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This tutorial will also get out of date, but it's accurate right now, as at May 2022.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.
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!
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
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
Thanks though for explaining this to the people who are confused;-)