You’ve built your website, established a lead capture system and spent money on advertising. So, how do you know it’s working?
Short of immediate lead captures, sales or calls for appointments, you not going to get the answer to that question without some assistance. So, how do you know if all your hard work and energy is actually bringing visitors to your website?
The short answer, Google Analytics.
Google Analytics is essentially a statistic generating service created and distributed by Google. When installed on your website, it can give you almost instant data about your website’s traffic, sales and more.
When added to the most popular Content Management System Web builder, WordPress, the information you can collect will be a tremendous resource for your marketing team.
The Best 8 WordPress Google Analytics Plugins
It’s never been easier to add Google analytics to your website. There are a number of plugins currently available that can install Google Analytics onto your website and let it harmonize with your theme and other plugins.
First, before we get too far, if you have any experience with old-school Google Analytics installation, you’ll know that you don’t actually need to use a plugin to get set up. You really just have to copy and paste the Analytics code into the right file area.
However, if you aren’t familiar with basic coding, and don’t want to do the research, installing Google Analytics this way may present some unwanted side effects, including:
- Messing up the PHP edits and causing problems in your header or footer files without the knowledge of how to repair the damage.
- Having to start over with the code paste each time you decide to change a theme.
- If you are interested in including customized settings, you will need to know how to change the analytics code to implement them.
Essentially, what it all boils down to is how comfortable you are messing around with your website’s coding to get the data you want. If that’s not how you want to spend your time, then a WordPress Google Analytics plugin will save you a lot of potential headaches.
As with every other type of plugin, not all are created equal. When looking for a Google Analytic plugin, you want to make sure the addition of it to your website won’t cause more difficulties than benefits.
To help you get started, here are several of the top-ranking Google Analytics WordPress Plugins currently available.
GA Google Analytics
Available as a free open-source plugin, “with love for the WordPress community” according to its creator. GA Google Analytics does exactly what its supposed to, lets you put your Google Analytics Tracking Code into your WordPress site.
Once installed, you’ll be able to get tracking data on every page of your website.
This plugin is a no-frills option, allowing you to link your site to Google. Data can then be viewed on your Google account, but not on your WP dashboard.
For more Info or to get started visit https://wordpress.org/plugins/ga-google-analytics/
gAnalytics
The gAnalytics plugin goes a step farther than the GA plugin. While also simple to install, it also provides access to your stats via your WP dashboard.
And, it gives you the option of using either a Google access code or your own API creds. Think you will want to use your own API Credentials? This plugin will create the required redirect URL for you.
Google Analyticator
Numbers don’t lie. Google Analyticator is one of the most popular Google Analytics WordPress plugins. To date, it has over 3.5+ million downloads and over 300,000 active installations.
Google Analyticator is designed to make viewing your Google Analytics data on your WP dashboard. Additionally, it has available several widgets that will let you display your sites Analytics data in admin areas and on your blog.
For more Info or to get started visit https://wordpress.org/plugins/google-analyticator/
Google Analytics Dashboard for WP
Google Analytics Dashboard for WP displays Google Analytics data on your WordPress site. Getting started, it adds the tracking code to your site and then it pulls all the key data and more directly into your WordPress dashboard.
Designed to make your data easily accessible, all Google Analytics data fits inside a single widget within the dashboard. Configure the type of statistic, timeframe, and any special items you want to be displayed.
For more Info or to get started visit https://wordpress.org/plugins/google-analytics-dashboard-for-wp/
Google Analytics for WordPress
Another easily installed Google Analytics plugin, Google Analytics for WordPress lets you get started without having to edit any coding.
The plugin allows you to easily track your visitor’s stats while staying up to date with the newest features Google puts out regularly.
For more Info or to get started visit https://wordpress.org/plugins/google-analytics-for-wordpress/
Google Analytics+
Google Analytics + lets you quickly access a network, page, post, or site performance synopsis without leaving your WordPress dashboard. Are you dealing with a Multisite dashboard? No problem, it will do the same thing there too.
This plugin provides a quick overview of site activity. Monitoring results can be seen as monthly, quarterly, and yearly progress reports. Also, built-in graphs will provide detailed insights just by hovering over the data area.
For more Info or to get started visit https://premium.wpmudev.org/project/google-analytics-for-wordpress-mu-sitewide-and-single-blog-solution/
WP Google Analytics Events
WP Google Analytics event-tracking lets you determine the efficiency of specific lead generation outlets and steps you’ve set up throughout a conversion trail.
For more Info or to get started visit https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-google-analytics-events/
Bring the Power of Google Analytics to Your WordPress Website
As we mentioned earlier, it is possible to link your site to Google Analytics without using a plugin. But, unless you really enjoy the coding side of website development, you’ll save yourself potential grief and heartache if you choose to go the route of the plugin instead.
Google Analytics is a wonderful tool that helps you determine what part of your lead generation and conversion efforts are actually working and where you may want to adjust to expand your presence.