Tuesday 2nd May 2023
A Beginner’s Guide to Google Analytics
As a business owner, you understand how essential attracting and retaining customers is. But how do you know if your efforts are paying off? That's where Google Analytics comes in. It is a free web analytics tool that can help you track web traffic for your site and learn valuable information about your customers. With its powerful reporting features and measurement tools, Google Analytics can help you set measurable business goals and make informed decisions about your website.
If you're new to analytics, you might wonder, "What is Google Analytics?" or "What are Google Analytics?" Simply put, Google Analytics is a tool that allows you to track on Google and gather data about your website visitors. With this, you can make informed decisions about your marketing strategy and improve the user experience on your site. To get started with Google Analytics, all you need is a Google Analytics login and some basic knowledge of Google keywords.
Whether you're a pro or a beginner, there's always something new to learn about what's Google Analytics and how it benefits your business. In this beginner's guide, we'll look closely at Google Analytics and its many features. Keep reading if you're all set to learn about what Google Analytics is and how it helps your business.
What is Google Analytics?
Website analytics is a crucial tool for any business, and Google Analytics is one of the best free tools available. By using analytics for your website, such as Google Analytics, you can get insights into your web traffic sites and learn what you need to know about your visitors.
Not only can you track the number of visitors to your site, but website analytics allows you to monitor how visitors behave, where they are coming from, and how much traffic your website gets. Google Analytics also provides vital insights into your website's performance, so you can identify trends and make data-driven decisions to meet your business goals.
Whether you are looking to analyze one analytic website or multiple analytics websites, Google Analytics has you covered. You can even monitor social media activities and track mobile app traffic to get a complete picture of your web traffic sites.
Overall, website analytics provide a wealth of information to help you make well-informed business decisions. So, if you're looking for what do website analytics allow you to do, the answer is simple - track, analyze, and optimize your website for maximum success.
How do you set up Google Analytics?
Below are the steps to begin using Google Analytics for your business website.
Basics of Google Analytics
If you simply want to dive right in and avoid getting bogged down with the nitty-gritty, check out this quick guide on setting up Google Analytics for your Website!
With your Google Account, sign in to Google Analytics.
Go to the Admin Button at the sidebar of your dashboard in the bottom left.
Create or Select an account.
Go to the drop-down menu and create a property.
Enter the name of your Website and URL by clicking on Website.
Select your time zone.
Select your Industry
Go to Data Streams and Click on Add Stream.
You will find your Measurement ID at the top right corner.
Sign Up for a Google Analytic Account
To make use of Google Analytics, a Google account is required. Navigate to google.com/analytics and click on Sign in or Create an Account within the left-hand menu. Provide the necessary details, such as account name, website name, time zone, URL, industry, and data-sharing preferences. Click on Create to complete the account setup process.
Next, set up Google Analytics on your Website. A <script> tracking code or measurement ID is necessary to track your Website, which can be found in the Tracking Code section after creating your account. Remember that the tracking code must be on every page you want to monitor.
To add the tracking code, copy and paste it into your Website's template or look for a Google Analytics integration within your website builder, web host, or blog platform. Some website builders offer a dedicated page or field where you can enter your tracking ID. In contrast, others, such as Blogger and Squarespace, only require your Google Analytics web property ID or account number that starts with the letter G to identify your Website. For example, many plugins available for WordPress will automatically add the tracking code to every page.
Add Users
If you want your team members to access your Google Analytics account, you can add them by providing their email addresses. To do so, go to the Admin tab on the left sidebar, select an account, and click on Access Management. Then, you can add new users and customize their permissions. You can limit them to read and analyze traffic or give them admin-level access to edit your settings. Adding users also facilitates report presentation and collaboration.
What are the features of Google Analytics?
Google Analytics is known for providing a variety of customizable metrics, and users can access and customize all of its features from the left sidebar. For small businesses, there are a few essential features.
Traffic Sources
Here's how to use Google Analytics to learn about the origin of your website's visitors and customers. Navigate to the Acquisitions tab on the left sidebar to view all the traffic sources, including channels, referrals, and organic searches.
Doing so lets you determine which search terms led visitors to your website. Additionally, Google Analytics can scan over 20 popular search engines, such as Bing, Google, Yahoo, AOL, and even international search engines like Baidu and significant websites such as CNN.
Custom Reports
You can create your metrics using custom reports not included in the default settings. This feature is handy for online store owners who can track traffic based on specific categories like size, color, and product stock-keeping units. Additionally, you can integrate external data sources like your customer relationship management software. To create your metrics, simply navigate to the Customization tab.
Social Settings
Google Analytics can assist you in this task by incorporating social media data into your tracking metrics. While adding your Google Analytics tracking code to your social media accounts is not feasible, you can still see your social media data by utilizing an Audience Comparison or Explore report.
Under a Traffic Acquisition report, you can access an Audience Comparison report and modify your settings to display only your social media traffic. On the other hand, if you select to generate an Exploration report, you can click on the Explore option and then choose Free Form from the left menu. One of the benefits of Explore reports is that you can easily duplicate past reports, unlike audience comparisons which require you to recreate them every time manually.
What Google Analytics terminology should you know?
Here are some terms that you should be familiar with when using Google Analytics:
Account: In your dashboard, the account refers to the location of each property. You have the option to set up multiple properties in a single account or have multiple accounts for different properties.
Property: Refers to the website or mobile app you want to track.
Measurement ID: This unique code added to your website allows Google Analytics to track it.
Conversion: This refers to visits that result in customers or potential customers.
Channel/traffic source: This displays the source of your website visitors, including links from other websites, referrals, search engines, social media, and emails.
User engagement: This pertains to the duration of time a user spends actively engaged with or using your website or application while it is in the foreground.
Bounce rate: This refers to the proportion of visitors who view only one page before leaving the website.
Event: This refers to a particular action taken by a visitor, such as clicking on an advertisement, watching or pausing a video, downloading a file, and other similar behaviors.
Landing page: This is the first page visitors see when visiting your website.
Organic search: This pertains to individuals who land on your website through a link on a search results page.
Segment: This refers to a method of refining or sorting information, such as by grouping data into categories or identifying specific types of visitors.
Here are the types of reports that you need to pay attention to:
Acquisition: This report reveals the sources of your traffic, including social media, search engines, email campaigns, and links from other websites. You can access it by clicking the Acquisition tab.
Conversions: This report shows how many visitors turn into actual customers or subscribers. You can view a message by selecting a conversion category from the Conversions tab.
Lifetime value: This report tracks your visitors from their initial visit to conversions, return visits, future purchases, and beyond. It can help you identify what factors turn visitors into customers and how to retain them. You can find this report under the Audience tab.
Landing page: This report shows which pages your visitors land on the most, so you can determine where they are coming from and what’s attracting customers. After clicking on Reports, you can access it under the landing page column in different reports under Engagement.
Active users: This report tracks the number of active visitors to your website within a specific period. It allows you to see the pages active users most visit and implement the same strategies in other parts of your website. You can access this report in the Audience tab under Active Users.
What are the benefits of using Google Analytics?
Here are some benefits to consider when deciding whether to use Google Analytics. By tracking metrics, you can gain insights into your audience and gain an advantage for your business.
Gain insight into your customers’ behavior
With Google Analytics, you can obtain a comprehensive customer journey perspective. By utilizing the visualization and reporting tools provided by Google Analytics, you can identify the factors that attract customers and track their behavior on your website.
Achieve visibility into areas that could improve
In addition to identifying areas where your business is succeeding, Google Analytics can also indicate areas that require improvement. For instance, if there is a sharp decline in traffic or a low conversion rate, it may be a sign that the specific pages need to be revised.
Set KPIs for larger goals
When you have more data to measure, it becomes simpler to establish KPIs that are aligned with your company's overall goals. For instance, suppose you want to attract new customers. In that situation, you can utilize Google Analytics to monitor any boosts in website traffic originating from your social media channels. You can then identify the social content contributing to these gains and strategize to continue your achievements.
Help your business grow with Google Analytics
Google Analytics offers various functionalities that enable you to analyze the information required to grow your business. You can use Google Analytics to monitor your customers' journey and identify your strengths and weaknesses. You can begin using this tool by creating a Google account since most of its features are free.
Reach Diginfo, the best digital marketing company in Indore, to get complete assistance for Google Analytics, Social Media Management, Search engine Optimization, and more!
