History of Google
Beginnings
- Urchine Software corporation: Google analytics started with a company called urchin software, which was founded in 1998
- Google’s Acquisition: In April 2005 Google bought Urchin Software Corporation.
- Launch of Google Analytics: November 2005 Google was officially launched it was free service, making it accessible to many website owners who couldn’t afford expensive analytics
Key Development
- Asynchronous Tracking Code: in 2009 Google introduce Asynchronous Tracking Code which improved loading speed of web pages and the accuracy of data collocation
- Google Analytics Premium: 2011 Google launched Google Analytics Premium, a paid version with more features and support aimed at large businesses
- Universal Analytics: 2012: Universal Analytics was introduced, which allowed for more flexible and comprehensive tracking of user behavior across different devices and platforms
- Google Tag Manager: 2012: Google also launched Google Tag Manager, a tool to help manage JavaScript and HTML tags used for tracking and analytics without needing to edit the website code directly
- Enhanced Ecommerce: 2014: Enhanced Ecommerce features were introduced, providing deeper insights into the online shopping behavior of customers.
- Google Analytics 360: 2016: Google rebranded Google Analytics Premium as Google Analytics 360, part of the Google Marketing Platform, offering advanced analytics capabilities and integrations
- Google Analytics 4 (GA4): 2020: Google launched Google Analytics 4, the latest version, focusing on privacy, machine learning, and tracking users across devices and platforms. GA4 uses a different data model, emphasizing event-based tracking rather than session-based
What is Google Analytics
Google Analytics is a free tool from Google that helps website owners understand how people use their websites
How Google Analytics Helps
- Counts Visitors
- Track Pages
- Time Spent
- Where they Come From
Why Use Google Analytics?
- Improve your Website: Knowing what visitors like and don’t like help you make your better website
- Understand audience: it helps you understand who is visiting, such as where they are from and what they are interested in.
- Measure Success: You can see if your website is achieving its goal, like getting more visitors or selling products.
How to connect Google Analytics with Website?
There are few simple ways to connect your website with google analytics.
Using a Plugin.
- Install a Plugin
Go to your WordPress Dashboard
Click on Plugin>Add New Plugin
Search for Google Analytics Plugin such as Site kit by Google, HFCM
Click Install Now and then Activate Connect to Google Analytics:
- Once the plugin is activated, go to its settings.
- Follow the setup wizard to connect your Google Analytics account.
- You will need to sign in to your Google account and allow the plugin to access your Google Analytics data.
2. Manually Adding the Tracking Code
- Get your tracking code:
Sign in to your Google Analytics account.
Click on Admin at the bottom left.
In the “Property” column, click on Tracking Info Tracking Code.
Copy the tracking ID - Add the code to WordPress:
Go to your WordPress dashboard.
Click on
Appearance Theme Editor.”
Find and open the header.php file (be careful with this step).
Paste the tracking code just before the closing </head> tag.
Save the changes.
Using Google Tag Manager
Set Up Google Tag Manager:
- Sign up for a Google Tag Manager account.
- Create a new account and container for your website.
- Get the container code.
Add Tag Manager to WordPress:
- Go to your WordPress dashboard.
- Click on “Appearance” > “Theme Editor.”
- Find and open the
header.phpfile. - Paste the Tag Manager code just after the opening
<body>tag. - Save the changes.
Connect Google Analytics:
- Go back to Google Tag Manager.
- Create a new tag.
- Choose “Google Analytics: Universal Analytics.”
- Enter your tracking ID and set the trigger to “All Pages.”
- Publish the container.