Google Analytics has been developed by Google. It is a sort of free Web analytics service that helps people by providing website statistics. It also includes basic analytical tools. Such tools are used for search engine optimization (SEO).
Websites also use such tools for marketing purposes. The basic requirement for using Google analytics is a Google account. It includes the following facilities for users:
- It has amazing data visualization tools. Such tools show the changes that have happened over time.
- It shows the data by using a dashboard, scorecards and motion charts.
- It has a proper segmentation for conversion rates and custom reports.
- It allows people to do e-mail-based sharing and communication.
Google Analytics Basics:
Given below are the basics of Google analytics
- You need to sign in to Google Analytics in order to use it. You can do it only with your Google account.
- You have to click on the Admin button. It appears on the bottom left sidebar of your dashboard.
- Then you have to select an account. You can create a new account if you don’t have any.
- You have to click on the dropdown menu. It is done to create a property.
- You have to click on the website. There you can add your site’s name and URL.
- You will be asked to choose your industry and time zone.
- You have to click on ‘Get Tracking ID’. Afterward, you can install that on your website.
How to Install Google Analytics?
You need to have a Google Analytics account. This account is used for using other services like Google Calendar, Gmail, Google Drive, Google+ or YouTube. If you don’t have a Google account, you have to create one.
1. You have to set up your account and property:
Through your Google account, go to Google Analytics. There you will find an option of ‘sign in’. Use it to sign into Google analytics. You may have many Google Analytics account via one Google account. And you could have maximum 50 website properties under one Google Analytics account. So, Google Analytics provides hierarchies to organize the account. You can rename your accounts. You can rename your properties.
2. You have to install your tracking code:
After successfully creating a Google Analytics account, click on ‘Get Tracking ID’ button. Another page will open which will have Google Analytics terms and conditions. You have to agree to it in order to get the Google Analytics code.
The thing to be noted here is that the installation of Google Analytics varies on the basis of the platform. You can install it on any platform. It can be WordPress or any website or any other content management system. You will get timely instructions to install Google Analytics.
3. You have to set up site search:
You will be highly benefitted if you set up site search. You will get valuable data really quickly. Click on the ‘search’ button on your website. Don’t close the tab but keep it opened. Then, go to Google analytics admin menu.
By doing so you are allowing the Google Analytics to make a quick search on your website. It will track all the searches on your website. You will get to know what visitors are looking for. You will get to know what they love on a specific page.
4. You have to add additional accounts and properties:
Having many Google Analytics accounts will obviously help you. Even experts suggest people have additional accounts. To have an additional account follow the steps mentioned below.
- Firstly go to the Admin menu.
- Click on the drop-down button. You will find that under the Account column.
- Click the Create New Account link.
The similar process can be used to add a new website to a Google Analytics account.
5. You have to view Google Analytics data:
It is very important to have Google Analytics data. You will get details about your website traffic. Every single time after your login, an audience overview report will be sent to you. If you have added many websites, you will get a separate report for every website. You will get the chance to choose among a variety of options. You will get an overview of the first 50 websites.
Why you need Google Analytics?
You should use Google analytics, if you own a website. You should take its best possible advantage if you are a blogger. Google analytics have been developed for both personal and business purpose.
Following are the advantages of using Google analytics:
- You will get to know how many people visit your website.
- You will get details about your visitors like where they live etc.
- Which websites are contributing to your website by sending more visitors?
- You will come across the pages which are loved the most by your visitors.
- You will get to know about the conversion rates of your website.
What Does Google Analytics Do?
1. Prioritize your information and data:
If there is so much data available, you should use Google analytics. You can have a glance if you set up dashboards area. You can create many dashboards. Each one of them will contain multiple widgets. In order to create a new dashboard, follow the steps mentioned below:
- Go to Dashboards in the menu bar of your analytics.
- Then you have to select New Dashboard.
- Then you have to add your widgets.
- You will get a chance to choose from widgets.
Those widgets will show you a particular metric. You can change the date range at any time. You can also see all of your updated widgets according to the date range’s data. So, you will be benefitted because of this feature of the dashboards. You can take its best possible advantage. You can get details related to your traffic, goal completions etc.
2. Know about the beneficial online campaigns:
You might know that online marketing campaigns benefit people a lot. They are the most successful way to get more traffic. No doubt, you will get improved traffic. You will also get an improved conversion rate. Follow the steps mentioned below to get an advantage:
You have to create an advanced segment.
Then click on the ‘Advanced Segments’ option.
Then you have to click on the ‘New Custom Segment.’
By doing, so you will be able to see all of your traffic. You will come across the goal conversion data. You can take aid from various sources to get an idea of your website’s working. You can find out the impact of your social media campaigns. You can also know the results of your online marketing strategies.
3. Know the preference of your best visitors.
You should know what kind of keywords brings visitors to your website. You should know what people are searching for. Your website should have a search box. With the help of the search box, you can find the URL of the search results. Follow the steps mentioned below.
You have to go to the Content menu.
You will find the Site Search area there.
You will get an option of ‘usage’. That’s where you can find the searched keywords. Continue browsing it unless you get what actually they are getting.
Under the option of ‘pages’, you can see which page is being loved by people.
In short, the Site Search helps to determine what people are finding. It also helps in knowing what they actually searched for. You will get to know if you need to update any page. You will know what kind of content is loved by your readers.
4. Know about the clicks of people:
You might be curious to know what people click the most on your website. Follow the given below steps:
You have to use ‘In-Page Analytics’.
You will find it under the ‘Content menu’. These clicks are the ones which have happened on your internal links.
You can check each link to see the impact of your content. Keep on clicking to get additional details. You will be able to see the most popular areas of your site. Google analytics will help you to identify the place with most clicks.
SEO experts suggest people place their link at the place with most clicks. This is generally done if only one link is there.
Analyze your content:
You can use Google analytics to get answers to a few questions. Some of the questions are
a) Which page holds your readers to the longest time?
b) Which page has the lowest bounce rate?
You have to go to the ‘Content’ menu. Then you have to select ‘Pages’ under ‘Site Content.’
By doing so, you will get the impact of your content. You will know about the kind of content to be produced. It is obvious that you will develop improved content now. Your readers will love your content. Use this feature to increase your traffic. Get more visitors and readers. Use this feature to transform your visitors into readers.
Advantages of using Google analytics
1. You can manage your traffic;
Online campaigns are a good source of traffic generations. You should know about the campaigns which are sending you traffic. Your efforts should get you results. In order to check the impact, you should track campaigns. You should simply add parameters to your URLs. That will allow you to continuously track campaigns. You will get the exact result.
2. You can track your goals:
Google Analytics has an amazing feature i.e.’ Goals feature’. It is used to see the conversion rates of your websites. Goals can differ depending on the website and its goals.
You can track the goals of your website. It can be the destination of your visitors. It can be the amount of time your visitors want to spend on the website. It can be the views of various pages of your website.
3. You can get the audience report:
Google Analytics provides audience reports to its users. They showcase the colorful picture of the customers. It gives the report on the basis of their actions on the website. It answers the following questions:
a) What is it that is attracting your advertisers?
b) What are the products your users love to use?
c) Which feature of your website attracts new users?
4. Take help of flow visualization:
This feature is amazing. Flow visualization graphics helps people to spy on the website visitors. It tells you about every single action taken by your visitors. You will get to know what engages your visitors.
You will also get to know where you lose your users. You can find many flow visualization reports in Google Analytics. The most popular report is the Behavior Flow report.
5. Analyze the data with custom reports:
Google Analytics’ custom reports are equally beneficial like other reports. It presents the data brilliantly. You will get the data in exactly the same way you want. You can create unique reports. These reports will help you in achieving your business goals. You can also take the aid of Google Analytics Solutions Gallery. This is the place where you will get all the uncontrolled custom report templates. You will save a lot of time. It is because these templates will be of great help. It provides insights for mobile performance, page timing, keyword analysis etc.
Conclusion:
Follow the steps mentioned below to use Google analytics.
- You have to start by creating your analytics account. You have to use google.com/analytics. Click on ‘sign in’ or ‘start’.
- You have to create your own property on analytics account. This will be a representative of your website or app. It collects the analytical data from your site.
- Then you have to develop your own reporting view. It will help you to filter data as per your choice.