Google Analytics provides powerful tracking for anyone with a web presence, large or small. It's one of the most powerful web analytics solutions on the market - and it's free for anyone to use. No matter how your website affects you and your business, Analytics has something for everyone.
Who can use Analytics?
How do I use Analytics?
How much does Analytics Cost?
Who can use Analytics
Executives can learn:
- Which marketing initiatives are most effective
- Accurate website traffic patterns/trends
- Which customer and customer segments are most valuable
Marketing Professionals can learn:
- Where visitors come from and what do they do on the site
- How can the website convert more visitors into customers
- Which keywords resonate with prospects and lead to conversions
- Which online ad or creative is the most effective
Content & Developers can learn:
- Where people leave the site
- Which pages retain visitors the longest
- What search terms people use to find the site
In addition, Google AdWords customers can see their Analytics data from inside their AdWords account—we've added a tab with your Analytics reports and settings. Just go to Reporting >Google Analytics. Plus, Analytics automatically tags your AdWords campaigns for detailed tracking. Finally, AdWords advertisers benefit from unlimited pageviews. To learn more, see the full list of benefits Analytics offers.
How do I use Analytics?
You can use Analytics to track a variety of web-based content.
- Tracking multiple websites
Google Analytics will track as many websites as you own! We've provided multiple profiles in your account, so you can view individual reports for specific domains or subdomains.
- Tracking your blog, MySpace, or Facebook pages
To use Google Analytics to track your pages on Facebook, MySpace, WordPress or other solutions, we recommend that you search for 3rd-party widgets that simplify the Analytics set up for pre-defined site templates. Since some content solutions (such as MySpace) do not allow you to insert your own JavaScript into pages, you may not be able to use Analytics in all cases. However, in most cases you will be able to find plugins or widgets that will help you use Analytics in your page.
- Tracking visits from RSS feeds
In order for Google Analytics to track data, it is necessary that the Google Analytics tracking code gets executed. Since most RSS/atom readers cannot execute JavaScript, Analytics will not count pageviews that are loaded through an RSS reader. Analytics requires that the visitor execute a JavaScript file on Google's servers in order to track that pageview.
- Using Analytics with other web analytics solutions
We invite you to run Google Analytics in parallel with any third-party or internal solution you've already deployed. You can try running Google Analytics on a subset of pages or on a microsite to see how much the additional reports, information, and AdWords support improve your conversion rates. If you find that it's successful for you, you can quickly and easily install it on the rest of your site.
How Much Does Analytics Cost?
Google Analytics is absolutely free! We're very pleased to be able to offer this web analytics solution for no charge, allowing anyone with a website to track conversion data, analyze the flow of visitors through their site, and identify elements of their site that could be changed to improve visitor retention.
Google Analytics is a free service that offers users up to 10 million hits per month. If your site generates more than 10 million hits per month, you are subject to certain data limits.
Get started with Google Analytics
3 steps to sign up and set up.
Step 1: Sign up for an account.
Visit the Google Analytics website to sign up for a new account. Click the Create an accountbutton and follow the on-screen instructions.
Step 2: Set up account properties.
Google Analytics is flexible and can support different account configurations, but your set up affects how data appears in your reports. To help plan your set up, consult the articles linked into our Overview of Analytics accounts, users, and data and the article About Properties.
Step 3: Set up your tracking code.
Include the Analytics tracking ID and code in your website or mobile app to collect and send usage data to your Analytics account. You can track multiple properties in the same account, but every property must be set up individually. Follow a different process to set up web tracking and to set up mobile app tracking.
If you link Google Analytics to your AdWords account, Analytics automatically tracks the behavior of visitors coming from your ads. This data gives can help you gauge the ROI of your AdWords budget and make informed decisions about changes or improvements to your AdWords account.
How Analytics Impacts Your Website Code
Google Analytics works by means of a small snippet of JavaScript code that you use on your website pages. That's it! There are no extra files to host on your website. This code snippet activates Google Analytics tracking for your site, which collects and sends visitor activity anonymously to the Analytics reports.
The Google Analytics JavaScript code is designed to be highly compatible with your website's existing JavaScript. The current tracking code uses the concept of namespacing, so that all functions reside under the _gat namespace. This means that all Analytics JavaScript methods have a unique name that will not duplicate or conflict with other JavaScript methods you might have on your site. The tracking code—in particular the Asynchronous tracking code—is designed for optimal performance for all kinds of websites.
Google Analytics also uses first-party cookies to collect information about visitors and to track your advertising campaign data. The Google Analytics JavaScript code is designed to be highly compatible with your website's existing cookie usage. All Google Analytics cookie names begin with _utm to prevent any naming conflicts between our cookies and your own.
