A Look into Google Analytics

By Naman Sehgal

Google Analytics is a web analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic, currently as a platform inside the Google Marketing Platform brand. Google launched the service in November 2005 after acquiring Urchin.

As of 2019, Google Analytics is the most widely used web analytics service on the web. Google Analytics provides an SDK that allows gathering usage data from IOS and Android app, known as Google Analytics for Mobile Apps. Google Analytics can be blocked by browsers, browser extensions, and firewalls and other means.

Google analytics is used to track website activity such as session duration, pages per session, bounce rate etc. of individuals using the site, along with the information on the source of the traffic. It can be integrated with Google Ads, with which users can create and review online campaigns by tracking landing page quality and conversions (goals). Goals might include sales, lead generation, viewing a specific page, or downloading a particular file. Google Analytics' approach is to show high-level, dashboard-type data for the casual user, and more in-depth data further into the report set. Google Analytics analysis can identify poorly performing pages with techniques such as funnel visualization, where visitors came from (referrers), how long they stayed on the website and their geographical position. It also provides more advanced features, including custom visitor segmentation. Google Analytics e-commerce reporting can track sales activity and performance. The e-commerce report shows a site's transactions, revenue, and many other commerce-related metrics.

 

The Absolute Beginner's Guide to Google Analytics

If you don't know what Google Analytics is, haven't installed it on your website, or have installed it but never look at your data, then this post is for you. While it's hard for many to believe, there are still websites that are not using Google Analytics (or any analytics, for that matter) to measure their traffic. In this post, we're going to look at Google Analytics from the absolute beginner's point of view. Why you need it, how to get it, how to use it, and workarounds to common problems.

 

Why One Need Google Analytics

Does one have a blog? Does one have a static website? If the answer is yes, whether they are for personal or business use, then you need Google Analytics. Here are just a few of the many questions about your website that you can answer using Google Analytics.

How many people visit my website?

Where do my visitors live?

Do I need a mobile-friendly website?

What websites send traffic to my website?

What marketing tactics drive the most traffic to my website?

Which pages on my website are the most popular?

How many visitors have I converted into leads or customers?

Where did my converting visitors come from and go on my website?

How can I improve my website's speed?

What blog content do my visitors like the most?

 

 These are the questions which are most important for the website owners and it’s Google Analytics that can answer these questions.

 

How to Install Google Analytics

First, you need a Google Analytics account. If you have a primary Google account that you use for other services like Gmail, Google Drive, Google Calendar, Google+, or YouTube, then you should set up your Google Analytics using that Google account. Or you will need to create a new one.

 

This should be a Google account you plan to keep forever and that only you have access to. You can always grant access to your Google Analytics to other people down the road, but you don't want someone else to have full control over it.

1.   Set up your account and property

2.    Install your tracking code

3.   Set up goals

4.   Set up site search

5.   Add additional accounts and properties

6.   View Google Analytics data

7.   Standard report features

8.   Types of Google Analytics reports

9.   Conversions

1    Shortcuts and emails

 

 

Reference links:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Analytics

https://moz.com/blog/absolute-beginners-guide-to-google-analytics