Looking to add Google Analytics to your WordPress site? Wondering how people find your site, which blog posts are popular, and how many visitors use mobile devices? Let’s explore how to set up Google Analytics to WordPress and get answers to these questions and more!
Understanding how your users navigate your site is key to optimizing it for increased traffic and revenue. The best part? With Google Analytics and Analytics Insights plugin, you can easily track and access all the analytics data you need to make informed decisions and drive success.
In this tutorial, we’ll walk you through the process of integrating Google Analytics into your WordPress website using Analytics Insights, one of the top Google Analytics plugins for WordPress.
About Google Analytics on WordPress
Google Analytics offers a wide range of metrics to measure on any WordPress website. Whether you’re running a blog or a business site, Google Analytics can provide valuable insights tailored to your needs.
For bloggers, tracking which posts attract the most readers and how they discover them—be it through social media, referrals, or search engines—is key. Additionally, understanding if readers engage with ads or affiliate links is crucial for optimizing monetization strategies.
On the other hand, business website owners may be more interested in metrics like form submissions, website traffic sources, and the popularity of different services offered.
To connect Google Analytics to your website, you typically need to install a tracking code. This code would be placed in your website’s header.php file. However, for those unfamiliar with coding, this task can be difficult. Furthermore, by manually adding the code you won’t be able to see your Google Analytics reports directly in your WordPress site admin area with the help of Google Analytics Dashboard widget.
That’s where Analytics Insights steps in. This plugin simplifies the process of installing Google Analytics on WordPress, eliminating the need for coding expertise. It also offers essential tracking features to help you understand user behavior, all accessible through a user-friendly Google Analytics dashboard within your WordPress admin panel.
With seamless integration with Google Analytics 4 (GA4), Analytics Insights plugin ensures that you can easily access and interpret your GA4 reports in a straightforward manner.
How to add Google Analytics to WordPress
Usually, integrating Google Analytics into your WordPress site requires manually inserting tracking code into your website’s code. However, Analytics Insights eliminates the need for coding altogether.
To put it simple, the Analytics Insights plugin seamlessly connects your WordPress site with Google Analytics, allowing you to access all the essential data directly from your WordPress dashboard.
Download and install the Analytics Insights plugin
To download and install the Analytics Insights plugin for your WordPress site, follow these steps:
Log in to your WordPress website using your administrator credentials.
Once logged in, click on the Plugins tab located on the left-hand side menu of your WordPress dashboard.
From the Plugins menu, select Add New. This will take you to the WordPress Plugin Directory. In the search bar located in the top right corner, type Analytics Insights and press Enter.
Once the search results appear, look for the Analytics Insights plugin. It should typically be among the top results. Find the Analytics Insights plugin in the search results and click on the Install Now button next to it.
After installation is complete, click on the Activate button to activate the Analytics Insights plugin on your WordPress site. Once activated, you need to access the plugin settings to configure it according to your preferences, we’ll do this later on.
For now you have successfully downloaded and installed the Analytics Insights plugin on your WordPress website.
Sign in to your Google Analytics account
To begin, you’ll need to log in or create a Google account to access Google Analytics.
Start by navigating to the Google Analytics website using your web browser.
On the Google Analytics homepage, locate the Sign in to Analytics link or the Get started today button in the top right corner of the page. Click on it to proceed.
If you already have a Google account, enter your credentials (email address and password) to log in. If you don’t have a Google account, click on the Create account link to sign up for a new Google account.
If you’re creating a new account, you’ll be guided through the process of setting up a new Google account. Follow the prompts and provide the necessary information, such as your name, email address, password, and other details required for account creation. Once you’ve entered all the required information, follow the instructions to complete the account creation process. You may need to verify your email address or provide additional information to finalize your account setup.
After signing in or creating your Google account, you’ll be redirected to the Google Analytics dashboard. From here, you can start setting up your Google Analytics account.
That’s it! You’ve successfully logged in or signed up for a Google account to access Google Analytics. Now you can proceed with setting up Google Analytics by creating your first Property.
Create a Google Analytics Property
Once you’ve signed in to your Google account, locate and click the Start measuring button on the next screen to begin setting up Google Analytics.
Next, you’ll need to provide some details for your Google Analytics account. Enter an Account name, ensuring to check all the data sharing settings checkboxes, and then click Next to proceed.
For setting up a GA4 property, enter the property name, choose the appropriate time zone and currency, and then click Next to continue. Select your industry category and indicate your business size, then click Next to proceed.
Finally, choose your business objectives. We recommend selecting Get baseline reports to ensure you receive all Google Analytics reports populated in your account. Click on Create.
Continue by setting up your first Web Data Stream by selecting Web under Choose a platform section. In the Set up your web stream enter your Website URL and a suggestive Stream Name. Afterall, complete the setup by clicking the Create stream button.
You’ve successfully setup a Google Analytics property and webstream! Now, we’ll move on to adding Google Analytics to your WordPress site.
Setup Analytics Insights plugin
To enable the Analytics Insights plugin to track and display analytics stats from your Google Analytics account, you’ll need to follow a simple authorization process.
To authorize the plugin, go to your WordPress dashboard and click on Analytics Insights in the sidebar menu. Then, select General Settings.
In the General Settings page, locate the button labeled Authorize Plugin and click on it. This will initiate the authorization process. Follow the prompts to complete the authorization process. You may need to sign in to your Google account and grant permissions to the Analytics Insights plugin to access your Google Analytics data.
After completing the authorization, the page will reload automatically. Once the page reloads, you’ll notice a new set of options available. Among these options, you’ll find a list of properties retrieved from your Google Analytics account.
If you have multiple properties defined in your Google Analytics account, the plugin will retrieve all of them. You can now select the preferred property from the list provided. This will be the default property used for analytics tracking and for analytics reports within WordPress dashboard.
For further details and additional settings read the Analytics Insights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress article.
View your Google Analytics Dashboard stats in WordPress
It may take a few hours for Google Analytics to begin gathering data. Please be patient, and once sufficient time has elapsed, you’ll be able to access your WordPress website reports directly within your WordPress dashboard.
A complete set of analytics reports can be found in the Analytics Insights widget, on your main WordPress dashboard.
Here’s a list of reports you can display on your WordPress dashboard using the Analytics Insights plugin:
- Real-time: These reports are valuable for monitoring immediate changes in website traffic, user behavior, and performance
- Sessions, Engagement, Users, Bounce Rate, and Page Views reports: These reports provide a comprehensive view of user behavior, traffic patterns, and engagement metrics on your website.
- Location, Pages, Referrers, and Searches: These reports offer a comprehensive view of your website’s performance, user engagement, and traffic sources.
- Traffic and Technology: with these reports you can gain a deeper understanding of your website’s traffic sources and user technology preferences.
Analytics Insights provides the easiest way of adding Google Analytics to WordPress. It helps you keep an eye on how users behave, set up advanced tracking, and check out analytics stats with ease.