I frequently see the question asked in Live Chat. How do I use Google Analytics? Or more basically, how do I see my site's visitors? The answers they get are usually links to existing training. And then they reply that the training looks completely different from what they're seeing.

This is very confusing and it's because Google has made many changes to the way Analytics works, making things very difficult for someone just starting out.

This tutorial will also get out of date, but it's accurate right now, as at May 2022.

I hope it helps.

PART 1: Set up Google Analytics

(PART 2 will cover using Google Analytics on your website)

Note that this information is current as at May 2022.

Create Your Google Account

If you already have a Google account, you can skip this section and go directly to Lesson 3.

Otherwise, you must create a Google account before you can create a Google Analytics account..

You will need

  • An email address to associate with your account. You will receive a verification code at this address as part of creating your account.
  • A telephone number that you can use to receive another verification code.

Start Your Sign-up

Go to https://analytics.google.com. If you don’t see the screen shown below, you may already have a Google account. If not, try again in an InPrivate (Bing) or Incognito (Chrome) window.

Click the Create Account button.

You will be asked whom the account is for.



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Recent messages
Lizken Premium Plus
Hello Phil,

A little question to you, the older version of GA has stopped working for me somehow,so I can just delete it now, right?
That will not put GA4 in any danger or my website tracking?
I still need to figure out the details though, of the new version, I don't really like it all this far. It is hard to see the traffic coming exactly from each social media channel, etc. I dislike the change haha! So I'm not sure, I just might hold on to it a bit longer and try to put my tracking code for the original one back on my website, or is that too much and impossible?
A little bit confused here, thanks!
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phil1944 Premium
The UA code isn't being discontinued until next year so if you want to retain it/put it back, that shouldn't be an issue. I don't know why it should have stopped working. I have GA4 on all my sites now.
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Lizken Premium Plus
thanks,I will check out your part 3 first, before I decide what to do ;-)
Do you find it easy to interpret the stats with GA4?
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phil1944 Premium
I'm not big on digging deep into GA stats, Lizzy. Monster Insights gives me all I need without having to leave the website.
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Sahida51 Premium
Hi Phil!
What is thrive suite? Few month a go I have invested Google Analytics code on Ad Inserter Plugin but it never work the plugin was giving problem to my site so site support team has asked me to delete it. Can I insert in all-in-one webmaster tool or not.
Thank you
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phil1944 Premium
Thrive Suite is a collection of themes and plugins that are very powerful but probably not for the beginner. I'm sorry Ad Inserter didn't work for you. By all-in-one webmaster tool, do you mean AIOSEO? I don't know how to use that to insert code. You could try putting the question to Live Chat.
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phil1944 Premium
Just letting you know that Part 3 is now available at
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phil1944 Premium
I've now created training for GSC as well. It's at
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RVsRock Premium
Phil,

You saved the day for me and so many others, I'm sure.

I had already converted all my properties to the GA4 property tags, but was not sure how to get the new coding to be inserted into the Header Section.

I did this a few years back, but could not remember all the details. And as you pointed out, Google has made a lot of changes on their analytics instructions.

Without your concise training, I would have never been able to get this done in a timely manner.

Thanks Phil!
Eric aka RVsRock
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phil1944 Premium
Just letting you know that Part 3 is now available at
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RVsRock Premium
Thanks so much!
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phil1944 Premium
You're welcome, Eric.
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phil1944 Premium
I've now created training for GSC as well. It's at
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RVsRock Premium
Phil,

All I can say is this. You and Jeffrey Brown have more energy than the Sun shining down on our planet. Both of you are talented beyond words.

Thanks a million!
RVsRock
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phil1944 Premium
Gosh, Eric. I'm overwhelmed but yes, I'm a great admirer of Jeff.
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west2000 Premium
You've done a super job on this training, Phil! It's easy to follow for any level and all the images are very helpful. I wish I'd known all this earlier.

Out of curiosity, In order to convert over to the new A4, would you have to go through this from scratch or is there a simpler way?

Great job!
Susan
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phil1944 Premium
Thanks, Susan. I'm yet to convert my own sites, but I think you would remove the old code from your website, then get the new code and paste in in place.
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west2000 Premium
That seems logical. Appreciate this. Thanks, Phil!
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phil1944 Premium
Just letting you know that Part 2 has now been published at
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west2000 Premium
Fantastic, Phil! I look forward to reading this shortly. Thanks for letting me know.
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phil1944 Premium
You're welcome, Susan. I hope you find it useful.
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west2000 Premium
Definitely, Phil...I'm bookmarking it for quick reference :-)
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phil1944 Premium
Good to hear, Susan.
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phil1944 Premium
Just letting you know that Part 3 is now available at
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west2000 Premium
Appreciate that, Phil...thank you :-)
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phil1944 Premium
You're welcome, Susan.
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phil1944 Premium
I've now created training for GSC as well. It's at
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west2000 Premium
Thanks, Phil...I'll be sure to check it out shortly.
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phil1944 Premium
I hope you find it useful.
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Lizken Premium Plus
I haven't read the whole article yet, but google analytics is planning also on completely transferring to GA4 in 2023 as well. I am sure that there will be more training on this soon. I don't like that change, but I will have to change anyway haha.
Thanks though for explaining this to the people who are confused;-)
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phil1944 Premium
Yes, I slanted the training towards GA4 as that's where Google is headed exclusively. It's certainly made it more confusing to implement, which is why I went for a step by step approach.
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phil1944 Premium
Just letting you know that Part 2 has now been published at
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Lizken Premium Plus
thanks Phil!
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phil1944 Premium
You're welcome, Lizzie.
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phil1944 Premium
Just letting you know that Part 3 is now available at
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phil1944 Premium
I've now created training for GSC as well. It's at
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Lizken Premium Plus
thanks
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phil1944 Premium
You're welcome, Lizzy
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