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Basing your business decisions on factual evidence is crucial to confirm to yourself and others that you aren’t simply throwing your money away.

Who is visiting your website? From where? What are they doing? These are just a few of the questions Google Analytics can answer.

This free tool can track information about the way visitors interact with your website or mobile app, pointing you in the right direction even before a problem arises. Read on and learn to optimize like a pro!

Let’s Create a Google Analytics Account

Assuming you have set up a primary Google account (meaning you have access to Gmail, Google Drive, etc.), click on Google Analytics service and Sign Up.

You will be asked to enter some basic information, including your account name and property. This will be up to you and your business needs.

A property is a website, mobile application, or device. A point-of-sale device. An account can contain one or more properties.

After filling out the information below, solicit your tracking code.

What the Heck Is a Tracking Code?

Click Get Tracking ID at the bottom of the page to complete sign-up. This tracking code must be installed on every page on your website, so Google can know when your site is visited.

The installation will depend on what type of website and plug-ins you have. You should be able to find easy instructions for any type by doing a web search for your platform + how to install Google Analytics tracking code. Keep in mind that it takes a few hours for data to appear.

IIf after 24 hours you are still not tracking visitors try checking on the Real-Time reports, which monitor activity as it happens. If anyone entered the site, it should appear. If that does not work, look for the code on the site and make sure it is properly installed.

Filter What Is Being Recorded

Now, it’s time to set up your views for each property. Views are filtered depending on the data you want to be recorded.

Google Analytics sets you up with an automatic default view that is unfiltered – we recommend keeping this so you can always see all the data.

From there, you can add views according to your business needs.

Now Comes the Fun Part: Organizing

The next step is to organize your Account, Property, and Views. There is no right or wrong in setting up this part, it is all about what is necessary for your business needs. The following are a few options you could do:

1) Add users with edit or read-only permissions.

2) Link your Google Analytics and Google Adwords accounts.

3) Import all desired goals to match conversions directly on Adwords.

4) Or, filter your views to take out particular parts of the site or not desired traffic.

Am I Done Yet?

Almost. The next step is also based on your individual business needs.

Google Analytics has loads of features that can provide you with additional data on your visitor activity. The more information you have, the more accurate your decisions can be.

For example, you can collect E-commerce transactions by enabling Ecommerce in your reports and modifying your tracking code. You can do this by going to the desired view and select Ecommerce Settings, turn the Enable Ecommerce toggle on and you are ready to go.

You Are Ready to Record Some Data

Congratulations, you have yourself a Google Analytics Account! Use the information you collect with this tool to optimize your website and make it the best experience for your users as possible.