We discussed Google analytics, and it’s basic features in the last blog. Lets now find out “How to setup Google Analytics”.

Setting up Google Analytics in three easy steps :

Step 1: Set up your Google account
To use Google Analytics, you’ll first need to set up an account with Google. Once done, you will be provided with a unique identifier to add to your site.

a) Go to the Google Analytics website http://www.google.com/analytics
b) If you do not have a Google account, click “Sign Up Now”. This will take you to a page where you can sign up for a Google account.
c) If you happen to have a Google account already, use your email address and password to sign in to the analytics.
d) Click the “Sign Up” button to continue.
e) In the next window, provide the URL of the site you wish to add to analytics.
f) Give the site an account name that is easy to remember. This is important, if you would track multiple web-sites within a single analytics account.
g) Select the country your site is based on. Then select the appropriate time zone, and Click Continue.
*If your site is based in India but all your users are in the U.S., you can select the U.S. time zone to figure out when in their day, most choose to use your site. Alternatively, you can set it to your city’s time zone to see as to when you need the most workers on staff. *
h) In the next window, provide your contact information, and Click Continue.
i) In the next window, read the Google Analytics terms of service. If you agree with the terms, click the Yes box.
j) Click Create New Account.
k) Google will provide you with a code block. Copy this – you’ll need to insert it into your web site.

Step 2: Insert the Google Analytics JavaScript in your site pages
You must insert the code that Google Analytics provided you with, into every page you want to track. When visitors to your website view a page, this JavaScript code executes the tracking operation for the Analytics. Data about the page visit is collected and sent to the Analytics server.

Even without any customizations, the tracking-code snippet supplies the Analytics server with data needed for generating a wide variety of Analytic reports.

The tracking code in itself comes in two variants. A Traditional one and the Asynchronous one. Lets spare the discussion on these types for now. We shall discuss it in the next blog.

Step 3: Get an overview of your site’s traffic and performance
The Dashboard of the google Analytics is indeed a good starting point for any person who needs to get familiarized with the analytics. A good source of information that I stumbled upon is http://www.google.com/support/conversionuniversity/

The video’s are a bit too quick, but then is worth the time, when compared to any doc’s you may find. The visual impact indeed has value! If you are ready to explore your options along with hands on experiments with your analytics account, you are sure to master GA very quickly.

Have more questions? or feel like you are not a beginner after all, then you may gain access to lot of resources at the Help Center : http://www.google.com/support/analyticshelp/

About the Author :

Pramitha has been working for Bobcares as Sr. Software Engineer since July 2007 Bobcares. She is a passionate developer, and her hobbies include listening to music ,travelling and cooking.

Co-authored by Sankar.H