When you add Google Analytics to your WordPress site, it will help you in understanding your audience, improving your website’s performance and growing your website traffic quickly and effectively. Whether you’re working on a simple blog or a professional WordPress website development project, this detailed guide will walk you through the process step-by-step, ensuring you can track your site’s traffic and performance effectively.
Let’s get started to install Google Analytics and see your website grow together!
Methods to Add Google Analytics to WordPress
There are several ways for you to add Google Analytics to your WordPress site. We’ll cover three popular methods for adding Google Analytics by adding the tracking code manually, using the Google Tag Manager and using a plugin.
Method 1: Adding the Tracking Code manually
One of the ways to add the Google Analytics on your WordPress site is by manually adding the Google Analytics tracking code.
1. Sign Up for Google Analytics:
Go to the Google Analytics website and sign up for an account.
Set up a property for your website by filling basic information such as property name, reporting time zone and currency.
Source: https://wordpress.com/support/google-analytics/
Provide the information such as business size and category of the industry, which is most likely to be your website name.
Source: https://wordpress.com/support/google-analytics/
Select the purpose for using the Google Analytics.
- Generate Leads
- Drive online sales
- Raise brand awareness
- Examine user behaviour
Accept the terms and conditions for using Google Analytics.
Once accepted, choose the platform for collection of data.
Source: https://wordpress.com/support/google-analytics/
Choose web option and type the domain name. Do not use www while specifying the domain name. Put your company tagline in the stream name box. Once specified, click on Create Stream button.
Once the stream is created, generate the tracking code or tag ID. For this
2. Add the Tracking Code to your Theme:
- Copy the tracking code provided by Google Analytics.
- In your WordPress dashboard, go to Appearance > Theme Editor.
- Open the header.php file and paste the tracking code before the closing </head> tag.
- Save the changes
Method 2: Using Google Tag Manager
Google Tag Manager allows you to manage multiple tracking codes from a single interface.
1. Set Up Google Tag Manager:
Go to the Google Tag Manager website and create an account.
Source: tagmanager.google.com
Set up a container for your website and get the container code.
2. Add Google Tag Manager to WordPress:
In your WordPress dashboard, go to Appearance and select Theme Editor.
Open the header.php file and paste the container code before the closing </head> tag.
3. Add Google Analytics Tag:
In Google Tag Manager, create a new tag.
Source: wpengine.com
Select Google Analytics – Universal Analytics as the tag type.
Source: wpengine.com
Enter your tracking ID and configure the tag to fire on all pages.
Source: wpengine.com
Publish the container.
Source: wpengine.com
Method 3: Using a MonsterInsights Plugin
For a simple way to add Google Analytics to your WordPress site, follow the below steps to use MonsterInsights plugin.
1. Install and Activate MonsterInsights:
Go to your WordPress dashboard. Navigate to Plugins and click on Add New.
Search for MonsterInsights and install the plugin.
2. Connect MonsterInsights to Google Analytics:
Go to Insights > Settings in your WordPress dashboard.
Click on Connect MonsterInsights.
Follow the on-screen instructions to authenticate your Google account and select the correct property.
3. Configuration of settings:
Once connected, you can configure various settings such as tracking downloads, outbound links, additional plugins, addons and more.
How to view your Google Analytics data?
Once you have set up Google Analytics, you can view the data related to your website by logging into your Google Analytics account. You’ll be able to see various reports on audience demographics, behavior, acquisition channels, and more such information.
Why Use Google Analytics?
Google Analytics provides you details about the audience traffic on your website and their behaviour. Some of the common uses of Google Analytics are detailed below:
- Track visitor data and user behaviour: Understand who visits your site, your audience’s location, devices they use, which pages are most popular and how long visitors stay etc.
- Measure marketing performance: Evaluate the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns. This will allow you to decide on your marketing spends and customize the marketing plans accordingly.
- Improve SEO: Google Analytics helps your identify keywords and content that will drive traffic on your website.
SEO tips for improving Google Analytics performance of your WordPress site
To ensure your website ranks high on search engines, consider the following SEO tips:
- Use relevant keywords: Use relevant keywords throughout your pages wherever required. However, it should not appear forced application of keywords.
- Optimize images: Use descriptive file names and alt text for images.
- Internal linking: Link to other relevant posts on your site to keep visitors engaged.
- Mobile optimization: Ensure your site is mobile-friendly, as Google prioritizes mobile-first indexing.
Conclusion
Adding Google Analytics to your WordPress site is a simple process that provides you free valuable insights into your website’s performance. Whether you choose to use a plugin, add the tracking code manually, or use Google Tag Manager, connecting your WordPress website to Google Analytics tool will allow you to track your site’s traffic and make data-driven decisions to improve your content and marketing strategies.
However, if you are still having trouble with adding Google Analytics to your WordPress website or do not want to go through the tedious process, reach out to WordPress website development team to solve your problem in a few clicks.
