Beginner’s Guide to Google Analytics

Google Analytics is the premier way to understand who your customers are, why they are coming to your site and where they are coming from. In order to best market your company, knowing your customers is the number one step. This beginner’s guide to Google Analytics will help you on your journey.

If you choose to get eCommWeb to develop your website, we will set up your Google Analytics for you. But here are some basics to get you started on harvesting and understanding Google Analytics data from your website.

The Basics of Google Analytics

What is Google Analytics and Why Do I Need It?

Google Analytics analyses the data from your website – how people arrived at your site (whether through search engines, direct traffic, social media etc.). You can track how many people are visiting your site, how many sessions those visitors are visiting for, and how long they are staying on your site.

Tracking these patterns of behaviour can not only help to define what content is working (and what is not), but can help you identify areas where you need to increase your marketing.

Install Your Tracking ID

To enable Google Analytics to track and analyse visitor data, you will need to install your tracking ID. If you host with us, we will do this for you.

Here are some simple instructions if you want to do it yourself (WordPress website / Already signed up to Google Analytics)

Navigate to your Admin panel on GA > Account Settings > Tracking Info > Tracking Code
Copy the Global Site Tag code
Navigate to your WordPress website dashboard
Many modern themes have a dedicated area in which to add your Google Analytics tag code – check for this within the theme dashboard > header / google codes
You can also insert this code into the Header tag of your theme. Navigate to your Appearance > Theme Editor > Theme Header (of your Child Theme if available). Within the two <head></head> tags, paste your code (underneath any other code that appears between those two tags). Save and exit.
Then wait 24 hours and check that Google Analytics is receiving the data (Google Analytics > Tracking Info > Status)

Which Reports Should I Look At?

Audience Overview

The first report on the Google Analytics dashboard is the Audience Overview. This gives a great snapshot of your traffic and where they are coming from.

All Pages

All Pages shows you the top pages that people are visiting. Find this report in the Behaviour menu > Site Content > All Pages. Ways to leverage this information include upping your conversion opportunities on your top visited pages; and making the content on your least visited pages pop more, or be more useful.

Pay close attention to the Bounce Rate – the lower the percentage the better!

Aquisition

Explore the Acquisition reports to discover WHERE your traffic is coming from. If you want to see if all that Social Media ad spend is worth it, then these reports will help you find out.

There are lots more aspects of Google Analytics, but these reports will offer you a good beginner’s snapshot into your audience.

Here at eCommWeb we always suggest that you concentrate on organic traffic, by upping your SEO and ‘authority’ in the eyes of search engines by way of quality content and consistent posting.

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