This week we are talking about Google Analytics and why it's important to set up on your Shopify website or any website. I am also going to show you how to set up your analytics account, integrate it, and also enable e-commerce tracking.
The reason you want to add Google Analytics to your Shopify site is to track as much of your user's interaction with your site as possible. You can do this through other methods as Shopify has integrated analytics and metrics, but it doesn't report everything unless you have their highest package.
Google Analytics will show you specific pages that people are landing on, dropping off, and even the most popular product purchase by new users. There is alot of great information that you can pull by integrating Google Analytics into your website.
The more you track the better you can understand your site and improve your customer journey.
Listed below is the step-by-step instructions on how to set up Google Analytics, or you can jump below and view my Youtube tutorial that walks you through the same process.
Step 1
Make sure you don't have Google Analytics enabled already
Enabling Google Analytics more than once results in inaccurate data.
From your Shopify admin, go to Online store > Preferences.
In the Google Analytics section, make sure that the box has only the text Paste your code from Google here, and is otherwise empty:
Step 2
Signup for a Google Account. You will need an account to set up Google Analytics.
Step 3
Once you have a Google Account setup, you can sign up for Google Analytics.
Choose the Google account you want to sign in with or click Add account to sign in with a new Google account.
Click Sign up.
Choose Website and fill in the required information. Use your primary domain for the Website URL.
Click Get Tracking ID.
Use the drop-down menu to select your country if it is not already selected, then click I Accept to acknowledge that you have read the terms of service.
On the next page, you'll see a lot of information and options. The only thing you need is the Global Site Tag. Copy the global site tag to your clipboard by highlighting it and pressing ctrl+C on PC or command+C on Mac.
Click the Enable Ecommerce toggle to turn it from OFF to ON.
The benefit of having e-commerce tracking enabled is it allows you to look at different acquisitions and conversion from shopping behavior, checkout behavior, product performance, sales, and product performance and even which types of users are abandoning the cart.
As you plan for your Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales this holiday season please be aware that shipping carriers are expected to add peak surcharges to shipping costs.
It's never to early to start talking and preparing for Black Friday/Cyber Monday. The countdown begins, we are a few months out and with the trends from the Stay at Home Orders, this season is looking to be the biggest yet! That’s why it’s more important than ever to plan ahead and make sure your store is ready for this busy shopping day.
If you have ever hung out in the support channels or Facebook groups for Shopify, there are always so many shop owners looking for solutions or apps to add features to the free theme they are using. In all honesty, the time it takes to do the research, try your hand at coding, or install an app that comes with a monthly fee, you could have invested upfront in a paid theme and saved yourself a huge headache and lots of time.
