The Essential MarTech Pro’s Handbook

Are you maximizing the information available on your website? As a MarTech professional, you will certainly be confronted with this question.

Google Analytics (GA) is a free (or paid) utility that provides useful insights into metrics like conversion rate, website traffic, engagement, and audience demographics. It’s a treasure trove of ideas, but only if constructed properly.

First, let’s understand what Google Analytics is and how it works.

What is Google Analytics?

Google Analytics (GA) is a free analytics utility that provides detailed insight into the effectiveness of your website and/or app.

It interfaces with Google’s advertising and marketing platforms or products (such as Google Ads, Search Console, and Data Studio), making it a preferred option for those using multiple Google products. You can connect GA to any website you own (i.e. have access to the WordPress or HTML code).

If you are wondering if Google Analytics is free, then the answer is YES. Technically, GA comes in both a free and paid version (the latter is known as Analytics 360 and works in a completely different way). Small and medium-sized businesses are expected to have access to all the necessary features in the free version. Analytics 360 starts at $150,000 per year (billed monthly) and increases when your site gets over 1 billion monthly visits.

How do I set up Google Analytics for free?

Before you can use Google Analytics, you must create a Google account. This means you need an email address and password for your Google account. Once you set up a Google account, you do not automatically have access to Google Analytics; Instead, you must register for Analytics separately at analytics.google.com. Here are the steps to set up Google Analytics in detail:

1. Account Creation

Set up a Google Analytics account, otherwise sign in to an existing account before proceeding. Then select the account you want to assign the property to. In Google Analytics, a “property” is a website, mobile app, blog, etc. with a unique tracking ID. If you’re signed in to your organization with an administrator account, you can assign GA access to a property to a specific user or to yourself.

2. Creation of property

At this stage you should create and identify your property and enter the URL of the website, occupation/business area and time zone. You can then create and complete this part of the process. The interface may change slightly depending on the region you’re in – however, the Google Analytics setup process is quite intuitive and requires a simple learning curve.

3. Addition of data stream

A data stream is a flow of data from a stage of the customer journey (e.g. an app or website) to Analytics. Analytics generates a snippet of code that you can add to your app or website to collect data when you set up a stream. As soon as the code is added, data is collected, which serves as the basis for your reports.

To add a stream to your own account, navigate to the account and property you want to add a stream to, then select Add Stream from the menu. Choose or create a stream and save it. Note that in previous versions of Google Analytics this was called a view instead of a stream. but the functionality remains the same. Select your web stream in the data stream window and then enable “Advanced Measurement”. This provides deeper marketing insights and analytics.

4. Tracking code setup

Setting up a property gives you access to a tracking-specific ID and a global site ID (code you need to add to every site page you want to track). This is how data about your property is collected. Then paste the global site tag right after the opening element on each side you want to measure.

You will be asked to select your website category (static, interactive, web hosting and Google Tag Manager) to precisely configure data collection.

The monitor ID consists of a string such as UA-000000-2. It must be part of your monitoring code to specify which Analytics account and property data to send. The monitoring ID is immediately integrated into the website’s JavaScript fragment.

Note that when interacting with such a Google Analytics 4 property, you will receive a tag ID instead of a tracking ID. Make room for these minor UI changes with GA updates!

5. Code Review

Finally, verify the functionality of your code. This can be achieved by viewing the Real-time Reports section while navigating your website on another tab or on your mobile device. The report should show at least one website visitor (that would be you!).

Download – White Paper (Tips to get more out of Google Analytics)

Get to know the free Google Analytics interface

First, Analytics shows basic traffic information, including dates. You can adjust the dates to suit your needs. On the left side of the screen, Google Analytics will display a selection of reporting options. This is where you start sharing details.

On the far right is a blue box with real-time metrics showing the number of users on the site, the number of pages viewed per minute, and the most popular pages. You can then select the blue box to get more details about the data. Just type your query into the search bar if you’re looking for something specific.

As you browse, you can access a variety of analytics such as: For example, where your users come from and what devices they use. When analyzing Google Analytics data, consider your marketing goals. If not, you may be overwhelmed by the avalanche of numbers.

How to use Google Analytics to achieve your marketing goals

The point Google Analytics The setup process is designed to help you measure the marketing metrics that really matter. These typically cover visitor engagement trends, traffic source, content, and conversion before you dive deeper.

• visitor engagement: Visitor tracking tells you who visits your website, how many visitors you have and what they are doing on your website. This includes variables such as response rates and session lengths. Go to the Audience section of Google Analytics to dig deeper.
• traffic source: Traffic sources are another important metric from Google Analytics. It provides the answer to the question “How are people discovering my website?” This information is accessible from the “Acquisition” tab. For example, you can see how much traffic is generated from social media, Google Ads, and Google Search Console.
• Contents: By monitoring user behavior, Google Analytics can help you determine how well individual pieces of content are performing. For example, do they visit certain pages more often than others? Do some content categories have a longer lifespan and popularity than others? This can help you figure out what is effective and what isn’t.
• conversion: These metrics are not mechanically generated like the previous ones. Conversion analysis, on the other hand, requires you to set goals, generally using the pages that visitors are directed to when they convert. First, select Conversions > Goals > Summary from the help menu on the left. You can also search for and access “Objectives” in your free Google Analytics console.

Diploma

Google Analytics includes a variety of tools for measuring the data needed to grow a business. Since it’s a tool with basically free features, all you need to get started with Google Analytics is a Google account and some time. Note that GA reports can be accessed in the left pane. This allows you to view pre-built and custom reports on the various streams of data you have created for a property.

To get more out of Google Analytics for free, follow our five simple tips.