Google Analytics and its basics
Google Analytics is a powerful tool that allows businesses to analyse the performance of their websites and understand visitor behaviour. This tool helps businesses gain valuable insights into their website traffic, users and their activities, which in turn supports better business decisions.
What is Google Analytics?
Google Analytics is a free tool developed by Google Inc. that provides a comprehensive analytics solution for website owners and marketers. It allows detailed monitoring and analysis of network traffic. The tool is useful for both small businesses and large organisations that want to improve the performance of their websites and understand the user experience.
What information does Google Analytics collect?
Google Analytics collects a wide range of data to help businesses better understand their website visitors:
- Visitor data: geographical location, language and technical information such as device and browser.
- Behavioural data: the paths of users on a website, for example which pages are the most popular and how long users stay on different pages.
- Traffic sources: information about the sources from which traffic is coming, such as organic search, direct visits or social media links.
- Conversion data: information on the achievement of objectives, such as the purchase of a product or the completion of a contact form.
Why should businesses use Google Analytics?
Google Analytics offers several benefits for businesses:
- Understanding users: businesses can get to know their target audience and tailor content to their needs.
- Better decision making: the data collected helps to guide marketing strategies and make informed decisions.
- Performance measurement: businesses can identify weaknesses and strengths in the performance of their websites.
- Cost-effectiveness: by analysing traffic sources, companies can allocate their marketing budgets more efficiently.
In summary, Google Analytics provides a rich analytics tool that enables businesses to gain a deep understanding of how their websites are performing and improve their customers’ experience.
Key features of Google Analytics
Google Analytics is a great tool for businesses that want to better understand their website traffic and user behaviour. It helps to identify the strengths and weaknesses of a website and plan better digital marketing strategies. Here are the key features of Google Analyticsthat help businesses make the most of this tool.
Summary of key features
Google Analytics offers many powerful features that help businesses understand their website users and their behaviour. These features include:
- Real-time data: The ability to monitor website traffic in real time.
- User behaviour analysis: detailed reports on how users interact with the website.
- Reporting options: customisable reports and dashboards that make it easy to analyse and present data.
Real-time data
Google Analytics real-time reports provide valuable information about what’s happening on your website right now. Businesses can see:
- How many users are currently on the site.
- Where they come from, for example organic search, direct traffic or social media.
- What pages they look at and how long they stay on them.
Real-time data allows you to react quickly to changes in traffic, such as an unexpected spike in visitors or to assess the effectiveness of your campaign immediately after launch.
Behavioural analysis of users
User behaviour analysis is one of the most important features of Google Analytics, as it provides an in-depth insight into how users interact with a website. This includes:
- Analysis of website behaviour, such as the most popular pages and user paths.
- Analysis of site speed and recommendations for improving performance.
- Tracking conversion points, such as filling in forms or buying a product.
Reporting possibilities
Google Analytics offers a wide range of reporting options that allow businesses to analyse and share data easily. Important reporting features include:
- Customized reports: companies can create reports that focus on their needs.
- Dashboards: summary reports on key metrics in a single view.
- Export feature: possibility to export reports in different formats, such as PDF or Excel.
In summary, Google Analytics offers a rich set of features that make it an essential tool for businesses of all sizes. Features such as real-time data, user behaviour analysis and extensive reporting capabilities make it an excellent tool for improving website performance.
How to install Google Analytics
Installing Google Analytics on your website is essential so that your company can start collecting and analysing data about your visitors. Properly installed, it provides invaluable insight into website traffic and helps improve your digital strategy. The following steps will help you to successfully install Google Analytics.
Creating an account
The first step in setting up Google Analytics is to create an account. This process is quite simple:
- Go to analytics.google.com and sign in with your Google Account.
- Click on “Start measuring” or “Sign up for free”.
- Fill in the required information, such as account name, website name and URL.
- Select your industry sector and time zone.
- Accept the Google Analytics Terms of Use and finalise your account.
Once your account is created, you’ll get access to the Google Analytics dashboard.
Adding a tracking code to a website
Once the account is created, the next step is to add the tracking code to the website. This code is crucial, as it enables the collection of data:
- Go to “Admin” in the Google Analytics dashboard.
- Select “Tracking Info” and click on “Tracking Code”.
- Copy the tracking code, which is usually a JavaScript-based line of code.
- Paste this code between the head tags of your website or use it via Google Tag Manager.
- Save your changes and make sure the code is installed correctly.
Setting targets
Setting targets in Google Analytics is essential to monitor website performance and determine how well the website supports business goals:
- Go to “Admin” in the control panel and select “Goals”.
- Click on “New Goal” and select the type of goal, such as a landing page, number of pages/visits or an event.
- Specify exactly how you want the target to be measured.
- Save the target and make sure it works correctly by collecting test data.
Goals allow you to track how well your website supports your business goals and see which visitor paths lead to the best conversions.
Follow these steps to install Google Analytics and start collecting, analysing and using your data to make better business decisions.
User interface basics
The Google Analytics interface may seem complicated at first, but understanding it is essential to get the most out of this powerful tool. An overview of the interface and the basics of browsing reports will give you a solid foundation for data analysis.
Overview of the Google Analytics interface
When you log in to Google Analytics, you’ll be greeted by a dashboard that provides an overview of key metrics for your site. At the top of the front page is a menu that gives you quick access to the most important reports:
- Home page: provides a quick overview of your website traffic.
- Reports: access all the detailed reports in Google Analytics.
- Custom analytics: the possibility to create custom reports and views.
- Administrator: here you can manage your account and make settings.
The most central part of the Google Analytics interface is the navigation panel on the left-hand side, where you’ll find all the reports and tools. The sub-menus below the most common menus offer more options for analysis.
Navigation and browsing reports
You can navigate Google Analytics through the menu on the left-hand side. When you select one of the main level options, such as Audience or Behaviour, you will see a sub-menu of additional reports. For example, you can find the following key reports:
- Audience: comprehensive analysis of visitor demographics and behaviour.
- Procurement: reports from traffic sources such as organic search and social media.
- Behaviour: information on how users interact with your website.
Each report includes a chart and a table showing the main indicators and figures. In addition, the data in the reports can be filtered, segmented and customised as needed, making it easier to gain important insights.
Understanding the basics of the Google Analytics interface is essential to take full advantage of the tool’s capabilities and to navigate efficiently to the data you need.
We also recommend checking out other Google tools.
Key indicators and KPIs
Google Analytics provides a number of metrics and KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) that help businesses to assess the performance and user experience of their websites. These metrics will help measure the volume, quality and efficiency of traffic, allowing better decision-making on digital strategy.
What are indicators and KPIs?
Metrics are statistical data that Google Analytics collects and displays in its reports. They may concern, for example:
- How many users the site has had.
- How many sessions users have completed.
- How many pages/visits were viewed on average during the session.
KPIs, on the other hand, are important metrics that directly reflect the business objectives of a website. They can be used to measure:
- Conversions, such as the number of purchases or contacts.
- The number of new subscribers or registered users.
- Customer engagement, such as visitors returning to the site.
Key indicators
The key metrics provide a wide range of information about website users and their behaviour:
- Users: the total number of users in a given period.
- Sessions: how many times users have visited the site.
- Pages/visit: average number of pages viewed in one visit.
These metrics are the basis for understanding website traffic and can easily show, for example, an increase or decrease in the number of users.
The importance and monitoring of KPIs
Monitoring KPIs is critical as they can be used to assess how well a website is achieving its business objectives. Well-defined KPIs help:
- Identify weaknesses and improve the website.
- Monitor the effectiveness of campaigns and marketing activities.
- Prioritise resources and focus marketing efforts on effective measures.
When defining KPIs, it is important to take into account the company’s objectives and the type of behaviour you want to measure. This will ensure that the right things are measured and that useful information is available to support decision-making.
In summary, metrics and KPIs are essential tools for monitoring and improving website performance. They allow companies to effectively assess the performance of their websites and achieve their business objectives.
Interpreting and analysing data
Interpreting and analysing data from Google Analytics are essential steps in understanding website performance and user experience. By analysing the data collected, companies can make better-informed decisions about their digital strategy. Let’s look at how to analyse user data, sessions and behaviour, and visitor sources effectively.
How to interpret user data
User data provides valuable information about who visits your website. The most important user data are:
- Number of users: how many different users have visited the site in a given period.
- New vs. returning users: how many users are new visitors and how many return to the site.
When interpreting user data, it is useful to compare data from different time periods. For example, an increase in the number of users may indicate successful marketing efforts, while a decrease in the number of users may indicate problems with the website or a need for more visibility.
Analysis of sessions and behaviour
Session analysis provides an in-depth understanding of how users interact with your site:
- Number of sessions: how many times users have visited the site.
- Pages per session: the average number of pages viewed in one session.
- Average session duration: how long users stay on the site on average.
Behavioural analysis deepens the analysis of sessions by studying the behaviour of users:
- Landing pages: which pages lead to the highest number of users leaving the site.
- User paths: how users navigate between different pages.
By analysing behavioural data, it is possible to find out how well a website is serving users and what might be causing problems. For example, a low page/session meter may indicate that the content of the site is not sufficiently interesting or relevant to users.
Researching the sources of visitors
Visitor source analysis reveals where visitors to your website are coming from. The main sources are:
- Organic traffic: users who arrive at the site via search engines.
- Direct traffic: users who enter a URL directly or via stored bookmarks.
- Social traffic: users coming from social media channels.
- Paid traffic: users who arrive through paid advertising.
By analysing visitor sources, it is possible to assess which marketing channels are most effective. An increase in organic traffic may indicate successful search engine optimisation, while an increase in direct traffic may be the result of strong brand recognition.
Interpreting and analysing data in Google Analytics is crucial for businesses to make informed decisions to improve their website and optimise their marketing strategy.
Advanced analytics with Google Analytics
Google Analytics and its advanced features can be used to deepen website analysis and provide more detailed information about user behaviour. Segments, filters and event tracking are tools to enhance and customise your analysis. In addition, cooperation with other tools opens up further opportunities.
Segments and filters
Segments and filters are powerful tools for analysing the behaviour of specific groups of users:
- Segments: allow you to isolate and analyse specific groups of users within reports. For example, by creating a segment that shows only organic traffic, you can focus only on that.
- Filters: these can be used to limit visibility to certain types of sessions or traffic. For example, by filtering out a specific country, you can get an analysis of only the target group you want.
Segments and filters allow you to view data in the way you want, helping you to identify important trends and behaviours.
Event monitoring
Event tracking allows the user to monitor certain activities on the website:
- Configuring events: this allows you to track events such as watching videos, submitting a form or clicking on links.
- Event reports: show detailed information about events, such as how many times a video has been viewed or how many users have clicked on a particular button.
Event tracking helps identify which user actions are most popular and which content or features are most engaging.
Cooperation with other tools
Google Analytics works seamlessly with a range of other tools:
- Google Tag Manager: simplifies the management of events and tracking codes.
- Google Ads : By integrating your Google Ads account, you can measure the impact of your advertising campaigns directly.
- Data Studio: provides the ability to create visual reports from Google Analytics data.
You can read more about them here!
Collaboration with other tools offers more analysis possibilities and improves the use of the data. For example, by combining Google Analytics and Google Ads, you can get a deeper insight into the effectiveness of your advertising campaigns.
Advanced analytics with Google Analytics gives businesses powerful tools for user analysis, helping them to better understand customer behaviour and improve their digital strategy.
Common mistakes and tips
When using Google Analytics, it’s important to avoid common mistakes and use best practice tips to maximise the accuracy and benefits of your analytics. Used correctly, this tool can provide valuable insights into website performance and user behaviour.
Most common mistakes when using Google Analytics
- Tracking code installation errors: make sure that the Google Analytics tracking code is correctly installed and working on all pages of the website.
- Lack of filtering: filter internal traffic and robot traffic so that your analysis is based on actual user visits.
- Misinterpretation of indicators: remember that mere numbers do not always tell the whole truth; understand the context behind the indicators.
Best practices and tips
- Customize reports: use custom reports to focus on the information that matters most to your business.
- Use targets and events: track clear targets and events to keep you informed of important actions by users.
- Leverage segments: segment your data to identify important groups of users and their behaviour.
By following these tips and avoiding common mistakes, you’ll get more out of Google Analytics, helping you make informed decisions and improve your website’s performance.
Google Analytics: frequently asked questions (FAQ)
What is Google Analytics?
Google Analytics is a website and app analytics tool that collects information about your website traffic and user activity. It uses this data to generate reports that provide insights into your business performance, user behaviour and marketing effectiveness. This helps businesses to make informed decisions and improve their online services.
Is Google Analytics illegal?
Google Analytics is not illegal in Finland. The EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which will enter into force in July 2023, will enable the secure collection of personal data from EU citizens, in compliance with data protection requirements. The most important thing is to ensure that your company uses Google Analytics in accordance with data protection legislation.
What is the latest version of Google’s analytics tool?
The latest version of Google’s analytics tool is Google Analytics 4 (GA4). It has replaced the previous version of Universal Analytics, offering more advanced features and the ability to collect event-based data instead of session-based data. GA4 is designed to better support multi-channel analytics and meet modern data protection and user monitoring requirements.
Is Google Analytics free?
Google Analytics is a free service that tracks website traffic. There is also a paid version, Google Analytics 360, which offers more advanced features and greater data capacity for companies that require more complex analytics.
What data does Google Analytics collect?
Google Analytics collects the following data with default settings:
- Number of users
- Sitting statistics
- Estimated geographical location
- Browser and device information
This information helps companies to understand the users of their website and their behaviour.
What is web analytics?
Web analytics is the automatic collection, analysis and reporting of data generated by the flow of users on a website. This process is also called web tracking or visitor tracking. It helps to understand how users interact with your website, which can lead to better business decisions and optimised online experience.
Can I use Google Analytics?
To use Google Analytics, you need a Google Account. After creating an account, you will need to register with Google Analytics, which will give you access to the Analytics tools. Users should also ensure that their website complies with data protection requirements and that Analytics is monitored in an ethical manner.
What is Google Analytics 4?
Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is Google’s latest analytics tool. It differs from the previous Universal Analytics in that it collects event-based data instead of session-based data. GA4 is designed to provide more accurate and comprehensive analytics to help businesses better understand their users’ behaviour across platforms and devices.