Website analytics for the small business owner.

Here are just a few of the things you can uncover by installing a website analytics program.

Do you see just how useful this information could be in making positive changes to your website? And this is just a fraction of what a good website analytics package can do.

In my opinion, every small business owner MUST install a website analytics package. It's the only way to test and improve your website conversion rates.

Getting up and running with Google Analytics is straightforward. All you need to do is to cut and paste a snippet of of Javascript code onto every page you want to track. When a visitor lands on a coded page, Google collects and records specific information like the page URL, timestamp, visitor ID, screen resolution and much more.

Below, I've outlined four simple steps to get you started with Google's website analytics.

Step 2: Fill Out Account Information
Log in to your new or existing Google account by clicking here. After logging in, you will be presented with a sign-up button. Click on this button and follow Google's instructions on getting your javascript code. Google will ask you for some basic info like website URL and account name. See the screen below for clarification. Just fill in all the info and click on "Continue."

The next screen will ask you for your contact info. Fill it out and then click "Continue." The last screen is Google's terms of service which you must agree to before getting your code. Read the info, check the little box that you agree and then click "Create New Account." The next screen gives you the javascript code (see screenshot below) that you will paste into all your web pages.

Step 3: Paste Code Into Web Pages
Copy and paste the code into all the web pages you wish to track. This should be all the web pages that your visitors have access to. The code should be positioned just before the </body> tag on each HTML page. This particular placement of the code will ensure all other important page elements load first.

If your website is small, it won't take you long to code each page individually. Make sure to add the script to your page template so that each new page you create is automatically coded with the tracking info. If you have a large website and use a content management system or master template, simply paste in code onto your template or footer file.

It takes about 12-24 hours before Google will start picking up and reporting statistics from the page coding. Simply log back into your Google account, navigate to the Google Analytics page, and look under the status indicator to see if data is being received from your site. See the below screenshot for clarification.

Step 4: View Your Reports
When logged in to your Analytics account, just click on "View Reports" to start seeing visitor statistics. When you do this, you will come to a main summary "Dashboard" screen that will look similar to the below screenshot.

Notice that there is a navigation menu at the left side of the Dashboard page. This navigation guide is segmented into the following specific data areas.

There is one more important area for you to be aware of as you look at your data. This is the date selection area towards the top right of every page. As the days and months go by, you will want to be careful about setting the start and end dates for viewing your website data.

Click anywhere on the box showing the dates and a larger box will open up to allow you to reset the starting and ending dates for viewing data. Look at the screenshot below for further clarification.

Helpful Tip

Do not be overwhelmed by all the data you see. While it can be a little scary at first, Google provides plenty of documentation to help orient yourself. Use the guides below to start educating yourself on the power of website analytics.

Reporting Basics: This area provides information on basic reporting issues. Some of the topics covered include terms & definitions and how to set up conversion goals for custom tracking.

Controlling Report Data: This topic discusses how to customize reports, filter data and how to exclude your internal traffic from reports. This last item is something you will want to do so that you can visit your own site without Google tracking the pages you visit and thereby skewing data.

Goals & Funnels: This area provides important information on setting up specific goals you may want to track for your business. It also provides information on setting up funnels. A funnel is a series of pages that the visitor must pass in order to reach a particular goal such as a newsletter signup or a purchase.

General Help Area: This is Google's general Analytics help page. You will be able to drill down to just about every conceivable topic related to Google Analytics.

And that's it folks! Well, not really. Be patient. Google Analytics provides a lot of data. Take your time, read the help guides above, and customize your Dashboard page to provide you the information you feel is most important to your business.

Google's website analytics has really provided a first-rate service here and the fact that it is free is a bonus! Future articles on Google Analytics will focus on the metrics every small business should be monitoring as well as how to test and change your website based on visitor behavior.

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Installing Google Analytics

Helpful Tip