Week 3: Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a tool from Google that is free and allows you to track all necessary metrics to improve your website’s SEO, overall quality, and marketing strategies. These analytics are powerful tools for marketers, enabling them to prove the benefits of their services and the necessity of their companies’ strategies.

How to Set Up Google Analytics

  1. Create an Account
  2. Create a Property
    • Enter your website’s URL.
    • Click Create.
  3. Install a Tracking Code
    • You will need to install the tracking code on your website.
    • Depending on your website designer, you may need to look up how to install the code. Use AI tools or a YouTube video for guidance; it shouldn’t be too hard.
  4. Verify the Code
  5. Set Up Goals
    • You can set up different types of goals to track the data you want.

What Can You Track with Google Analytics?

Target Audience Metrics

  • New or returning visitors
  • Device model
  • Location
  • Interests
  • Demographics

Acquisition

  • Traffic sources and their performance:
    • Direct
    • Email campaigns
    • Paid ads
    • Social
    • Referral
    • Organic search

Activity

  • What happens when people visit your site:
    • Search Queries: What they searched to find your site
    • Site Speed: How long it takes to load for users
    • Bounce Rate: How many people left quickly without interacting with your site
    • Events: Interactions like clicks, downloads, form submissions, etc.
    • Page Views:
      • How many people viewed your site
      • Which pages they visited
      • Average time spent on each page
      • How much of that time was active

Conversions

  • Setting this up requires some research or watching a YouTube video, as you’ll need to set up a Google Tag.
  • Metrics you can track include:
    • Revenue
    • Conversion rate
    • AOV (Average Order Value)
    • Product performance

Custom Data

  • You can integrate additional data from:
    • Google Ads
    • Google Search Console
    • Third-party tools

Customization

Google Analytics can be as customizable as you need it to be.

Works Cited

“Google Analytics 4 (GA4) Collection Guide.” Google Developers, Google, 2024, developers.google.com/analytics/devguides/collection/ga4. Accessed 5 Dec. 2024.