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Even the most extensive marketing activities on the Internet may not be effective if the activity of website users is not monitored. It is used to assess the performance of your website and plan next steps to meet your business goals.
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GA is used to collect statistics about users visiting the website - regardless of whether they found it through a search engine or by entering a URL, or via a referral link. This is done using the GATC tracking code, which is based on JavaScript.
The code allows you to generate cookies - this applies only to first-class cookies, which are created by the domain in the address bar and which only it can use. The files are then sent to a secured Google server. It involves modifying data and creating reports that are made available to website owners.
Thanks to Google, website traffic analyzes can be conducted completely free of charge. GA allows access to current data - the delay in creating reports is usually one day.
The tool has many useful functions. It is therefore not surprising that it is very popular. In the United States, its share of the web analytics market is approximately 70%. In the UK the percentage is even higher – around 80%.
The following questions can be effectively answered using GA:
Collect reliable data about your customers.
Check how web analytics will affect data evaluation and learn about the effectiveness of marketing activities in your company.
Getting started with GA is very easy, even for novice users. You can do it yourself. Simply visit the login page (http://google.com/analytics) and, via your Google account, register by providing your website information, account name and time zone, as well as contact information. The next steps are to accept the user agreement, click the "Create a new account" button and download the tracking code.
Setting up an account in Google Analytics can be entrusted to an external company. In this situation, she must give the site owner full access to the account. It is not enough to make the GA view available for viewing, because then it will not be possible to use all functions effectively.
The recommended practice when creating an account in GA is to create at least three views. In addition to the main view, it is a test view that allows you to check the operation of all selected filters, as well as a raw data view (RAW), i.e. a starting point before implementing certain modifications - this view is useful when the intended changes do not bring results and there is a need to abandon of them.
The tracking code is executed every time the page is loaded. Therefore, it must be pasted on all subpages. It is necessary to precede it with the </head> tag.
Before this happens, you must choose what will be tracked ("What are you tracking?" option). You can select a single domain (mojadomena.pl), one domain with many subdomains (music.mojadomena.pl, apps.mojadomena.pl), many top-level domains (mojadomena.pl and mojadomena.com) or a website created for mobile devices (with this involves choosing the website language, e.g. PHP). Later, you can also add AdWords campaign tracking.
The tracking code can be modified depending on the user's needs. For this purpose, use the "Advanced" tab, where you can, for example, check the option "I want to track pages in PHP".
Pasting the code, especially in the case of several dozen or hundreds of subpages, may be time-consuming. If the user uses a content management system (CMS) or an SQL database, this process can be automated - appropriate instructions are available on the Internet. After adding the code, click "Save and Finish". A desirable solution is to use the SiteScan tool, which will check whether all subpages have been tagged.
In Google Analytics, it is important to properly configure various filters. This is done from a special manager located in the lower part of the screen on the right side of the main GA view.
The use of filters is justified when there is a need:
Due to the fact that filters are almost immediately visible in GA data, it is recommended to use the test view when creating them. It allows you to check the filters used. The verification function is used for this purpose. In it, a new, unsaved filter is compared to a sample of data from the last seven days. Then, the changed lines are displayed and the most optimal set of lines, in terms of the number of sessions and views, is selected using the sampling factor.
Filters allow you to:
Setting the function of access to other people's accounts is possible in the "User management" tab. You enter the e-mail addresses of these people there. These addresses must enable logging in to a Google account (e.g. Gmail or Onet).
There are several options for sharing your account:
It is also possible to grant access to data to other GA users. This is done when you accept the user agreement. Thanks to this feature, Google can improve the quality of its products. In addition, as part of benchmarking, the user can compare his or her data with data from other companies that use Google Analytics.
During configuration, it is important to integrate GA with other tools.
It is about:
Linking accounts is possible in the administration panel, in the "Service" section. Each Google Analytics property can contain up to 400 link groups and up to 1,000 Google Ads accounts.
Account integration allows, for example, analyzing Google Ads campaigns in GA and conducting effective remarketing. The latter involves showing users who have added products to their cart but not made a sale, personalized ads on other websites.
Google Analytics allows integration with other tools. Data obtained through GA can be visualized using Google Data Studio. This is possible thanks to the "Dashboards" or "Custom Reports" options in the "Customization" tab. This tool allows for an attractive presentation of various statistics and the integration of data from GA, Google AdWords or Google Sheets.
It is also possible to add GA to WordPress, which is currently one of the most popular systems for building and managing websites. To do this, you need to paste the analytics code into the page header. This is possible using a special plug-in, e.g. Header Footer Code Manager.
Also see how Google 'sees' your website, i.e. what Google Search Console is and how to create an effective landing page that converts.
Using GA effectively involves setting specific goals. They are configured at the data view level. They determine what constitutes a conversion for a given page. In the case of an e-shop, this may be an inquiry or a product purchase. Goals can have monetary value. Thanks to them, you can, among others: check which subpages are visited by users and how long their stay lasts.
Google Analytics allows you to use one of four goals:
Additionally, smart goals are available. They are automatically determined by GA based on approximately 5% of the best visits completed within the system. Google Ads.
You can set segments in the administration panel. For this purpose, use the "Reports" tab and the "Add segment" option. Unlike filters, segments can be used ad hoc, depending on needs. Each user can use up to 1,000 segments.
Each segment consists of filters that do not change the underlying data. Filters allow you to extract the following subsets:
GA offers a large selection of segments. Additionally, the user can create his own segments. They can be configured, for example, in terms of demographic data, visitor behavior, source of website visits or traffic from mobile devices. Thanks to segments you can, among others: check how often users visit the company blog or whether they have problems making purchases via the website.
In the GA interface, in the "Analysis" section, there is an option to add alerts. These are notifications about unusual changes in website traffic. You can choose three types of alerts - daily, weekly or monthly. Additionally, automatic and custom alerts are available. The latter can be configured in terms of:
GA allows you to access various reports. They allow you to track website traffic statistics. Using these reports is possible after installing a plug-in that monitors website visits.
Another option is to use the Google Tag Manager tool, with which you can add, remove or modify tags (scripts) on the website and analyze various data.
The following reports are available in Google Analytics:
Google Analytics 4 is currently in use. The previous generation, called Universal Analytics, was the default tool for measuring conversions until October 14, 2020. UA only allows for the analysis of website data.
The main reasons for introducing a new version of GA were two phenomena. It is about:
Universal Analytics, due to numerous technical and tool limitations, did not create the basis for generating useful conclusions from the data, e.g. regarding the value of the customer's source of origin. That's why Google Analytics 4 was introduced, which, compared to the previous version, is much more advanced.
GA 4 enables, among others:
To add a new page to Google Analytics 4, follow similar steps as for Universal Analytics. These include logging in to the http://google.com/analytics panel, selecting the "Administration" tab, creating a new account, selecting the service name, time zone and currency, completing a survey containing information about the company, accepting the GA terms of use, selecting a location stream (for websites it will be the "network" option) and adding the tracking code.
Google Analytics is an extremely useful tool designed to monitor various website traffic statistics. It is widely used due to its ease of configuration and use, free access and a number of useful functions.
This is an ideal solution for anyone who runs an online business and is interested in effectively tracking conversions on a website.
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