Introduction to Google Analytics

Google Analytics can be an overwhelming web of confusion for many (speaking from experience!) so I decided to put together a blog post to break it all down and help you all with the basics of Google Analytics, as it really is a great addition to your website.

1) What is Google Analytics?

It's an online analytical tool that tells you things such as how many people have visited your website, where they’ve come from, which pages they’ve been on and information to that effect. This is super helpful to help you figure out which of your marketing efforts are working the best and it will help you to decipher where to place your focus.

2) Google Analytics vs built-in reports

The problem with Google Analytics is that for the average person, you may look at it and your head may fall off as Google Analytics has been created with more professional internet marketers and web developers in mind. You may find it easier looking at the antique dealer friendly reports available in our website managers which can easily and simply show you stats like the most popular viewed items on your site. However if you’d like to use Google Analytics we’ve broken down some of the most common reports below and how to use them.

3) See number of visitors in the past month

How to get this report

I've illustrated the steps below in the diagram

• Step 1 - Click Audience
• Step 2 - Click Overview
• Step 3 - You can then select the dates from the top right corner.

Within this section you will also find the 'Bounce rate'. This is the percentage of your website visitors who only visit one page and take no action and the leave the website. You ideally want this figure to be below 50%.
 

4) How to see where your visitors are coming from

How to get this report

• Click 'aquisition' on the left menu in Google Analytics
• Then click "Overview"
• You'll then be presented with data like this...

What each "channel" means

Organic search

• Organic search refers to the search results of a search engine that cannot be influenced by paid advertising. Organic search results are ranked according to their relevance to the search term.

• You can click on this to find out what terms people have found you on, however with the tightening of GDPR and other privacy laws, for the most part it’s likely you’ll see it simply says “Not provided”

• There are other tools you can use to find out this information however, but they’re generally paid tools like Neil Patel’s ubersuggest.

Direct

• Direct is when someone types in the web address directly into the search bar. So instead of googling it, they go to the website immediately.

Referral

• This is somebody clicking on a link to your website from another website
• For example, if you had a link to your site for your items on our marketplace Antiques Boutique and someone clicked to view that item on your own website this would count as a referral

Social Media

• This is when someone visits one of your social media profiles, and clicks the link to your website from the social profile. You can find the links in the bio and infromation sections of your Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook.

5) How to view most popular pages on your website

A) How to get to this report

• Find and click behaviour (in left menu) then “Overview”
• Then click “View full report” in the very bottom right hand corner

This feature shows the most popular pages on your website in chronological order. However this data can be a bit misleading and if you simply want to view the most popular items on your website, then the 'Most viewed items' report, which comes with our websites, tells you this in a much simpler and user friendly way.

6) How to integrate Google Analytics with your website

A) Visit https://analytics.google.com/
B) Get a Google account or login with your existing one
C) Click on “Start measuring”

D) Fill in the name of your website under account name, and tick the relevant boxes

E) Fill in your website address in the property name, and choose your currency and location, then press Next

F) In the “About your business” section fill in the relevant information. For antiques dealers, the most relevant industry category is likely “Home and Garden”. Then press the “Create” button

G) Once your account is created, the next screen you’ll likely see will be this one. If not, then go to “ADMIN”, and “Data streams”

H) Once there, under “Choose a platform”, click “Web”

I) Under “Set up your web stream” type in your website address and press “Create stream”

J) Under “Tagging Instructions”, copy the Google tag code (you can click on the copy icon on the right to copy)

K) You can then paste this code into your website to start tracking

If you have a website with us then…

• Login to your website manager
• Go to “Settings”, then “General settings”
• Go to the “Tracking & Verification Code” tab
• Follow the on screen instructions

If you don’t have a website with us...

We definitely think you should consider getting one. Our template websites are rated very highly by hundreds of satisfied Antique, Art and Vintage dealers. Just check out our Google reviews below. Our websites are super easy to use, with a beautiful sleek design and fantastic features included in all three monthly packages. Just get in touch to find out more and learn how we can help you sell online easily.

Or ask your existing web designer for details

Note that it can take a few days to start seeing information in Google Analytics, and at any point the data can be a day or two behind