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Google Analytics is one of the most prominent web-building tools on the Internet. It’s a free platform that can help you discover all kinds of information about the content of your site. In this webinar, our guest speaker, Brandy Lawson, will dive into the basics of this tool.
And the more you learn and understand about Analytics, the more effective you’ll be at building content strategies for your website. This, in turn, means more visitors and greater success.
Since Analytics is so easy to set up and use, you can get started collecting data right away.
What is Google Analytics?
Google Analytics is a free web-based app that will track visitor data to your website. Providing a wide scope of detail, you can monitor everything from how long the average user reads your content to what pages are the most profitable.
Demographics, behavior, and much more are provided giving you a wide scope of information. This can help you understand how people are engaging your site and how they are finding the content online.
Brandy breaks down the ideas of Analytics and how you can use the information.
The Difference Between UA and GA4
One of the most recent additions to Google Analytics is version 4, or GA4. It’s the latest iteration of the app that uses the Firebase Analytics platform in the backend.
Implementing one or the other usually comes down to the type of site you’re building and how much data you want to collect. Though, it’s probably not a bad idea to learn GA4 in the event Google decides to get rid of UA.
After all, Google is notorious for dropping apps they think aren’t worthwhile.
In this webinar, Brandy goes into the differences between the original UA, Universal Analytics, and the GA4 system.
Installing Google Analytics
There are many different ways to install Google Analytics, and Brandy shows you the most common methods.
You can add a code snippet to your headers, add your tracking code with a WordPress plugin, and much more. Just about every site can support Google Analytics.
The method you choose will depend on how you’re building the website.
Google Analytics Settings
Google provides a lot of different settings and features in the Analytics platform. And there is a lot you can do with the data it collects. From adding filters to integrating the Tag Manager, it’s a feature-rich tool.
Brandy goes into the basics of the settings and how you can get the most out of the experience from the get-go.
Though, it wouldn’t hurt to continue learning the different aspects of Analytics. The more you know, the more elaborate your data will become.
Setting Up Goals
Want to track certain goals pertaining to your visitor traffic? Google lets you do that with ease. It’s a flexible feature that can track a variety of elements to help you find what works best on your site.
In the video, Brandy explains how goals work and what you can do with them.
Overall, setting up goals is among some of the most overlooked resources for new creators and developers. However, they can be some of the most ideal elements you can add to your Analytics dashboard for success.
Tracking Links
Keeping an eye on various types of links can give you insights regarding performance. Not just the performance of advertisements you pay for, but also referrers from social media, affiliates, and internal connections of your content.
For example, you can track a specific blog post to see what social media campaign pulls in the most traffic to your site.
Brandy goes over the details of how Analytics processes this information and how to use UTM codes to track external links. This can be invaluable for those looking to build effective marketing campaigns.
Limitations
Although Google Analytics pulls in a lot of data, it’s still not the most ideal platform for certain things. And Brandy goes into detail about some of its limitations, such as reporting and heatmap technology.
This isn’t to say that the reports are terrible. However, the reporting structure is somewhat limited compared to what you can get through other apps. In fact, a lot of people have a great deal of success just making use of Google Analytics reports.
Though, more can be done for specific needs.
Google collects the data; it’s up to you to utilize it in reporting platforms like Google’s Data Studio.
I often use the data to create my own reports using elaborate spreadsheets I’ve designed. The options for creating custom reports are plentiful. You just need to find the best one that fits your needs.
Get Started with Google Analytics Today!
Google Analytics delivers quite a bit of information, especially when you consider it’s a free system. And Brandy only covers the basics of what this tool can provide.
Integrations with Search Console, sales reporting for eCommerce, multi-channel conversion funnel tracking, and so much more are at your fingertips.
It all starts with understanding the basics and getting your own account up and running.
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