GA 101: Getting Started in Google Analytics

Tony Villanova - March 12, 2014

Know you should be using Google Analytics but just not sure how to get started? You’re not alone. Many webmasters understand the value of Google Analytics but simply don’t know how to even set it up. So in this post, we’re walking you though the step-by-step process of creating an account, placing your tracking code and implementing Universal Analytics.

Let’s get started.

1. After you have created a Google account you will want to head over to the Google Analytics website (http://www.google.com/analytics/) and sign-up for an account.

   

2. Next you will be taken to the screen below, to the far right of this screen select Sign Up as seen in the second image below.

   

3. Once you select Signup, you are going to select whether you are running Analytics on your Website or Mobile Application. In this example we are going to be setting our account up for a Website.

   

4. Once you have selected the website choice you will be given an option between Universal Analytics (UA) or Classic Analytics. If you are new to Google Analytics (GA) we recommend starting with Universal Analytics.

   

5. Next you are going to need to enter some information about your account. Account Name, Website Name, URL, Industry, and Time Zone.

   

6. The section below called Data Sharing Settings will auto check each of the options for you by default. We recommend leaving them checked. However, read through each one for yourself to determine if you would like to leave them checked or not.
7.  Once you have fille dout all of the required information and have decided on your Dtata Sharing Settings you will click “Get Tracking ID”.

   

8. You will have a dialog box pop up so you can accept the Google Analytics Terms of Service which will look like the picture below.

   

9. If everything goes through fine out should see a green box appear at the top of your page that says Success.

   

10. The next screen you will see will contain your Universal Analytics Tracking Code as seen below.

    

11. When implementing this code directly into your website, we recommending including it before the closing head tag </head>.

Tip: If you don’t see data populating immediately don’t worry, it can take up to 48 hours for data to start collecting within Universal Analytics.

Happy Analyzing!