How to Install Google Analytics to a Website?

If you're reading this, you are either lost or curious about how to install Google Analytics on your website.

Well, don't worry - both are perfectly understandable reactions.

Google Analytics is a powerful tool that can provide you with information about your website traffic, but installing it is tricky.

This blog will show you how to install Google Analytics on your website in just a few straightforward steps. So whether you are a first-time user or an experienced pro, you will find everything you need right here. So without further ado, let's get started!

What is Google Analytics?

Google Analytics is a powerful tool that provides website owners with detailed information about their website traffic. It can tell you how many people are visiting your website, where they are coming from, what pages they are visiting, and how long they are staying on your site. This information can be extremely valuable in helping you to improve your website and its traffic.

And above all, Google Analytics is completely free to use and gives up to 80% accurate insights, which is more than any paid tool.

Step-by-Step Google Analytics Installation

Start following these steps to install Google Analytics on your website:

Step 1 – Create a Google Account or Use an Existing One

If you don't have a Google account, start by creating one. Visit https://accounts.google.com/ to get started. You can use this same account for your Google products, like Gmail and YouTube. But if you already have a Google account, great! You can skip ahead to Step 2.

Step 2 – Access Google Analytics with Your Google Account

Once you have a Google account set up, go to the Google Analytics website: http://www.google.com/analytics/. It will have a button on the top-right corner saying ‘Get Started Today'. Click on it, and it will direct you to a new page.

You can sign up for the Google Analytics service by clicking on the 'Sign Up' button on the far right side of the page.

You will be asked to fill in some information, such as your

• Account Name
• Property Name
• Industry Category
• Business Size

Finally, click on the blue "Create" button at the bottom. And then, you will be able to see the Google Analytics Terms of Service.

Click on the 'I accept’ button at the bottom, and you Google Analytics account has been set up.

Step 4 - Add a Data Stream

By choosing the platform between the iOS app, Android app and web and on the dashboard, you can add a new property or data stream.

For a website, you can select the Web option as the platform and then the name and URL of your website.

On clicking 'Create', your Data Stream is created, and you can get the tracking code snippet by clicking on 'Global site tag'. From there, you can copy it and place it on every page of your website.

Step 4 – Add the Tracking Code to Your Website

You must install the tracking code on each webpage of your website for Google Analytics to be able to report back on a variety of website metrics.

What's a tracking code? The tracking code is a snippet of JavaScript that collects data about the visitors to your website and sends it to Google Analytics. Every time a user visits a page on your site, the tracking code runs and collects data.

This data is then sent to Google Analytics, processed and organised into useful reports.

Now that you've obtained your tracking code, it's time to include it on your website. Copy and paste the tracking code into your website's header or footer file.

Important Note: If you add the tracking code to the header file, make sure it comes before the closing /head> tag. If you add the tracking code to the footer file, make sure it comes before the final /html> tag.

If you are unfamiliar with adding code to your website, you should contact the web design company that manages it.

Track Your Website Growth with Google Analytics

Now that you have successfully installed Google Analytics on your website, it's time to track your website traffic and growth.

Here are some of the key reports that you should check out:

The Audience Overview Report

This report provides high-level data about your website traffic, such as the number of visitors, the average session duration, and the bounce rate.

The Acquisition Report

This report shows you where your website traffic comes from, such as organic search, paid search, or social media.

The Behaviour Report

This report provides insights into how users interact with your websites, such as the number of page views and the average time on site.

The Conversion Report

This report tracks any goals or objectives set up in Google Analytics, such as newsletter sign-ups or contact form submissions.

Google Analytics is a powerful tool that can help you track your website traffic and understand your users. You can successfully install Google Analytics on your website by following the steps above. If you need help installing Google Analytics to your website, don't hesitate to contact the experts at Social Gravity. We're always happy to help!