What is Google Analytics? 

 

Google Analytics is a free tool provided by Google that analyses the performance of your website, including traffic, user behaviour and device performance. It helps businesses identify areas for improvement and understand how users interact with the website. Identifying these trends helps optimise future marketing campaigns and maintain a website’s online presence. However, Google Analytics for beginners can seem quite daunting. read on to learn the basics of how to set up Google Analytics, and 

 

What is Google Analytics? 

Setting up a Google Analytics account may sound like a daunting task, but it’s easier than you may think. Here are a few simple steps to get you started:

1.Sign in to Google Analytics

Visit analytics.google.com and sign in using your Google account

2. Click start measuring 

Click the “Start Measuring” button to begin creating your new GA4 property

3. Set Up Your Account

This can either be your business or website name

4. Create a GA4 Property

Enter a name for your GA4 property (e.g., “My Business Website”), then choose your time zone and currency. 

5. Add a Data Stream

Choose the type of data stream: Web, iOS app, or Android app.

6. Install the GA4 Tag on Your Website

After creating the data stream, Google will provide a Measurement ID (looks like G-XXXXXXXXXX). You can add the stream in 2 ways:

• Website Code 
• Google Tag Manager

7. Check real-time reporting 

Once that has been installed, head over to real-time reporting and access your website on a different tab. Head back to real-time reporting to see if data is being recorded. 

If you are still stuck on how to install GA4 successfully, our team at Fresh Pies is are expert in installing GA4. Contact us today if you need any assistance. 

 

Understanding Google Analytics 

The Google Analytics 4 dashboard might look overwhelming at first, but it’s designed to give you clear insights into how people find and use your website. From the homepage, you’ll get an overview of user numbers, traffic sources, and engagement. You can see real-time visitors, track where they came from, what pages they’re viewing, and even what actions they’re taking. Sections like “Reports,” “Engagement,” and “Explore” help you dive deeper into user behaviour and conversions, so you can see what’s working and what’s not when it comes to your website. 

Key Metrics Beginners Should Know

When navigating Google Analytics, you will find yourself looking mostly within these two sections: 

• Traffic Acquisition – displays your first user source, whether that is organic, paid, display, direct or cross network. 
• Pages and screens – identifies the traffic of all pages associated with your website. 

When analysing these sections, you’ll see a table which you can customise to tailor towards the metrics you are interested in. Key metrics you should consider are: 

• Sessions – identifies a user’s engagement throughout their website journey. 
• Bounce rate – is shown in a % and shows the number of times a user exits the website after only one page visit. 
• Average session duration – shows the amount of time a user has spent across the website journey during a single session.
• Active users – showcases the number of unique users engaging with your website across a given timeframe. 

 

Tips for Getting The Most Out of Google Analytics 

To get the most out of Google Analytics, consider these best practices 

• Use Insights

For any areas you may find difficult, use the ‘Ask Analytics” intelligence feature to ask questions about your data for any answers you need. 

• Use the search bar

Sometimes it may be difficult to find metrics. The search bar at the top is designed to help you find metrics you are struggling to find. Simply type in something like ‘bounce rate’ and Google will return with your desired metric figure. 

• Link your analytics account with other data sources 

Google Analytics enables you to connect to other data sources, such as Google Ads, to give you more advanced reporting 

• Use UTM codes 

If you would like to track individual events, such as newsletter campaigns or links within social media, creating UTM codes is beneficial, as you can track individual marketing campaigns within GA4. There are many UTM code generators available across Google. 

• Track Key Events

Your website will have certain elements you would like to track, such as form submissions and phone clicks. Use the tag manager to install. Identifying these user interactions will provide more granular reporting. 

• Track conversions 

Once key events have been identified and tracking has been put in place, track key events and identify these as conversions to see how many times these events occur. 

 

Common Mistakes to Avoid 

There are a few easy mistakes you can make that you should avoid when it comes to configuration and data analysis, such as: 

• Duplicate tracking codes installed 
• Incorrect code placement during installation 
• Inconsistent tracking across all pages 
• Internal traffic is not filtered out 
• UTM tag mistakes during configuration
• Wrong use of filters 
• Not excluding irrelevant information from reports. 

 

Next Steps: Where to Go From Here

Once you have become familiar with Google Analytic, it will likely become your central hub for data. Expanding on your events, expanding on reporting such as using Looker Studio for more granular reporting will most likely be your next steps, which will help identify areas for optimisation and website goals. 

 

Contact Fresh Pies for any queries or help with your Google Analytics creation. We will be happy to help.