Google Analytics 101
By Walt on Tuesday, December 19 2006, 15:11 - Technical info - Permalink
There have been a couple of responses to Joe's blog about the recent December release and some entries in the Forum about Google Analytics: how to set it up, what data to look at, and no data coming through at all. So I'll give everyone a few ideas on how it all fits together.
First, how to set it up. Because Google Analytics is about figures, graphs and charts we thought the most obvious place to stick your access to it is in the Admin panel on the Statistics tab. Then just follow the steps bellow:
- Click on the
Sign up for Google Analytics
button, which will open a new panel and then use theGet your Google ID
button - You should now be on Google's Analytics page where you can sign in to your Google Account (or register for one)
- Sign up for Google Analytics - this will ask for your URL (website address), account name (something appropriate), and your time zone
- Then after providing your name you'll have to accept Google's terms and conditions
- You will then be presented with a code block which is your Google Analytics ID which you need to copy (to your clipboard)
- Almost there! Go back to the Admin panel on your site (should be another window or tab) and paste the code block into the spacious ID field
- Click
OK
to save and then just be patient while Google begins to collect data about your site and your visitors
Depending on how popular your website is your stats may take a few hours to start collecting data or it may take several days. And there is a lot of detail and data, so if you love statistics you'll definitely be in heaven. The key stats for most users will be:
- Daily visitors (how many visitors and what percentage are new)
- Visits & Page View Tracking ( the number of visits which is distinct from your visitors)
- Content Drilldown (the popularity of each page on your site)
Google's help is pretty extensive so spend some time understanding the stats and you'll have the basis for some very useful information. They provide good graphing for the visually inclined, plus they offer good options for printing and saving to various formats on your computer.
Really, the hard part is reading my blog. Setting up takes less than 5 minutes. How long you spend pooring over the graphs and figures is really up to you. So, sign up, get your website on the couch and start analysing.
Comments
i am glad that moonfruit published a guide on how to use analytics. I heard that a lot of people were having trouble with this and i had some difficulties understanding it too. But the idea of linking moonfruit with google analytics and adsense is something that i thought would not be possible for flash. So thanks moonfruit. Please click on my username to look at my website. thanks
Is the FAQ getting updated to include all the new features...?
Yes, they're on their way. It should include new info on all the new features including video, adsense, analytics, etc. We'll let you know when they're live.
Could be an interesting idea to present some customer's websites here somewhere ... After all, Moonfruit is the best way to publish, so let's show the results !!!
The Analytics is great! It works fine for me and i think it is absolutely fabulous!
there are on the moonfruit gallery,no need to put some more sites here
re: Google Analytics - is this a totally free service - seems too good to be true - please can you confirm!!
When I put the code on my cards site it works fine but when I added my graphics site to the listing using the same method it says tracking not installed even though the box in the admin section has Google Account in it,has anyone else had this problem or knows how to fix it, thanks.
Have you also added your graphics URL to your google account? If not it won't know which address to track.
Joe, I did add the graphics site URL to the account but it just shows that it is listed with no code,thanks for the comment, Susan.
I have reinstalled the codes as recommended by Moonfruit help section so it works now thanks,Susan
I am still not understanding how to register all my website domain names with google analytics -- Please help!
hey,
I am now apart of Google Adsense, but im not recieving much revenue. Yes, the ads are up on the site. And if you go to it you will clearly see. Lol, all i have is 17cents..but who knows. It just may take time(please respond)
Since Google updated their analytics site the View my Account button in the admin, statistics screen is not working for me any more. I've tried registering a new account too to start tracking reports again but can't get that to work either - is it something I'm doing wrong???
Hi Jackie,
The 'view my account' just links to http://www.google.com/analytics/ which is the login page for analytics. You will need to sign in there with your original analytics username and password. You will have been sent this by google when you first signed up. Thanks,
Joe
Trying to place code for Googles analytical for own domain reading.............
Almost there! Go back to the Admin panel on your site (should be another window or tab) and paste the code block into the spacious ID field .....
Where on the admin panel please Site info, stats search or site address?
If site info does it go in with keywords as cant see any othr panels
Margo
I was getting information from google analytics and on the reports page it is saying that it is receiving information, however, when i view the reports for this website it is sitting at "0"!!
It should include new info on all the new features including video, adsense, analytics, etc.
Hi! - How can I receive one report for all my websites? I know I should insert the same tracking code on each website and their pages. But looking at my google analytics account I still get a list of all the websites and then their reports. (not as one?)
What should I do?
Thanks
Hi Elaine, that may be a question for Google Analytics not for us, as we don't consolidate the data. If you make your additional domains redirect to the main one (whichever one you want), this would mean that all the traffic should appear on the single domain. But there may be a better solution that GA can help you with. Good luck! Joe
comment no. 16 from margo doesn't seem to have an answer and i would like to ask the same question: Almost there! Go back to the Admin panel on your site (should be another window or tab) and paste the code block into the spacious ID field .....
Where on the admin panel please Site info, stats search or site address?
i can't see a 'spacious id field'
Hi Ali, and apologies to Margo for missing a reply to her query.
When you clicked on the 'Sign up for Google Analytics' button on the 'Statistics' tab, another panel will have opened labelled 'Google Analytics'. The 'spacious field' is on this panel when it still unused (no code block has been added). At this point you would have clicked on the 'Get your Google ID' button beneath this field.
This action would have opened a new window or tab in your web browser and should have launched Google. Once you had signed in and signed up, Google will have given you your 'code block', which you would have needed to highlight and copy (e.g. Ctrl + C or use Copy from toolbar).
Finally, you only needed to return to the tab or window where your site was still active and you would see the Google Analytics panel still open. The rather large blank field on this panel will have text telling you to 'paste your Google Analytics ID code block'. Drop or paste your code in here and click OK.
You will see the panel change, telling you that 'Your current Google Analytics ID is' with your code shortened to a string of letters and numbers. Click OK to close this panel and then OK to close the Admin panel.
You will now be set up for Analytics. Just give it a few days to a week to start collecting data and you will then be able to log in to Analytics on Google and get a wealth of information about your site, your visitors and their use of your site.
Hope that helps.
just wanted to say thanks very much for replying so quickly and so clearly. i've just followed your instructions (actually, it was pretty obvious, wasn't it) and will see in a few days if i've done it properly when, hopefully, there'll be some stuff to analyse
one further comment regarding the copy and pasting of google analytics code - should i paste it into each separate page of my website or just the home page?
Hi Ali,
The Analytics code will only go in one place and that will be in the blank field/box on the Google Analytics tab on the Admin panel.
This tab can be accessed by going to the Toolbar finding the Admin menu, selecting Statistics and then using the Google Analytics option at bottom of panel to access the field. This is the only place you can add the code.
This code will be set up on your site by us so that Google can track your visitors, your traffic and their behaviour when on your site. But it will take a few days for Analytics to start gathering together meaningful data.