Setting Up Your Google Analytics Account for Success

More than 56 percent of all websites use Google Analytics, making it one of the most popular tools out there for website tracking. There are so many reasons to use Google Analytics, but above all, the platform  provides crucial information regarding your site's visitors. Because of the value behind Google Analytics, it is essential to make sure your account is set up correctly. 

After Google Analytics is set up on your website, make sure all settings are configured correctly. Check that the  tracking ID or tracking code is featured on each website page, and then optimize the account with the following recommendations:

1. Configure Property Settings
2. Configure View Settings for All Views
3. Configure Customizations

Configure Google Analytics Property Settings

When configuring a new property, make sure that  it is titled correctly and set to the proper industry category. If there are historical properties or subdomain properties, label them appropriately  so that anyone looking can determine which is the right data source. 

There are also a few settings that need to be enabled. These include:

• Demographic & Interest Report
• Google Signals
• Data Retention Settings
• User-ID Tracking
• Referral Exclusions

There are also a few accounts that can be linked at this time. These include:

• Google Search Console
• Google Ads
• Google Optimize 
• Google Tag Manager

Configure Google Analytics View Settings

There are three recommended  views for each property: unfiltered, test, and master. The unfiltered view is absent any modifications (like filters) that alter the data. This view allows you to test Google Analytics tracking, without filters or settings applied to the data. 

The test view serves as a testing environment. This testing environment is where new filters, account changes, new goals, and other items are tested, to preserve the data quality in the master view. 

The master view is the main view. This view has different filters and modifications to get the most accurate and actionable data. This view typically includes:

• Internal Search Enabled 
• IP Exclusion Filters
• Best Practice Filters 
  • Show Full URL
  • Combine www/non-www
  • Add Trailing Slash
  • Include Production Domain Only
  • Lowercase UTMs (Campaign, Source, and Medium)
  • Exclude Spam Filters 

Since master view is the main view, it is crucial to set up Google Analytics conversions in this view. 

Determine Which Advanced Google Analytics Features are Necessary

After basic analytics are set up, review and set up an advanced feature or customizations for the analytics property. These are covered in the next article. For more information on setting up Google Analytics property, reach out for a free consultation with the team at Third and Grove. Feel free to contact us here.