How To Install Google Analytics On Wordpress Blog

If you've been banging your head against the wall trying to figure out how to install Google Analytics on your WordPress blog, today is your lucky day!

I'm going to break this process down into a few simple steps, and you're going to have Google Analytics setup in just a few minutes.

Set that timer for five minutes and get ready to blow your own mind!

Can I get a "heck yes" up in here?!

But before we jump into the technical stuff, let's take a quick second to talk about WHY every blogger needs to have Google Analytics attached to their WordPress blog.

WHY YOU SHOULD INSTALL GOOGLE ANALYTICS ASAP

Google Analytics is a free tool provided by Google to help you track and study your website traffic and activity. It isthe industry standard for tracking all statistics for your website … and it's pretty incredible!

Even when your audience is very small, you will be able to learn a lot about their behavior on your site: their interests, demographics, the pages and blog posts they like the most, and more.

The only way to GROW our blog and SERVE our people is to figure out what they like and what needs to improve. Google Analytics gives us that power.

But Google can't track your traffic and provide analytics until you have installed the proper code on your blog, so that's what we're going to do today.

If you are not setup with self-hosted WordPress.org at this time, I highly recommend taking that step first. This is the best way to grow and monetize your blog, and it is the absolute ONLY way to own your website.

Here is a step-by-step guide for setting up your own self-hosted blog. If you have a current blog that you need to transfer to self-hosted WordPress.org, I highly recommend using Siteground. They have incredible customer service and they'll take care of everything for you!

And once you have your own self-hosted WordPress blog setup, you can install Google Analytics in just a few minutes and start tracking your traffic!

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HOW TO INSTALL GOOGLE ANALYTICS ON YOUR WORDPRESS SITE

First things first: if you have the Jetpack plugin installed on your website, deactivate that baby right now. You don't need it and it's not even as accurate as Google Analytics.

Peace out, Jetpack!

Girl in a yellow bikini giving the peace sign

To install Google Analytics, you'll need to sign into your Google account that you use for your blog.

You should definitely have a GMAIL account that you use for all blog-related things like this. So, if you don't have one already, I would definitely create one now.

Sign into GMAIL and then type this URL into your search bar: https://analytics.google.com/analytics/web

This page will pop up and it will tell you what steps you're about to take.

Hit thatSIGN UP button so that we can get started!

Screenshot of the steps for installing google analytics

STEP ONE: SIGNING UP FOR GOOGLE ANALYTICS

As mentioned in the graphic above, you'll start with signing up for Analytics. You'll set up your account by filling out some general information about your website.

Here is what you're going to need to fill in:

Account Name: The name of your site or whatever name you'd like to use.

Website Name: This is your domain name without the www. at the beginning and the .com at the end. So mine, for example, is SweetandSimple

Website URL: Be sure to select https:// from the drop down menu and then add your website URL into the box. So mine, for example, would be: dropdown selection:https://and website URL:sweetandsimplelife.com

You need an SSL certificate to complete this step, so if you don't have one yet, contact your host and make sure they set one up for you. This is free with Siteground through their Let's Encrypt tool, which is one of the many reasons I love them!

Industry Category: You'll just select the industry category closest to the overall focus of your blog.

Reporting Time Zone: You'll select the time zone where you live.

The page for step one looks like this:

Screenshot of how to set up google analytics

After filling out this info, just scroll down and clickGET TRACKING ID so that we can move on to step two.

STEP TWO: ADD TRACKING CODE

To get your tracking code, you'll have to agree to Google's Service Agreement and Additional Terms when that little window pops up.

Just check the two boxes below the terms if you are willing to accept them, and then click theI ACCEPT button at the bottom of that screen.

You'll be redirected to your brand new Analytics account and you'll see some tracking code appear under the Global Site Tag section. You'll need to copy that code so that you can paste it onto your website.

Here's an example of what you'll see. I highlighted where you'll find the tracking code:

Screenshot of code you have to paste on your site to install google analytics

To paste this code on your site, just head back over to your WordPress dashboard and go to PLUGINS.

You'll need to install this (insanely useful and magical) plugin calledInsert Headers and Footers.

Go into the Plugins tab in WordPress and search for "Insert Headers and Footers". When you locate the plugin, just hit the Activate button and then you'll be ready to paste that Google Analytics tracking code.

Now, scroll down to the Settings tab and click on Insert Headers and Footers.

Paste the code into the ' Scripts in Header ' section and then hit save!

It'll look like something like this:

Screenshot of what you see with the insert headers and footers plugin

UNDERSTANDING YOUR ANALYTICS

And just like that, your Google Analytics account has been activated! Just wait a few minutes and then you can head back over to your Analytics account and start browsing around.

There is a lot to learn in your dashboard but try not to get overwhelmed. It'll all make sense soon enough! This dashboard is going to show you everything you need to know about your audience and their behavior on your website.

You can start clicking around and learning the ropes for yourself, or you can grab this super detailed (super affordable) Google Analytics ebook that will cover everything you need to know!

We haven't been tracking anything up to this point, so your stats will start at zero today. But don't worry, they'll start growing soon!

For tips on growing your blog traffic, check out this article!

This article is part of a 10-step starter guide for setting up your blog properly. Previous sections in this 10-step guide:

1: Defining Your Blogging Goals

2: Choosing Your Blogging Niche

3: Choosing Your Domain Name

4: Choosing Your Website Hosting

5: Pointing Your Domain to Your Host

6: Downloading WordPress

7: Choosing Your WordPress Theme

8. Customizing Your WordPress Theme

9. Setting Up Your Menu and Main Pages