This post is for after you have set up your Analytics Code. If you need help setting it up, Google does a great job of explaining it. Set Up your Code Here

Google Analytics is the best analytics program available for beginners because it is free. It doesn't provide the most information of all of the analytics programs, but IT'S FREE so use it. There are entire blogs about analytics filled with information on how to make it do some amazing things, but as a beginner you don't need anything that is hard to do or find. Tonight I am going to tell you what you do need in the beginning, and what to ignore for now.

In your Google Analytics account you only need to set up two things while you are getting started, Goals, and Automated reports. I will start with automated reports.

Automated Reports in Google Analytics

Automated reports send you information about your traffic through email. This is a great way to see how your site is doing every day. In the beginning you will want to receive a daily report of your traffic so you can see how close you are to 100 visitors per day. It won't always be necessary to see your traffic every day, but in the beginning, and any time you are making major changes to your site, it is very important to see daily reports.

To set up reports here is the click path:

View Report ---> Email (at the top NOT in the column) ---> Schedule Tab ---> (fill out Form) Schedule

Be sure to add a subject line, and a numbers comparison. This is really more to make you feel good than it is to serve a real purpose at this point.

Goals in Google Analytics

Goals are perhaps the most important piece of Analytics. Goals will tell you what percentage of your visitors are taking the action you want them to. In a later post I will go into the conversion funnel in great detail, but for now, just remember that you want to get as many people as possible to follow the actions that will lead to a conversion.

For new websites, it is impossible to know which click path will be the most successful, so you want to set up goals according to what you think is going to be the best. I usually don't advocate doing any work based on assumptions, but in this case you are saving time by setting up based on an assumption. It would be a hopeless waste of time and energy to try to find the best click path before you started.

So, Start by choosing a conversion, or a desired action. Filling out a form, Making a Purchase, Downloading a File, and Registering for Newsletters are some common conversions, but it could be anything that you want your traffic to do.

Creating Your Goal in Google Analytics

When you log into Analytics you have two options listed at the far right of the screen. Click on "Edit." In the screen that comes up you will see a box where you can add goals. It looks like this (but less blurry) To specify your goal click on the "Edit" link to the right:
On the "Goal Settings" screen you have two sections. First the Goal Information. First, click on the "On" radio box. This makes your goal active. Next move the the second section to "Define your Funnel". Here you will paste URLs in the boxes of the pages that lead to your conversion. The best way to do this is to open a new tab, or window and go through ALL of the motions required to do the desired action on your site. Every time you click, you should copy the URL, and then paste it into the boxes provided (See Image Below). Finally, paste the target URL in the box called "Goal URL" that is above in the "Goal Settings Box". And your first goal is ready to go!





Whelp... it's Official!

I have written a walk through blog post! I don't love it, but there are times when the step by step applies to everyone, and I struggled with it enough initially that I hope to get people past it in the front. Please respond if you have any questions or if I missed anything!

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