This is Ben from Compete Themes and in this WordPress beginner tutorial,
you'll learn how to install Google Analytics on WordPress.
You'll start by installing the MonsterInsights plugin and then configure it to
run properly on your website. When you're finished,
you'll have simple reports available in your WordPress dashboard and your
complete data available Google Analytics account.
I have three important tips to share when you're done,
but now let's get started by adding the plugin. First,
log into your WordPress admin dashboard. From there,
you can hover your cursor over the Plugins menu and then click the Add New link.
On the next page,
use the search bar at the top right to search for "MonsterInsights." You should
see it appear as the first result.
The reason I'm recommending this plugin over others is because it's easy to use,
the simplified reports are useful,
and the ad-ons allow for more advanced Google Analytics implementations.
To install the plugin, click the Install Now button, wait just a moment,
and then click the Activate button.
You might see a "welcome screen" when you activate MonsterInsights on your
website, but if not, you can click the Settings link here,
or hover over the new Insights menu item and click the Settings link there.
On the settings page,
scroll down the page and click this button to launch the setup wizard.
This will walk you through the whole setup process and it makes things a bit
easier. MonsterInsights will ask you if you have a business site, blog,
or eCommerce store. Your site might be a couple of these things,
but just pick the most relevant one and click Continue.
MonsterInsights is only going to make suggestions based on your choice,
so it's not that important which one you choose. On the next page,
click the "Connect MonsterInsights" button.
This is how your site gets integrated with Google Analytics.
When you click the button,
MonsterInsights will ask you to choose one of your Google accounts.
Make sure to select the same account you used to sign up with Google Analytics.
If you don't see it listed,
click the "Use Another Account" button at the bottom to sign into the right one.
After you choose a Google account,
you'll verify that you're giving MonsterInsights access to your Google Analytics
data.
Click "Allow" and on the next page you'll see the Google Analytics account and
view. Click the dropdown and select the right view from this list.
Then click "Complete Connection" to finalize the integration.
MonsterInsights is now outputting the tracking code on every page of your
website. To finish up, let's just take a quick look at the recommended settings.
First,
event tracking is important to leave enabled because it allows you to track
download clicks on your website and the Enhanced Link Attribution allows you to
see which links within your pages are getting clicked.
That data can be very useful in sales pages.
The file extensions listed here for the download tracking are probably fine as
is,
so you can leave them and in the Affiliate Tracking section you probably want to
delete these two paths here unless you're already using affiliate link tracking
in this way. The remaining settings are good as they are,
so click "Save and Continue" to move on.
This next page just recommends if you add-ons based on the type of site you
chose at the beginning of the setup process.
Click "Continue" and you'll get a recommendation for WPForms on the next page.
WPForms is a good plugin too,
but if you've already got a form plugin installed on your site,
then just click the "Skip this step" link.
And with that you're finished adding Google Analytics to WordPress.
As I mentioned in the intro,
I have three more tips that you want to keep in mind before you go. First,
you won't see data show up in your reports until tomorrow,
so don't worry about it staying empty for now.
Google Analytics will update every day at midnight to include the previous day's
data. Second,
your activity on the site is not counted in your analytics as long as you're
logged in.
If you have other writers on your website that you don't want to influence your
stats, then visit the Advanced tab and scroll down to the "Permissions" section.
The last setting here will allow you to add other User Roles like Authors and
Contributors to block them from your data collection.
My last tip is that the reports can be hidden in your dashboard using this
setting in the Advanced tab.
If you're overwhelmed by the complexity of Google Analytics,
then you'll probably love the simple reports that MonsterInsights adds to your
WordPress dashboard. However, if you're already familiar with Google Analytics,
then you'll probably find these reports too basic and it might be better to just
disable them entirely.
That's everything you need to know about adding Google Analytics to WordPress,
and if you enjoyed my tutorial,
then make sure to subscribe so you can catch the next one too.
If you have any questions,
please post in the comments section below and thanks so much for watching.