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A Beginner’s Guide on How to Use Google Analytics for SEO

The best way to know if your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts work well is to track the results of your campaign to prove its value. But how can you do that? 

 

Of course, with the help of Google Analytics. This free tool from Google can give invaluable insights, from conversion rates, traffic sources, audience demographics and more to further improve your SEO strategies.

 

The problem, however, is that many people feel confused and intimidated by Google Analytics. That is not surprising since many concepts need to learn and reports to run when using this tool. If you are not that familiar with Google Analytics, you might end up losing the way to your goal. 

 

To prevent that and make Google Analytics less complex and tricky, we prepared a beginner’s guide to help you understand and how to use it to your advantage.


What Is Google Analytics?

As its name suggests, Google Analytics is an analytics tool that can help you look thoroughly at your website or app performance. With the vast amount of data it collects from your target audience and SEO campaigns, you can quickly know how visitors use your website and how long they have stayed viewing your web page.

 

Let us say, for example, you own an ecommerce shop, and you want to know how many people visited your website. When you use Google Analytics, you will not only identify the number of visitors; you will also discover where they come from and which devices they are using. 

 

Google Analytics Example for Device Overlap

 

In summary, Google Analytics can do a lot of things for your business. You only need to use the gathered data wisely so you can get the most out of it. If things go well, here are some of the benefits you can gain from using Google Analytics.

 

  • See if your SEO strategies are working
  • Know which type of content would attract your customers. 
  • Learn more about your customers, from their age, gender, country or types of devices.
  • What to optimise for improving conversion rates.

 

Need more reason to use Google Analytics? Apart from it being free to use, Google Analytics is easy to install on any website.

 

If the tools featured from the free version of Google Analytics are not enough for your business needs, you can upgrade to the premium version. 

 

Here are the differences between the free and paid version of Google Analytics.

 

Google Analytics Google Analytics 360
Hit count per month Up to 10 million hits per month 1 billion+ hits per month

(The first tier)

Custom Dimension/Metrics 20 of each 200 of each
Data Freshness 24+ hours 10 min – 4 hours

 

Of course, when you upgrade your Google Analytics to the premium version, you should expect to pay the subscription fee. The annual licensing would cost you USD 150,000 a year with a monthly invoice.


How Does Google Analytics Work?

Whether you opt for a free or paid version of Google Analytics, the way it works is the same. 

 

You must first add the tag on your website to get any data from it into Google Analytics. By then, Google Analytics will begin collecting data, and next, it will arrange all of it into reports that include:

 

  • Metrics – is something that can get measured with a number, from users, purchases, average time on site, and more.
  • Dimensions – the division of metrics. (e.g., average time on site by landing page, number of visitors by the device type)

How to Use Google Analytics?

The process of using Google Analytics for your SEO campaigns works differently from other businesses. Remember that everything would highly depend on which industry you are in and the type of customers you target.

 

Therefore, take your time on each step of Google Analytics before moving on to the next one. Doing so would help you use it to your advantage and make your SEO efforts work even better. 

 

STEP 1: Create a Google Analytics Account.

Once you already have one, then log in to your current Google Analytics account.

 

STEP 2: Add The Necessary Details

Make sure to write down the name, URL of a website that you wish to track. Also, do not forget to choose the reporting time zone and currency. 

 

Step 2 Add Details

 

STEP 3: Add a View to a Property

To add a view to a property, go to the setting icon on the lower-left corner of the browser. Then a slide will show on the far right, and there you will find the View Setting around the upper right corner.

 

See the image below for visuals. 

 

STEP 3 Add a view

 

Remember, for the free version of Google Analytics—you can only add up to 20 views per property.

 

STEP 4: Set Up A Tracking Code

Only once you have tagged your website. 

 

If you successfully set up a tracking code, you will get a unique ID for tracking and a global site tag, which can help you collect data on your property. 

 

STEP 5: Go To Google Analytics to Verify If The Code is Working.

To do this, you have to go to the Real-Time Reports portion of your website in a different tab. You should also check it on your phone while clicking around on your site. There, you will 1, and that is you.


Conclusion 

Google Analytics might seem complicated, but your SEO efforts will work even better if you learn how to use it. That is why this free tool is every marketer’s best friend since it can help them reach their goal.

 

If you need more help on how to use Google Analytics, get in touch with our SEO services in Singapore. Contact OOm at 6391-0930, so our SEO specialists can lend you a hand right away/

 

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