One of the most important things you need do to ensure your website is working for you is monitoring your website’s traffic.  It’s more than just tracking how much traffic you’re getting.  Knowing where the traffic is coming from, and how your visitors are interacting with your website are just as crucial in finding out how effective your website and online marketing campaigns are (and how you can improve on them).

Google Analytics is one tool you can use to track information on the performance of your website (and your chosen keywords), and what your visitors are doing during their visit.

What is Google Analytics?

Google Analytics is a free website service that provides you with statistics and basic analytics for tracking the performance of your Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and Internet Marketing (IM) campaigns.  This service is available to anyone with a Google account, and can be integrated with other Google products, such as Adwords.

Google Analytics is equipped with a suite of tools, which could open up a world of valuable information that can help you boost your current online marketing efforts.  Here are some of the benefits of using Google Analytics:

• Free of charge.  Google Analytics is a freemium service available to everyone with a Google account.  But don’t be fooled by the word FREE.  Google Analytics offers just as much (or even more) as other paid tools.
• Help you find out where and how much traffic you’re getting.  Google Analytics’ reporting tools let you find out how effective your core keywords are in driving traffic, plus, clue you in on other keywords your visitors are using to find your website.
• Able to target which pages and links your visitors go to.  With Google Analytics, you’ll be able to know which pages, products, or posts are the most popular on your website.
• Help you determine how effective your optimisation campaigns are.  Google Analytics can help you find out if your campaigns are directing traffic to the right products or pages on your site.
• Help you analyse how well your content performs.  As web content is one of your website’s primary traffic drivers, it is therefore imperative that you know how effective your online contents are.  Google Analytics can provide you valuable insights as to how much conversion your web contents are generating, and which topics your visitors are most interested in.
•  Help you improve your website.  With the analytics reports, you will be able to fine tune your website and improve your campaigns and content, thus guaranteeing you more conversions in the future.

How to setup Google Analytics on your website

Sign-in to your Google account

If you don’t have one yet, it’s time you get one.  Once you’re signed in, visit Google Analytics and click Sign In at the top-right corner of the Analytics page.

Find your tracking ID

You first need to setup a property to get a tracking ID.

Insert your Analytics tracking code and ID on your website

Once you have created a property on your Analytics account, it will generate a tracking code and a tracking ID, which you can encode to your website.

(1) Tracking code – A JavaScript snippet that collects and sends data to Analytics from your website.  It is automatically generated once you have created a web property.  Copy and paste this to your web page to start tracking your website.

(2) Tracking ID – A string included in in your Tracking code, which lets Analytics know which account and property it will send data to.  It can also be included in other tracking technologies, like SDK’s (mobile app data) and Measurement Protocol (gaming consoles).

Zest

Inserting Google Analytics Code on your Zest Website (Requires only the tracking ID)

WordPress

There are two (2) ways you can insert the Google Analytics code on your WordPress website:

1. Appearance > Editor (WARNING:  Unless you have indepth knowledge of PHP and CSS codes, be cautious when editing your website’s CSS codes.  Inserting the wrong code or modifying the wrong code might cause serious damage to your website’s template.  If you need assistance in inserting your Google Analytics’ Tracking Code, contact our support team.
2. Via Plugins.  Plugins may be the easiest way to have your Google Analytics setup with your website.  If you would like to have a Google Analytics plugin installed on your website, contact our support team.

Shopify

Working with Google Analytics

Squarespace

Using Google Analytics with Squarespace

Check your web tracking code setup

Make sure you’re Google Analytics are properly set up and collecting data.  Follow the steps in the link below to know how to verify your web tracking code setup.

Check your web tracking code setup

Start tracking

Once you have setup and tested your Google Analytics code on your website, you can now start measuring your website’s success.  Usually, you will see the tracked data after a couple of days.

Need help with measuring your website’s success?

Let our team of specialists help you monitor and improve your website results.  Contact our support team to know how our specialists can help you achieve better results for your website.

NOTE:  You will also need to grant us full access to your Google Analytics account so we can help you track your website’s performance.  Click here for the instructions.