Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Getting Started with Google Analytics

To log in to Google Analytics (http://www.google.com/analytics/), you need a Google Account

NOTE

Analytics makes heavy use of Flash, so if your company network happens to block content for the Flash plug-in, give your sysop a friendly nudge as a reminder that Flash can be used for more than just online games (as a bonus, once your sysop is convinced, you will then be able to play those online games, too).

After logging in, you can sign up for a new web site. Enter your URL and provide an account name. You will then be provided with a tracking code: a JavaScript snippet that you need to add to your site's HTML template. Copy and paste it as directed into your system, and check back later to verify that Google Analytics has detected your tracking code.

Once you've set up your site, you'll start out on your dashboard. The dashboard can be configured so that you will immediately see those elements that are of most interest to you. For instance, I configure my site's statistics so that I can immediately see the top content by title, the top referring sites (that is, sites that link to the site, a key source of visitors), and the top keywords used to find the site.

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