How To Install Google Analytics On Your Blog

June 8, 2018

What is one of the first things you should do after getting your blog setup? Install Google Analytics of course!

Google Analytics will allow you to see how many people are coming to your site, what content they are consuming most, how long they are staying and much much more.

In this post, I will show you step by step how to install Google Analytics on your blog and get it setup to start tracking your website statistics.

How To Install Google Analytics

Step 1 – Sign into Google

The first thing you will need is a Google account. If you already use Gmail then you already have one. You can sign in or create an account by going to analytics.google.com.

If you are not signed in, it will prompt you to sign in or “create an account”.

After you sign in, you will be taken to the analytics sign up page, simply click the Sign Up button.

Next you will be taken to the account setup page.

Account Name – Enter a name for your analytics account. This can be anything, so long as it’s relevant to you.

Website Name – Enter the name of your website or blog, this is just used as a reference if you have multiple web properties.

Website URL – Enter the URL to your blog or website. Example – www.stevenstromick.net (Google will automatically add the http:// for you)

Industry Category – This really doesn’t matter, I usually just pick “Online Communities”.

Time Zone – Select the time zone that you’re located in.

Data Sharing Settings (as shown in the photo below) – These are not really important. I just leave them set as is.

Finally, click the blue “Get Tracking ID” button at the bottom of the page. There will be a pop up that comes up to accept the terms of service.

After clicking accept, you will see a tracking ID is set up for you to utilize. You don’t need to copy this as we will be authenticating your account with Google Analytics later.

Step 2 – Install WordPress Plugin (Google Analytics Dashboard for WP)

You will need to log into the backend admin section of your website.

Next here are the steps to install the plugin:

Hover over “Plugins” in your dashboard and click “Add new plug-in” on the drop down menu.

Then type in the search bar – Google Analytics Dashboard for WP.

Find the Google Analytics Dashboard for WP in the results and click the Install Now button.

Finally, click  the Activate button.

There are many other plugins you could use to add your Google Analytics to your blog, but I particularly like this one because it also brings in some of your stats right into your WordPress dashboard.

Step 3 – Install The Tracking Code

From the left side menu, click on Plugins >> Installed plugins. Find the Google Analytics Dashboard for WP plugin and click on “settings”.

Click Authorize Plugin.

You will need to get an access code, click the Get Access Code link.

Click the blue Allow button to allow access to your analytics account.

Next, high-lite and copy the access code.

After copying the access code, close that tab and return back to your Google Analytics Settings tab. Paste in the code and click Save Access Code.

Finally, select the correct analytics account from the select view dropdown and click the Save Changes button.

That is it! Google Analytics is now installed on your site and will start tracking your website statistics. To get the full detail you will need to log into your Google Analytics account, but you can see a summary of activity in your WordPress Dashboard (just look for the Google Analytics Dashboard section).