How to set up a Google Analytics account and make it work for you?
If you don’t have Google Analytics, or if you have it but are unsure how to use it, then this article is for you. Google is the most used search engine on the planet, utilised frequently by consumers and businesses alike. If your business is not using Google Analytics to better understand the number of people who are visiting your website, as well as understanding what brought them there in the first place, you’re missing out on potential growth.
Why Should You Use Google Analytics?
Whether your website is for personal or professional use, using Google Analytics comes with a plethora of benefits. These include:
- Understanding who visits your website;
- Knowing where your visitors live;
- Understanding whether your site needs to be mobile-friendly;
- Knowing what websites send traffic to yours;
- Understanding what marketing tactics drive the most traffic to your site;
- Knowing what pages on your website are most popular;
- Knowing how many visitors you have converted into customers or leads; and
- Understanding how you should improve your website.
How To Use Google Analytics
You will first need to set up a Google Analytics account. If you already have a Google account that you use for Gmail and Google Drive, then you can set up your Analytics account using the same details. If you don’t then you will need to create a new one; however, this is incredibly straightforward.
When you have set up your Google Analytics account, there are more steps to follow to ensure you will get the most out of it.
1. Set Up Your Account
Once you have an account you will need to sign in, upon which you will be met with different steps that you need to take in order to properly set up your account. The first of these will be to fill in your general information about you, your business and your website.
2. Install a Tracking Pixel
Once you have finished setting everything up, you will need to click on the Get Tracking ID button. You will need to agree to Google Analytics terms and conditions in order to get your code.
Your installation code will need to be installed on every page of your website. There are different ways that you can install this tracking code depending on the web provider you have used to create your website. This can sometimes be confusing, which is why a lot of users opt for the help of Global Performance Marketing Agency’s to set up their accounts in the most effective way possible.
3. Set Up Your Goals
By clicking on the Admin link in the bottom left of your Google Analytics account, you are able to configure a very useful setting called “Goals.” This is where you can make Google Analytics work best as goals will tell the account when something important has happened on your website. This is the simplest form of conversion tracking that you can do with Google Analytics.
Goals will track users of your website when they do something of value to you on your website. For example, if they buy something they will be taken to a confirmation page and Google Analytics can record this for you as a Goal.
If you click on the New Goal button and then choose the Custom option and then the Next Step Button, you will be taken to a page where you can set up your goal. If you enter the URL of the “Thank You” or “confirmation” page in the destination field, you can then press create a goal to complete the setup.
You can create up to 20 goals on your website; however, you should ensure that these are all highly important to your business before you set them up.
4. Set Up a Site Search
This is another great way of tracking valuable data using Google Analytics. Please note, this only applies if you have a search box on your website.
Go to your admin menu and click on View Settings in the View Column. Scroll down, find Site Settings and change it to On. By turning this on, Google Analytics will now track any searches made on your website, which will allow you to understand what your visitors are specifically looking for.
5. Keep an Eye on Your Google Analytics Data
It should take about 24 hours after you’ve set up your account until you start getting Google Analytics data; however, once you do, you will be able to learn more about your website traffic. Whenever you log in to your account, you will be able to view your Audience Overview report. This is the first in multiple reports available and will give you a good indication as to how many people have visited your site and where specifically on your website they’ve been.
6. Different Reports that You Can Use
There are a number of different reports available on Google Analytics, all of which can be incredibly helpful.
Audience Reports
These will tell you your visitors age and gender, as well as what their interests are, their location and the language they speak.
Acquisition Reports
These will give you information on what drew visitors to your website in the first place, be it from social media, general searches or ads.
Behaviour Reports
These will tell you everything about how your content is being received, specifically, what your most popular posts are, your most popular pages and popular exit pages.
Need Help with Setting Up Your Account?
Whilst the above is a helpful guide on how to set up your Google Analytics account and how to make it work for you, it can be difficult to understand fully what the data available to you means and how you can use it to help grow your business. By using a Digital Marketing Agency, you will be able to rely on experts who will study your Google Analytics data and use it to help expand your businesses reach.
At YouYaa we are committed to helping businesses grow. If you would like assistance understanding how you can continue to develop your business and use the information from Google Analytics to do it, do not hesitate to get in touch and we will be able to help.
