What do you think? How much is Google interested in being a part of your everyday life? Do you believe that all Google wants is to be a tech giant with a data-centric approach? The answer to all these questions is a big fat NO!
Google along with its user-friendly functions will soon be ruling the world. Today we will be talking about one such most widely used function of Google. It’s called Google Analytics.
As of today, there are around 10 million websites that are equipped with Google Analytics. In continuation of its popularity, Google Analytics is being used by Top 64% of the USA retail market.
Talking about the retail market I have to share the statistics of Fortune 500 companies. 45% of Fortune 500 companies are using Google Analytics in their daily business analytics.
Last but not the least, when it comes to Alexa, 55.9% of the most used domains are found equipped with Google Analytics.
And to sum it all up, all the above-mentioned statistics combine to give an 82% analytical market share to Google. If all these statistics are not enough to convince you to use Google Analytics then this post will not do any magic to you.
But if you have scrolled down and have decided to read along and see what the fuss is all about. Then allow me to take you on a step-by-step guide of the what, why, and how of Google Analytics.
I am sure that you understand that with the change of working dynamics after COVID-19, every business was shifted to an online virtual world. Now, this is a virtual world which only exists if there users continuously doing activities in this virtual world.
Believing in the change of working dynamics, you should know that you have to exist and run your business virtually and let the people come to you at your virtual/ online business store.
People come and people go. But you being the owner of the business needs to understand who did what and what activities happened in your virtual store.
To know that, I will be taking you along, and together we will at Google Analytics from scratch. We will answer all the questions that you are having right now:
- Why you need it,
- how to get it,
- is it easy to use,
- How to use it and workarounds to common problems.
Without delaying any further, let’s dig in and sherd this high-tech fancy terminology into pieces.
The Need to have Google Analytics
Do you know the most viewed page of your website? Are you taking your time to think about it? Well, with Google Analytics you could know this in less than a minute.
It all starts with the type of business you have in the virtual world of the Internet. It can be a blog, or a website, or maybe something else as well. But to understand Google Analytics we will be discussing a blog and a website.
If you have then it’s good. If you currently don’t and are planning to have a blog or a website then here is your answer. Google Analytics helps you to understand them:
- Demographics of your customers and Daily count of the visitor on your website/ blog.
- Type of content your customer likes to read on your website or blog.
- The time they have spent and most viewed or visited page on your website/ blog.
- Type of marketing that attracts the most customers on your website/ blog
- How many customers bought anything and what product was sold the most?
- What are the websites which are routing these customers on your website/ blog?
- Is your website/ blog page loading speed following the standard of Google for SEO?
- Is your website/ blog page compatible with mobile and tablet screens?
There are many additional options for which Google Analytics loads the answer for your website and blog. Now let’s plug and play Google Analytics in your website. Now let’s look at how you can get Google Analytics on your website.
The Installation process of Google Analytics
Following is the list of 11 steps that will help you install your Google Analytics ready for one or more or maybe as many as wanted websites. This is a pictorial guide and is solely made to make the process easy for you.
You have to replicate the steps mentioned below.
- Step 1: To start with you need to have a Google Analytics account. Google always recommends using a Google account while setting up your Google Analytics.
- Step 2: Once you have logged in, click the google analytics button to get yourself started. This click will take you to a welcome page and from there your journey to make Google Analytics for your virtual world starts. Click on the button “Setup for free”.
- Step 3: On this page, the Google Analytics tool will ask you to enter your account name. I would advise you to mention your business name here. It will be easy for you to keep track in case if you decide to make more Google analyze more than one website for you. Plus this makes it easier to identify in the future.
- Step 4: Once your account setup is complete, the setup wizard will ask you what do you want Google to Analyze. The wizard will show you options. And you have to choose in-between web, apps or both.
As you are a new startup so I will suggest going with the web option only as you don’t have an app at the moment.
- Step 5: Once the web option has been finalized the wizard will take you to the next step. Here the wizard will ask you to provide all the information related to your business.
Which includes:
- business name
- web URL
- relevant industry
- country
- Step 6: And that’s all about it. Now the step-up wizard will take you along to the next step of agreement. This agreement is between you and Google and the wizard will help you go through the agreement as well.
You will have to accept the terms of service agreement of Google Analytics to move forward with the deployment of Google Analytics on your website. Also, remember that the will be as per the country of business you have mentioned while creating your account.
- Step 7: Once you are done with the agreement, the account setup portal will take you along to a dashboard. This is your initial dashboard and it will appear as shown in the following picture.
This dashboard contains the instructions for you to get your websites connected. For WordPress-based websites, you will get a code that needs to be embedded in your WordPress portal.
- Step 8: This step is for setting the WordPress Website only. This is what it looks like.
- Step 9: Always use plugins as they are already designed and easy to use. Locate your header file. Here on the admin page, you need to search for Appearance. Click on Appearance and then click Theme Editor.
In the theme editor, a code will appear. You have to navigate to the theme files to find and select header.php.
- Step 10: Add the code which you have received during account creation time here in the header.php file.
- Step 11: That’s it. Now it’s time to test the connection of your website with Google Analytics as shown in the trailing picture.
And then there are other options for you to add goals and see how your business is working. But that’s a secondary thing. Initially, you need to follow these 11 steps and make Google analyze your business.
Bottom Line
For your virtual presence and performance, Google Analytics is a must tool to have. But the strategic use of information is more important to let your business grow and to keep a healthy flow of customers.
In the end I and hoping that all this detail about Google Analytics was easy, understandable, and enjoyed by you. But as you’re a beginner and I know you will have a lot more questions when you will deploy Analytics on your website. Please leave your questions in the comment section and I’ll be happy to help!
Now would be the time when you plan on getting started adding google analytics to your website. And let Google Analytics help you understand your customer. Why wait?
Meta Description
You need to have a lookout for your business performance on the Internet. Make Google Analytics your employee.
Focus keyword
Google Analytics, Virtual World, customers, Analytics contribution, Digital Revenue Stream, the Virtual world.
