Google Analytics - you need to use it

January 2, 2008 · Filed Under Blogging, Google, Internet

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If there is one free service from Google that really stands out, it must be Google Analytics. The ease of use, level of detail and what that information can be used for is pretty damn impressive. You get SO much data! How many people go to your site, how long they stay, what they click on, where they’re from… the list goes on! You can also set conversion goals to track anything from specific clicks to downloads.

So how do you use Google Analytics?

Sign up for a Google account, if you have Gmail already, you’re ready to go
Go to the Google Analytics site
Log in
Add a new site - out in the url of the site you want to track
Google Analytics generates a code which you then add to your site (within the site’s code)
Once you’ve done this, it can take around 24 hours for Google to start tracking the data from your site
You’re done! Information-tastic! All you need to know at your fingertips - you can even get pdf reports delivered to your email inbox whenever you want covering all manner of specific trends

If you are using a Wordpress installation on your site, (this blog is using Wordpress), there are a few plugins which you can use to make this process easier, so there is no mucking about with code (perfect for me!).

I am currently using the Ultimate Google Analytics Plugin which you can find here. I’m just in the process of creating a new blog for a new site and have done all the necessary set up and used the plugin. I now need to see if Google starts tracking it correctly tomorrow.

Do you use any other plugin?
I would be very grateful if any of you could point me in the direction of any plugins for Google Analytics that you use on your Wordpress blogs. (Any plugin recommendations are also welcome!).

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