your digital marketing endeavors to be successful, you need data and a knowledge of how to make sense of that data and turn it into strategy, as well as comprehensive reporting technology to harness your website traffic and generate leads.

Our team is fluent in Google Analytics, as well as Google Ads and market research. We have the capabilities to turn your data into sales. Contact us today at 231.882.1100 to get started.