Google Analytics is my choice of website analytics software for couple of reasons. One of which is the ease of installation and set up as you will read further down, other reasons are its high level of customisation which is optional and of course the fact that it is free. Once installed, Google Analytics will provide your business with a 360 degree view of the marketing mix, from tracking phone orders (under a more advance event tracking) to understanding and fixing your website bounce rate.
Basic installation steps:
Step 1: Open a Google Analytics account by using your existing Google Account or open a new account.
Step 2: Add your website URL so to create a ‘profile’ and remember to pick either HTTP or HTTPS from the drop down list.
Step 3: Copy the website tracking code to notepad
Step 4: Paste the tracking code into the bottom of your content, immediately before the </body> tag of each page you are planning to track. In cases of a common include or template, you can enter it at:
<script type=”text/javascript”>
var gaJsHost = ((”https:” == document.location.protocol) ? “https://ssl.” : “http://www.”);
document.write(unescape(”%3Cscript src=’” + gaJsHost + “google-analytics.com/ga.js’ type=’text/javascript’%3E%3C/script%3E”));
</script>
<script type=”text/javascript”>
try{
var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker(”UA-xxxxxx-x”);
pageTracker._trackPageview();
} catch(err) {}
</script>
Step 5: Verify the tracking code across your website pages by heading to ‘Analytics Setting’ > ‘Edit’> click on ‘Check Status’
Basic installation quick guide:
There is so much more you can do with Google Analytics though the above step by step guide to installing analytics is a great start. Later you should be looking to add additional profiles for sub domains, advance goal tracking, but one day at a time. For support and advice on how to install and configure Google Analytics check out our Google Analytics Expert advice page or head to analytics help section.
[...] The best statistics package out there right now (while KISSmetrics is still in beta) is Google Analytics. Another alternative (in case you’re paranoid about Google) is Mint. Google Analytics is FREE and feature rich, so I’d recommend installing it. [...]