Google Analytics is a free web analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic. It lets you measure your advertising ROI as well as track your Flash, video, and social networking sites and applications. Here is a complete guide on google analytics for beginners right from creating a new account to its setup and functionality. Everything is covered in one article. Read On!
To get started with Google Analytics, you will need a Google account and a website. You can use an existing account or create a new one. Once you have created an account, you will be given a Tracking ID. This ID needs to be added to your website code in order for Google Analytics to track your website traffic.
What is Google Analytics?
Google Analytics is a free web analytics service that tracks and reports website traffic. It works by adding a piece of code, called a google analytics code, to your website. This code collects data about your website visitors and sends it to Google Analytics.
What data does Google Analytics collect?
Some of the data that Google Analytics collects includes:
- The number of visitors to your website
- The number of pageviews on your website
- The average time spent on your website
- The bounce rate (the percentage of visitors who leave your site after viewing only one page)
- The source of your website traffic (e.g. organic search, direct traffic, referral traffic)
Google Analytics Set Up- How to create a new account with Google Analytics for Beginners?
- If you don’t have a Google account yet, you’ll need to create a google analytics account.
- You can do this by going to google.com and clicking on the “Sign In” link at the top of the page.
- From there, click on the “Create Account” link and follow the instructions.
- Once you have a Google account, you can add a website to it by going to the Analytics Sign-up page.
- Enter your website’s URL and click on the “Get Tracking ID” button.
- This will take you to the Terms of Service page.
- Review the terms and check the box next to “I accept.”
- Click on the “I accept” button to continue.
- On the next page, you will be given your google analytics Tracking ID.
- Be sure to copy this down as you will need it to add Google Analytics to your website.
Adding the Google Analytics Tracking ID to Your Website Code:
The first thing you need to do is add the Tracking ID to your website code. This can be done by adding the following Google Analytics code to the <head> section of your website:
It should look like: “UA-XXXXXX-X” or “G-XXXXXXX.” Replace UA-XXXXXXXX-X with your Google Analytics Tracking ID. Be sure to include this Google Analytics code on every page of your website that you want to track.
Google Analytics Overview
The amount of data presented by Google Analytics may be overwhelming the first time you use it. Fortunately, the service has been continuously improving, and Google is now offering a new “Google Analytics Overview” video series to help new users get started.
In this series, you’ll learn the basics of Google Analytics, including how to set up an account, create a tracking code, and interpret your results. The Google Analytics interface is divided into sections, each of which contains a number of reports. The sections are:
Home Tab
The Home tab is the first thing you see when you open Google Analytics. It gives you valuable google analytics for beginners insights on how your website is performing. Get quick access to the most important reports.
The main reports available on the Home tab are:
- Audience: This report shows you information about your website visitors, such as their location, language, and the type of device they are using.
- Acquisition: This report shows you where your website visitors are coming from, such as organic search, direct traffic, or referrals.
- Behavior: This report shows you how visitors interact with your websites, such as the pages they visit and the average time spent on your site.
- Conversions: This report shows you information about your website’s goals and conversions.
Reporting Tab
The Reporting tab is where you will find all of the reports available in Google Analytics. These reports are organized into five main categories:
- Audience: This category contains reports that show you information about your website’s visitors, such as their location, language, and the type of device they are using.
- Acquisition: This category contains reports that show you where your website visitors are coming from, such as organic search, direct traffic, or referrals.
- Behavior: This category contains reports that show you how visitors interact with your websites, such as the pages they visit and the average time spent on your site.
- Conversions: This category contains reports that show you information about your website’s goals and conversions.
- Customization: This category allows you to create custom reports and dashboards.
Admin Tab
The Admin tab is where you manage your Google Analytics account, properties, and views. You can also access the User Management feature from here.
To access the Admin tab, click on the gear icon in the top right corner of Google Analytics.
The main sections of the Admin tab are:
- Account: This section lets you add new Google Analytics accounts, properties, and views.
- Property: This section lets you add new properties and views to an existing account.
- View: This section lets you add new views to an existing property.
- User Management: This section lets you add new users and manage their permissions.
Analytics – Search Function
One of the most useful features of Google Analytics is the search function. This allows you to quickly find the information you are looking for without having to wade through all of the reports.
To use the search function, simply type in a keyword or phrase into the search bar at the top of the page. Google Analytics will then display a list of reports that are related to your search term.
For example, if you type in “bounce rate,” Google Analytics will display a list of reports that contain information about bounce rate.
You can also use the search function to quickly access a specific report. To do this, simply type in the name of the report you want to access into the search bar. For example, if you type in “audience report,” Google Analytics will take you to the Audience reports page.
Conclusion:
Google Analytics for beginners is a powerful tool that can help you understand your website visitors and optimize your site for better performance. Adding Google Analytics to your website is a simple process and only requires a few minutes of time. I hope this article has given you a good overview of the service and how to use it. Thanks for reading!
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