Google Analytics is a powerful tool to analyze campaigns and gain valuable information about your customers and site visitors. Today we are going to take you step-by-step through the process of setting up your own analytics account, as well as gaining access. You will then be one step closer to measuring the effectiveness of your campaigns and learning how to better target your customers!

Adding an Account:

Before you can gain access to analytics, you have to add your account to the analytics dashboard.

1. First, you will sign into the analytics account and click the ‘Admin’ button.
2. In the ‘Account’ Column you will select Create a new account from the menu.
3. Analytics is available to both websites and mobile apps so you will then identify your type.
4. Under Setting up your Account, you will enter an Account Name. Google Analytics allows you to set up multiple accounts on the Analytics Dashboard, so having a specific and descriptive name will allow you to easily recognize the account.
5. You will then follow the same step for Setting up your property if you plan on adding more than one.
6. You can then select an industry category, a Reporting Time Zone, and update your sharing settings.
7. Then finally you will click Get Tracking ID.

Accessing Analytics:

After you have successfully added your account you can then access analytics.

1. Before you can track your data you will have to give analytics permission to track your site. Obtain the tracking ID from the last step of adding an account. You will then log into the back end of your website.
2. You will then take the tracking ID and paste it into the pages of your website. Most websites will have a template built in named ‘Analytics’
3. Google Analytics now has access to track your site and you should be able to see data in a few hours!

Using the Dashboard:

Now that you have successfully gained access to the plethora of valuable information Analytics has to offer, it’s time to learn how to interpret it. The Dashboard will give you a general overview of your website traffic. You can add a series of widgets to show different types of data including active visitors, traffic type, and average visit duration. You can have up to twenty different dashboards with twelve widgets to choose from. This allows you to easily customize your experience and better visualize your data. You can either start with a blank canvas or an already premade starter dashboard.

Google Analytics is not only a simple and free tool to use, but it can provide you with highly sought after data about your customers. When paired with other tools such as Adwords and Search Console, you can form a detailed analysis of your campaigns and understand how to better improve them. At Red Shark Digital we incorporate all of these tools and more to provide our clients with successful SEO campaigns that produce real measurable results. Contact Red Shark Digital to get started on your next campaign today!