{"id":944,"date":"2017-04-19T14:30:57","date_gmt":"2017-04-19T14:30:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.searchenginewatch.com\/2017\/04\/19\/a-guide-to-setting-up-google-analytics-for-your-wordpress-site\/"},"modified":"2019-12-17T17:14:18","modified_gmt":"2019-12-17T17:14:18","slug":"a-guide-to-setting-up-google-analytics-for-your-wordpress-site","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/2017\/04\/19\/a-guide-to-setting-up-google-analytics-for-your-wordpress-site\/","title":{"rendered":"A guide to setting up Google Analytics for your WordPress site"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Of the many tools available for tracking visitor behavior, <a href=\"https:\/\/analytics.google.com\/\">Google Analytics<\/a><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong> is one of the most famous ones.<\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This free tool provides website owners with insightful information about the traffic driven to their website, helping them to determine exactly where each user\u00a0originated and how they\u00a0ended up on the site. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, if you are an enthusiast who is <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">setting up a website<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> or a new blog <a href=\"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/2017\/03\/21\/the-seo-benefits-of-using-wordpress-to-publish-your-content\/\">using\u00a0WordPress as your CMS<\/a>, it is highly recommended to install <a href=\"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/2019\/02\/06\/using-python-to-recover-seo-site-traffic-part-one\/\">Google Analytics<\/a> to your WordPress site. <\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Why Google Analytics?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A lot of visitors and subscribers visit your website daily and hence, it becomes increasingly\u00a0important to track information about their visit. If you are focused and determined to monitor your website\u2019s traffic statistics, data drawn with the help of <a href=\"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/2019\/04\/25\/whats-it-like-using-duckduckgo-in-2019\/\">Google<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/2019\/07\/18\/how-to-set-up-google-analytics-annotations-to-show-google-updates\/\">Analytics<\/a> can be extremely useful.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This tool helps you track how your visitors are moving ahead and navigating through your website. This information is vital because it will help you identify the key areas of your website which are doing well and the others, that need a little more attention.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After installing <a href=\"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/2019\/05\/31\/image-optimization-for-seo\/\">Google<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/2019\/07\/02\/competitive-research-insight-tools\/\">Analytics<\/a> on your website, you can learn about the geographical location of your visitors, their browser information, their duration of stay at your website, pages visited and much more. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With so much information available to access, we hope that we have answered your question as to why you even need this tool. In this blog post, we will provide a step-by-step guide to help you use <a href=\"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/2019\/07\/18\/how-to-set-up-google-analytics-annotations-to-show-google-updates\/\">Google Analytics<\/a> with your WordPress site. So, let\u2019s read on.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Getting started with your\u00a0Google Analytics account<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For the very first step, you are required to create a <a href=\"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/2019\/07\/11\/seo-lead-site-migration\/\">Google Analytics<\/a> account by using your Gmail account. A Gmail account is imperative if you want to start using the <a href=\"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/2019\/07\/11\/seo-lead-site-migration\/\">Google Analytics<\/a> tool with your WordPress site.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/25\/2017\/04\/sign-up-for-google-analytics.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-68041\" src=\"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/25\/2017\/04\/sign-up-for-google-analytics-1024x408.png\" width=\"724\" height=\"288\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Visit the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/analytics.google.com\/analytics\/web\/provision\/?authuser=0#provision\/SignUp\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">signup page<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for Google Analytics. You will be presented with the Gmail login page. Simply, enter your Gmail account login credentials to move forward with the process.<\/span><\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You will be asked to provide information regarding what would you like to track with this service. You can either track statistics for your website or your mobile apps.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Since this blog post is about tracking results for your WordPress website; select the \u2018Website\u2019 option. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fill in the other relevant information to start tracking with the Google Analytics.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/25\/2017\/04\/add-property.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-68042 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/25\/2017\/04\/add-property-703x1024.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"703\" height=\"1024\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Enter your website\u2019s name, its URL and the type of industry it is related to. <\/span><\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Select your time zone so that the service can accurately track the results as per your requirement.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Finally, get your <\/span>Tracking ID<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> by agreeing to Google\u2019s terms of service usage.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/25\/2017\/04\/tracking-code.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-68043\" src=\"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/25\/2017\/04\/tracking-code-1024x464.png\" width=\"724\" height=\"328\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once you have your Tracking code, copy it and keep it handy.<\/span><\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Adding Google Analytics to your WordPress site<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>There are several methods that will help you add Google Analytics to your WordPress website. We will mainly discuss two methods here that are suited to readers with a non-technical approach to blogging.<\/p>\n<h3><b>Using the plugin \u2018MonsterInsights\u2019<\/b><\/h3>\n<p>A very popular plugin with over 13 million downloads, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.monsterinsights.com\/\">MonsterInsights<\/a> has proven its worth when it comes to seamlessly integrating Google Analytics with a WordPress site.<\/p>\n<p>With a free and a premium version on the shelf, this Google Analytics plugin works well for\u00a0even the most basic <a href=\"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/2018\/12\/21\/guide-google-analytics-confusing-terms\/\">users<\/a>. Let\u2019s see how you can use this plugin to add Google Analytics to your WordPress site.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/google-analytics-for-wordpress\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Download<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> the plugin and activate it on your WordPress site. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once the activation is confirmed, the plugin will add a new label to your admin dashboard by the name, \u2018<\/span><b>Insights\u2019<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For configuration of the plugin, visit the \u2018<\/span><b>Settings\u2019<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> tab under the \u2018<a href=\"https:\/\/sewprod.wpenginepowered.com\/2019\/07\/02\/competitive-research-insight-tools\/\">Insights<\/a>\u2019 label. \u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A tab will be presented to you that will read \u2018<\/span><b>Authenticate with your Google Account<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2019. Click on it and then you will be asked to enter a <\/span><b>Google Code. <\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Above it will be a tab<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">that will ask you to click on it, in order to receive the code. Click on it and then click on the <\/span><b>Next<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> button.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Allow \u2018MonsterInsights to access your Google Analytics data\u2019. Finally, provide the plugin with the permission to view and manage your Google Analytics data.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A <\/span><b>Success Code<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> popup will follow. You will be required to copy it carefully and paste it on the popup (discussed above) in point number d.)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In a final step, select the profile that you want to track with the Google Analytics plugin.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Whenever you want to view reports regarding your site\u2019s visitors and subscribers, you can simply go to \u2018Reports\u2019 tab in the \u2018Insights\u2019 label of your Admin dashboard.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Using your WordPress theme <\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the process discussed earlier, you received a <\/span><b>Tracking ID<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> from Google Analytics signup procedure. To use this method, locate the Theme settings option of your WordPress site\u2019s theme. Then, find the label that leads you to a tab asking you to add a Footer Script. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can simply paste the Tracking code to this section and you will be good to go. Always save the settings in order to confirm your changes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once your settings are done and you are ready to take off with your Google Analytics tools, always wait at least 12 hours to let the tool reflect proper results. <\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Other alternatives<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are other ways to add Google Analytics to your WordPress site. The ones mentioned above are easy to pursue and are highly recommendable. The following are methods that can involve some technical briefing.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can manually add the tracking code by editing the header.php file<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you don\u2019t want to edit your theme file, you can install and activate the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/insert-headers-and-footers\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Insert Headers and Footers plugin<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to insert the Google Analytics code<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can also use the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/premium.wpmudev.org\/project\/google-analytics-for-wordpress-mu-sitewide-and-single-blog-solution\/?omtr=b&amp;utm_expid=3606929-101.yRvM9BqCTnWwtfcczEfOmg.1&amp;abdcd=b&amp;utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2F85ideas.com%2Fwp-tutorials%2Fhow-to-set-up-google-analytics-on\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Google Analytics +<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> plugin to access the visitor performance of your WordPress website.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Summing up<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Google Analytics is of huge help when you are looking to track results about a recent marketing campaign and are expecting some conversions to take place. This tool will also help you identify the <a href=\"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/2016\/09\/12\/guide-to-google-ranking-signals-part-2-keywords\/\">keywords<\/a> that are relevant to your site\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/2017\/01\/19\/seven-ways-to-elevate-your-personal-and-professional-seo-performance-in-2017\/\">search engine optimization<\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With so much to offer, Google Analytics is a must-use tool for all website owners out there. I\u00a0sincerely hope that this detailed guide will help you make the right decision without having to expend too much time and energy on the implementation. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you still have questions, feel free to drop them in the comments below. We are always open to receiving feedback and awesome suggestions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/lucyberrette\">Lucy Barret<\/a> is a Sr. WordPress Developer at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bestdesign2themes.com\/hirewpgeeks-review-a-top-notch-wordpress-development-company\/\">HireWPGeeks<\/a>, a WordPress <a href=\"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/2019\/02\/06\/using-python-to-recover-seo-site-traffic-part-one\/\">Development<\/a> Company, and a contributor to SEW.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you are an enthusiast who is setting up a website or a new blog using WordPress as your CMS, it is highly recommended to set up Google Analytics. This guide will show you exactly how.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1092,"featured_media":945,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,8],"tags":[89,397,27],"content_type":[27095],"class_list":["post-944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-analytics","category-content","tag-google-analytics","tag-publishing","tag-wordpress","content_type-news"],"acf":{"tad_independentcommercial":false,"tad_content_format":false},"post_info":{"name":"idris.nagri@blenheimchalcot.com idris.nagri@blenheimchalcot.com","title":"","thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/setting-up-Google-Analytics-wordpress-120x90.png","category":"Analytics","timeago":"9y"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1092"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=944"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/944\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=944"},{"taxonomy":"content_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content_type?post=944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}