Websites let you get free traffic or encourage a client to purchase a product or service. Webmasters are constantly optimizing content and interface to increase the efficiency of sites.
It is impossible to determine how the audience interacts with the site without statistics, so affiliates turn to various tools, providing different sets of functions. One such tool is Google Analytics, and today we are going to discuss how it can help you improve your benefits.
Whats & Whys
Google Analytics is a free tool for collecting and providing statistics about website visitors and their actions, which allows you to track the user path to conversion. Here are a few advantages of the service:
- It allows you to view online users and break them down by device;
- The User Paths report shows a comprehensive path of users’ movement around the site, which can be used to identify pages where people are losing interest;
- Multi-channel funnels clearly demonstrate the contribution of each traffic source to target conversions;
- Google Analytics and Google Ads, working in tow, increase the effectiveness of your ads and provide additional contextual reports.
- Conducts A/B testing and experiments.
The only thing you need to do in order to get your statistics is install the Google Analytics counter. It is claimed to increase the trust of search engines.
Google Analytics How to Install
First things first, you sign up. Check all the boxes and give your account a name.
In fields two and three, provide information about your resource. Your next step is to mark the resource for statistics tracking: website or mobile app.
Press Web and indicate the domain of the resource.
When done, you are redirected to the tag page: these tags will be implemented into the site.
If you already have an account, use it. To add a new resource, log in to the admin panel where you can find the Create Account and Create Resource functions. There, in the admin panel, you can see the entire configuration, as well as the global tracking tag in the Setup Assistant section.
Before installation, you can enable Google Signals for additional information. Go to the Resource Administration section, then press Data Collection => Data Settings. Google Signals connects the data of visitors who see your resource from different devices, helping you identify their location, demographics, and interests. Please note that your visitors must be warned and consent to the processing of their data; this must be stated in the privacy policy. For example, you can display a banner on your first visit or when informing you that cookies are being collected if you use this technology.
Google Analytics Counter: 3 Ways to Start
‘Google analytics install on website’, remember punching this query into the search bar? Maybe google analytics add website? Or google analytics add a site? Here we are to help you out. Here are three ways you can use.
To install Google Analytics, copy Global Tag to the site or use Google Tag Manager. Note that the code is now inserted in the <head> block rather than the <body> or <footer> block. This allows you to obtain information about users who did not wait for loading and left the site.
Google Analytics Counter: No CMS needed
If you don't use a CMS, check out the insides of your website, as the way it's written determines the entire process. Most often, a separate header.php contains all the necessary data for search engines. In some cases, the file may be named index.html or index.php.
Inside the file, find the <head> and </head> tags. Insert the Global tag before </head>, and save the changes.
In fact, it's better to entrust the task to a programmer to avoid mistakes and save time.
Google Analytics Counter: CMS involved
Nowadays, most sites run on ready-made CMSs, so you can design full-fledged platforms without knowing squat about web programming.
Joomla
Press Extensions => Template Manager. Add the code before the </head> tag.
OpenCart
Choose Add-ons => Analytics => Google Analytics. Add the tracking ID, save, and enjoy.
Wordpress
We can't overlook WordPress, the most popular CMS in affiliate marketing, so let us dedicate more time to this platform. There are two ways to install the counter.
- In the admin panel, press Appearance => Theme Editor =>header.php. Paste the code before the </head> tag. Update the file. The disadvantage of this method is that you have to update everything every time you change the theme.
- Use a readymade solution: plugins will work with any theme. When working with a plugin, add an identifier in the plugin settings. There's an official plugin called Site Kit, but you can choose any other option that appeals to you.
Google Tag Manager
Things can be done manually, you already know that. However, you can resort to the Google Tag Manager project, a service that allows you to optimize the process of working with different resources. Install a container on the site: it will load other statistics collection services. After this, all counters added to the manager will be automatically loaded through the container. There is only one minor disadvantage: configuration and setting parameters take more time, and websites and the AMP versions require different containers.
Step 1. Setting Up an Account
Create an account in GTM. Enter the name of the account and container. Specify the website as the destination of the container. Press Create.
Step 2. Adjusting the Container
After registration, the user will be presented with a code that is to be inserted into the site code in the same fashion as the code for a regular counter.
Step 3. Configuration
Once you're done with the code, you are redirected to the GTM workspace. Click New Tag, and in the new window choose Tag Configuration.
Select Google Analytics: GA4 configuration and insert the identifier from the resource settings assistant in Analytics into the identifier field. Then, tick All Pages triggers and save.
Step 4. Bounce Rate
Google Tag Manager sets up a bounce rate if a visitor leaves without seeing another page. Regardless of the length of their stay, analytics will consider such a visit a bounce.
Set a limit of 20 seconds on the site. Create a tag with the same parameters, but change the name so as not to get confused. This time we first start by creating a trigger and selecting Timer.
To do this, find the extended list of triggers as in the screenshot and find Timer at the bottom.
Since websites count time in milliseconds, enter 20,000 milliseconds in the interval section. At the same time, the trigger should fire only once per visit. Select Page URL for the condition. It must contain “*”, which means that the condition will work on the entire site. Save. Specify the remaining parameters as for the previous tag. Save again.
Step 5. Debugging & Publishing
All that remains is to check if the settings are correct. To do this, go to the Tags section in the workspace and click Preview. In the new window, enter the URL of your site and click Connect.
You will be redirected to the specified page of your website, and if everything is installed correctly, you will see a pop-up informing you about the connection. In 15 seconds, the second tag trigger should also fire.
You can then exit the preview. In the workspace, press Submit => Publish to upload the changes.
Checking the Counter
The easiest option is to open real-time statistics and go to the website. Every new visitor appears with your device data. The second option is a little more complicated: right-click on an empty space on the site and select Inspect.
The code of the counter or GTM container should be visible in the <head> ... </head> block.
Connect Your Counter with AdWords
To receive more information and use your advertising account more effectively, you can link your statistics account to AdWords. To do this, go to the admin panel, and in the resource settings tab, press Link with Google Ads. Then select the desired account and save.
Additional Settings
Depending on the characteristics of your resource, you may need to change some configurations:
- Sessions. Google assumes that the time of one session does not exceed 30 minutes, but for a site with large scientific articles or videos lasting 30 minutes or more, this statement is not true. In this case, it would be better to increase the session time to obtain real data on the number of visits.
- Data storage. Google Analytics stores data for 2 months by default. This period can be increased up to 14 months. Go to the administration panel, go to Data Settings => Data Storage. You can also turn off the rest of the information storage period for the visitor. In this case, all information is stored for the same amount of time.
- Objectives help you identify users who took a specific action and their journey: who sent an email, made a purchase, placed a call, left data, or viewed a certain number of pages.
- Remarketing allows you to identify users who have already interacted with your site. Thanks to this, you can divide the site’s audience into groups and later use this in advertising.
- Views help you set goals, create reports, and configure notifications, and data collection rules. Each resource can contain up to 25 sequentially nested views.
- Filters are necessary to segment information and make your work easier: remove the IP of your own organization or certain providers, obtain data from directories, or convert dynamic page addresses into text strings.
- Access control is carried out in the resource administration section in the Manage Access to Resource section. Each user can be assigned a different type of rights: from viewing to changing settings and generating individual reports.
- Linking to Search Console is similar to linking to AdWords.
FAQ
