The Beginner's Guide to Google Analytics - Moz

Google Analytics is a free website tracking tool and platform that collects data on how users interact with your website. Once the data is collected, Google ... Skiptocontent Mozlogo Menuopen Menuclose Search Products MozPro MozProHome MozLocal MozLocalHome STAT MozscapeAPI FreeSEOTools LinkExplorer KeywordExplorer CompetitiveResearch DomainAnalysis MozBar MoreFreeSEOTools LearnSEO Beginner'sGuidetoSEO SEOLearningCenter MozAcademy SEOQ&A Webinars,Whitepapers,&Guides Blog WhyMoz AgencySolutions EnterpriseSolutions SmallBusinessSolutions CaseStudies TheMozStory NewReleases Login Logout Products MozPro YourAll-In-OneSuiteofSEOTools TheessentialSEOtoolset:keywordresearch,linkbuilding,siteaudits,pageoptimization,ranktracking,reporting,andmore. Learnmore TryMozProfree MozLocal CompleteLocalSEOManagement RaiseyourlocalSEOvisibilitywitheasydirectorydistribution,reviewmanagement,listingupdates,andmore. 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Analyzedomain MozBar Free,InstantSEOMetricsAsYouSurf UsingGoogleChrome,seetopSEOmetricsinstantlyforanywebsiteorsearchresultasyoubrowsetheweb. TryMozBar MoreFreeSEOTools LearnSEO Beginner'sGuidetoSEO The#1mostpopularintroductiontoSEO,trustedbymillions. ReadtheBeginner'sGuide How-ToGuides Step-by-stepguidestosearchsuccessfromtheauthorityonSEO. SeeAllSEOGuides SEOLearningCenter BroadenyourknowledgewithSEOresourcesforallskilllevels. VisittheLearningCenter MozAcademy Upskillandgetcertifiedwithon-demandcourses&certifications. ExploretheCatalog On-DemandWebinars LearnmodernSEObestpracticesfromindustryexperts. ViewAllWebinars SEOQ&A Insights&discussionsfromanSEOcommunityof500,000+. FindSEOAnswers August7-9,2023 LockinSuperEarlyBirdsavingsforMozCon Snagtickets Blog WhyMoz SmallBusinessSolutions Uncoverinsightstomakesmartermarketingdecisionsinlesstime. GrowYourBusiness TheMozStory Mozwasthefirst&remainsthemosttrustedSEOcompany. ReadOurStory AgencySolutions Earn&keepvaluableclientswithunparalleleddata&insights. DriveClientSuccess CaseStudies ExplorehowMozdrivesROIwithaproventrackrecordofsuccess. SeeWhat'sPossible EnterpriseSolutions Gainacompetitiveedgeintheever-changingworldofsearch. ScaleYourSEO NewReleases GetthescooponthelatestandgreatestfromMoz. SeeWhat’sNew NewFeature:MozPro Surfaceactionablecompetitiveintel LearnMore Login MozPro MozLocal MozLocalDashboard MozscapeAPI MozscapeAPIDashboard MozAcademy Avatar MozHome Notifications Account&Billing ManageUsers CommunityProfile MyQ&A MyVideos LogOut MozPro MozPro Howitworks Solutions Pricing Testimonials StartMyFree30-DayTrial Howitworks Solutions Pricing Testimonials StartMyFree30-DayTrial TheBeginner’sGuidetoGoogleAnalytics Introduction Explorethechapters:   Chapters Introduction SettingUp&CollectingData FindingtheDatathatMatterstoYou AudienceReports AcquisitionReports BehaviorReports ConversionReports TheNextGenerationofGoogleAnalytics Glossary Next Whetheryou’rereportingtoyourboss,aclient,orjustworkingforyourself,trackingyourresultsisoneofthebestwaystoprovevalue.So,howdoyoudoit? Thefirstthingyouneedtodoissetyourgoal.Whatareyouworkingtoward?Oftentimes,you’llbetaskedwithincreasingsitetrafficorincreasingsiteconversions.Todothis,you’llneedatoolthattracksthosenumbers,andthat’swhereGoogleAnalyticscomesin. InthisguidewewillcoverwhatGoogleAnalyticsis,howitworks,howtogetstarted,andwhatinformationitprovides. So,buckleupandgetready! WhatisGoogleAnalytics? GoogleAnalyticsisafreewebsitetrackingtoolandplatformthatcollectsdataonhowusersinteractwithyourwebsite.Oncethedataiscollected,GoogleAnalyticssortsthedataintoeasy-to-readinteractivereports,whichiswhatweseeintheplatform. AbriefhistoryofGoogleAnalytics Websitedatawasn’talwaysprettyandeasytoread.Originally,ifpeoplewantedtoknowwhatkindoftraffictheirsitegot,they’dhavetoreadtheirserverlog.Theserverlogwouldspitoutalistofinformationforeachactionthathappenedonthesite.Whiletheinformationprovedvaluable,itwashardtocomprehend. Tomakethingsabiteasier,companiesstartedtocompilelogfilesandcreatereportsbasedontheavailableinformation.AcompanycalledUrchinmadereportsofthelogfilesandgrewinpopularityveryquicklyandturnedalotofheads.Somuchsothatin2005,GoogleacquiredUrchinandstartedtheprocessofbuildingandbrandingGoogleAnalytics. GoogleAnalytics GoogleAnalytics,theoriginalplatform,wasasimplevisualizationtoolcreatedtomakelogfiledataeasiertoread.Itlookssimilartotheplatformweusetoday,butwithfarlessdata.Remember,atthispoint,Googlewasn’tstoringandsellingallofthepersonalinformationonusersthatitistoday. UniversalAnalytics UniversalAnalyticsbecamethestandardin2014whenitcameoutofbeta.UniversalAnalyticsbecameamustasthediversityinuserdevicesexpanded.Theriseofmobiledevicesandtabletsledtoalargerneedfortrackingusersacrosstheinternetandacrossdevices. Asof2021,UniversalAnalyticsisstilltheplatformofchoice,andit’swhatwe’regoingtofocusonforthemajorityofthisguide. GoogleAnalytics4 ThenewestrevisionoftheGoogleAnalyticsplatformwasreleasedinOctoberof2020.GoogleAnalytics4isanewtakeonApp+Webpropertiesandflowsalldataintoonestream.GA4alsoreliesfarmoreheavilyonmachinelearningandaimstohelpanalystsforecastwithpredictiveanalytics. ThisiterationofGoogleAnalyticsisstillverynewandhasnotbeenwidelyadopted,yet.However,wedoencouragesettingGA4upassoonaspossibleasGA4doesnotbringretrospectivedatafromUniversalAnalyticsintoGA4. HowGoogleAnalyticsworks TogetanydatafromyourwebsiteintoGoogleAnalytics,youmustfirstplacethetagonyoursite.Assoonasthattagisproperlyplaced(anddon’tworry,we’llcoverthatinthenextchapter),GoogleAnalyticswillstartcollectingdata.Thedataisthenputintoreportsmadeupofmetricsanddimensions. Metricsarewhatproducethenumbersyou’llfindintheplatform.Anythingthatcanbemeasuredwithanumberisametric.Thinkofthenumberofusers,numberofpurchases,valueofconversions,averagetimeonsite,etc. Adimensionishowmetricscanbesegmented.Thinkoftheword“by”:NumberofusersBYsource.AveragetimeonsiteBYlandingpage.NumberofconversionsBYdevicetype. WhychooseGoogleAnalytics? PerhapsthemostenticingthingaboutGoogleAnalyticsisthatit’sfree.Thismakestheplatformavailabletoanyonewithawebsite,whichinturncreatesalargercommunityofuserstoshareinformationandguidance.ThereareplentyofresourcesavailableonhowtouseGoogleAnalytics,makingitaccessibleforusersofalllevels. That’sanotheradvantage:GoogleAnalyticsishelpfultoanalystsatanyskilllevel.WithGoogleAnalytics,youcanachievemorebasiclevelanalysisonyoursiteperformance,butthereisalsoopportunityforadvancedanalysis.Notonlydoyougetinformationonwhatmarketingchannelsdrivetraffictoyoursite,butyoucanalsoseewhichsitesuserscomefromatdifferenttimesofday,whatlandingpagetheyarrivedat,andhowlongthepagetooktoloadforthem. Also,whowouldn’twantinformationontheirwebsitefromthelargestsearchengineontheinternet?Assearchenginemarketers,muchoftheworkwedoisaimedatpleasingGoogle.HavingaplatformthatcantellussomeoftheinformationGoogleistrackingonoursiteisextremelybeneficialforstrategicplanning.UsingthenumbersinGoogleAnalytics,you’llbeabletomakechangestoyoursitewithdata-drivenstrategyasopposedtorelyingsolelyonintuition. Lastly,asmarketers,weusealotofGoogletools:SearchConsole,GoogleAds,DataStudio,GoogleTagManager,GoogleOptimizeandmore.AllofthesetoolsintegrateseamlesslywithGoogleAnalytics. Getstartedwithademoaccount Gettingstartedwiththedemoaccountcangetyouhands-onexperiencewithGoogleAnalyticsbeforeyouevenhaveawebsite.Thedemoaccountcomesloadedwithplentyofdatatodiginandanalyze. Tosetupyourdemoaccount: Gotoanalytics.google.comCreateyouraccountAddthedemoaccount Wewillbeusingdemoaccountdatathroughoutthisguide.Divingintotheaccountandfollowingalongwillhelpsolidifywhatyoulearn.Eachsectionwillcomewithstep-by-stepinstructions,soconsiderfollowingalongusingthedemoaccountbeforeapplyingthelearningstoyourownwebsite. Introduction 1 SettingUp&CollectingData 2 FindingtheDatathatMatterstoYou 3 AudienceReports 4 AcquisitionReports 5 BehaviorReports 6 ConversionReports 7 TheNextGenerationofGoogleAnalytics 8 Glossary