How to Set up Google Analytics

1/28/2019

Amy Prindle

The Center for Online Evangelism is a missionary project devoted to developing online mission stations.

Edits and additions by Jamie Jean Domm

Any website worth building is a website worth tracking.

NOTE: The following setup describes how to set up Google Analytics and Search Console for a WordPress website, a highly recommended and widely-used development platform (CMS or Content Management System). If your organization’s website is not a WordPress site, what you see will be slightly different, but overall the process tends to be similar.

Key differences may arise during steps that involve web development, such as applying tracking codes and uploading verification files. If you have questions, contact your CMS or website provider’s technical support, consult the help section of your platform or reach out to your IT team.

Most major platforms will have set instructions for setting up Google Analytics and Search Console. However, it’s a good idea to confirm that your CMS allows the Analytics tracking code to be applied to each page of the website. If not, you miss out on most of the invaluable data of how users navigate your site. Make sure to get a clear answer from the tech support representative.

1. Sign in to your organization’s Gmail account.

2. After you enter in your email and password, go to analytics.google.com to sign up.

3. Make sure “website” is selected at the top left.

4. Input your organization’s name in “Account Name”

5. Use your website’s domain name for the “Website Name,” e.g., “myministrywebsite.com”

6. “Industry Category” is optional but recommended. This enables Google to show you benchmark data from the websites of similar organizations, giving you a general guide for evaluating website performance and setting expectations.

7. Enter the time zone of your organization’s primary location.

8. Before you finish on this page, note the check boxes. There are some data sharing options. You can read through these links and decide if you’d like to share this information with Google’s support team and account specialists. If you don’t want to share any of your analytics data, leave the boxes unchecked.

9. Click “Get Tracking ID,” and a pop-up screen will ask you to agree to terms of service. You must accept before you continue.

You’ll see a screen similar to this:

10. The Tracking ID and Website Tracking script (code) you receive will need to be installed on each page of your website in order to start gathering information about how people are navigating your site and to, then, present it in its reports.

There are several ways to install Google Analytics on your site, and it depends on the type of content management system (CMS) used for your organization’s website. We’ll go through 3 common methods:

1. Installing the code in AdventistChurchConnect or AdventistSchoolConnect 3.0

From your ACC dashboard, go to Settings, then Integrations.
At the top you’ll see an “Analytics” box. Select “Google Analytics” in the “Type” dropdown menu.
A space will show up to enter your Google Analytics ID. This will apply it to the entire site.

2) Applying the Website Tracking script to your website’s code.

If you or your website developer is up for it, you can add this Website Tracking script directly to the theme of your WordPress website.
This small javascript code is copied and pasted into your website’s template page before the closing </head> tag.
- NOTE: Your specific tracking code will replace “UA-XXXX-X”

3) Using a free WordPress plugin, “MonsterInsites.” (Note: There are several plugins designed for the purpose of applying Google Analytics to your WordPress website, this is just one of the recommended plugins)

From your WordPress dashboard, go to “plugins” and “Add New.”
Do a keyword search for “MonsterInsights” to find the plugin.
Install MonsterInsights and click “activate.”
Once activated, there will be a new section in your Admin area called “Insights.”
Go to Insights > Settings. You’ll need to authenticate your Google account, which allows Wordpress to communicate with Google and send its site visitor information.
To authenticate, make sure you are still logged in to your organization’s Google account. Check that the Gmail address is up at the top right of the pop-up box from MonsterInsights. Click “Allow” and follow the prompts.
You can also paste the code in manually. Check the “Manually enter your UA code” box, then go back to your Analytics account, click on the Admin link in the main menu, and then “Property Settings” under the “Property” column.
Copy the code under “Tracking ID” (include the UA portion) and paste the code into the text box in the plugin.
Click on “Save Changes” and your site should now be tracking your visitor data.

There are also ways to add your tracking code to Wix, SquareSpace or other CMSs, many of which have instructions in their help sections or can be found with a simple internet search.

Now that your code is applied to your site, check back in a few days to make sure everything is working. You should see some activity through most of your webpages, though it will take about 30 days to truly get a picture of the regular activity.

Once you have verified that Analytics is successfully installed, then you can install Google Search Console. This essentially submits your website to Google, enabling you to monitor how your website interacts with search engines. It is also a useful tool to check for errors that might keep Google from crawling your site.

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