If you haven’t yet integrated your website with Google Analytics, check out our article on how to set up Google Analytics<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n Google Analytics<\/a> is a popular free tool, provided by Google. It’s so popular that over 60% of all websites<\/a> with analytics technology use Google Analytics.<\/p>\n Google Analytics works by recording a website’s data and then presenting that data through in-depth tables, charts, and graphs.<\/p>\n Google Analytics is part of the Google Marketing Platform suite<\/a> of products, so you can access your analytics by going to that website or directly to the Google Analytics homepage<\/a>.<\/p>\n You must first log into your Google account. Then, you can view all the websites currently configured with Google Analytics by clicking on the All Accounts<\/strong> menu item at the top left of the page.<\/p>\n That reveals all the accounts created in Google Analytics. Under Analytics Accounts<\/strong>, select the one you’d like to view. You’ll see a submenu called Properties and Apps<\/strong>, which highlights the websites you have saved under that Google Analytics account. Select the website you’d like to manage.<\/p>\n As a result, you’ll see that website’s Google Analytics dashboard, with quick statistics for Users, Revenue, and Engagement time. You can then move to the various other pages to gain a stronger understanding of your website.<\/p>\n It’s also wise to link your WordPress site to a Google Analytics plugin<\/a>; these provide some analytics on your WordPress dashboard while also helping you get verified with Google<\/a>.<\/p>\n The main menu is on the left side, where you can find options such as:<\/p>\n On the Home<\/strong> page, you’ll see a basic look at some of the deeper data you can find in the various areas of the Reports<\/strong> menu.<\/p>\n The main graph shows:<\/p>\n There’s also a graph called “Users In Last 30 Minutes,” which shows:<\/p>\n You can also find a Recently Viewed<\/strong> section for quick access to other pages that you may have looked at minutes ago.<\/p>\n Finally, the Home<\/strong> page of Google Analytics offers an Insights<\/strong> section at the bottom with useful correlations and trends.<\/p>\n Although insights vary by site, here are some examples you may see:<\/p>\n Other important aspects of the Google Analytics interface include…<\/p>\n The Reports<\/strong> page in Google Analytics offers sub-pages for:<\/p>\n At first glance, the Reports Snapshot<\/strong> isn’t much different from what you see on the Google Analytics Home<\/strong> page. The first three graphs are exactly the same, but it becomes more unique as you scroll down.<\/p>\n In fact, the fourth graph provides new information about “How Much Revenue You’re Generating.”<\/p>\n You should also know that every chart on this page uses the default timeframe of about 30 days. Edit this timeframe if you’d like to see different views for all graphs.<\/p>\n Essentially, the entire Reports Snapshot<\/strong> provides quick information from the more detailed pages shown in the main menu. And it all depends on the type of website you have; Google Analytics displays sales figures for online stores, but it leaves this out if you have a standard business website with no ecommerce functionality<\/a>.<\/p>\n Here are some other potential reports you may see on the Reports Snapshot<\/strong>:<\/p>\n The Realtime Reports<\/strong> section is accessible by going to Reports > Realtime<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Here, you gain a look into audience, source, traffic, and user data on a realtime basis. This means the data collection is happening right now, so you have the most accurate data, and you should see the numbers changing.<\/p>\n There are several sections in the Realtime Overview<\/strong>:<\/p>\n The first graph shows the number of users your site has accumulated over the past 30 minutes, along with information about which devices they used. There’s also a map that goes along with the graph, allowing you to see realtime user locations. Scroll over these circles to view specific cities and the number of users from those areas.<\/p>\n Click on any city in the Realtime<\/strong> Overview<\/strong> map to reveal detailed graphs about the users from that city.<\/p>\n Several graphs in this section compile data involving users and how they interact with your website. For instance, it’s common to see graphs for:<\/p>\n Perhaps what most website owners care about the most, the Views graph details the most viewed pages on your website and ranks them. You can scroll over each one to see the percentage of time that each page gets compared to the entire site.<\/p>\n Google Analytics has preset “event tags” to help you understand the actions users take while on your website. It’s possible to make your own event tags, but the defaults work pretty well. You can set up events by going to the Configure<\/strong> tab in Google Analytics.<\/p>\n The Realtime<\/strong> page highlights several event-based graphs, such as:<\/p>\n The Acquisition<\/strong> page appears under the Life<\/strong> Cycle<\/strong> section, and it provides graphs outlining where your users and overall traffic comes from.<\/p>\n The first page, called the Acquisition<\/strong> Overview<\/strong>, offers a quick look into data like:<\/p>\n This page goes deeper into which mediums your users take to find your website. Simply put, it tells you if users get to your site via:<\/p>\n It’s also possible to organize your acquisition reports in groupings or to change the time period involved. The Engagement<\/strong> page compiles data to show you:<\/p>\n From engaged sessions per user to the event count over a certain time period, the Engagement Overview<\/strong> page has several graphs to help you understand whether users spend a significant amount of time on your site or if they simply look at it for a few seconds, then go elsewhere.<\/p>\n To get more in-depth with the Engagement<\/strong> page, consider looking at the Event<\/strong> Name<\/strong> page, which lists all events that happen on your website and how often they occur. This allows you to figure out what users like doing most on your website. You can then change the user interface to solve problems or improve certain areas to reinforce effective strategies.<\/p>\n As an example, you might find that the “view_promotion” event is rather popular. That shows your promotional tactics are working. However, it’s possible you need to put some work into the “first_visit” event, which might reveal that lots of users leave quickly after landing on your page once.<\/p>\n The Conversion<\/strong> graphs\u2014inside the Engagement<\/strong> page\u2014find correlations between conversions and event names, showing you which events lead to the most conversions.<\/p>\n Whether you consider a conversion a sale, email acquisition, or lead, this page is crucial for understanding the effectiveness of your funnels. It lists events (like “first_visit” or “begin_checkout”) then tells you which of those events are most and least effective in producing conversions. This engagement section finds correlations between page titles and the engagement on those pages.<\/p>\n Here’s some of the information you can pull from this page:<\/p>\n Monetization is usually the whole point of having a website, so it’s important to use the Monetization<\/strong> section in the Google Analytics interface to see things like:<\/p>\n In the overview, you see crucial data like:<\/p>\n To see more detailed monetization graphics, we recommend viewing the Ecommerce Purchases: Item Name<\/strong> page, which shows sales numbers based on the actual items sold.<\/p>\n Here are the key metrics from that page:<\/p>\n Depending on the type of website, you can activate other monetization analytics for tracking elements like in-app purchases or publisher advertisements. Overall, this section helps with identifying your best performing items, while also prompting business owners to either rethink or ditch poorly performing products. Retention refers to your site’s ability to keep users and customers. The Retention<\/strong> section of the Google Analytics interface helps you understand if you’re building brand loyalty or just running a site where users show up once and never return.<\/p>\n The Retention<\/strong> Overview<\/strong> page reveals timeline graphs for:<\/p>\n There’s a User<\/strong> page in the Google analytics interface, and it includes the following subcategories:<\/p>\n Access any of these reports by going to Reports > User<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The Demographics section extracts information like:<\/p>\n It also provides more specific reports to understand the overall makeup of your user base. Filter users by country, age, gender, or city. For example, the Users By Country<\/strong> page highlights how many visitors your site receives from every country, allowing you to figure out which countries to target more often.<\/p>\n The Tech<\/strong> section often gets skipped by site owners, but it’s incredibly useful to ensure that your website works properly on all browsers, devices, and screens. After all, you may find that users have trouble using your site on iPhones, or certain browsers, so that gives you a prompt to fix the problem.<\/p>\n The Tech Overview<\/strong> section includes graphs for:<\/p>\n It’s also possible to see specific usage of your mobile apps. Important metrics include:<\/p>\n The Advertising tab is on the main menu of Google Analytics. It provides in-depth channel, user, and activity information if you have Google Advertisements leading to your website.<\/p>\n As an example, the Advertising<\/strong> Snapshot<\/strong> tells you:<\/p>\n Also accessible through the main Google Analytics menu, the Events<\/strong> area contains all active events tracked by Google Analytics. You can set custom events, but Google Analytics usually adds some default ones for you. Find this page by going to Configure > Events<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The event names correlate with actual actions that users may take while on your site.<\/p>\n Here are some examples:<\/p>\n The Events<\/strong> page also displays how often these events occur over time, with percentage changes to show their recent effectiveness.<\/p>\n The Admin <\/b>section of the Google Analytics interface also offers sections for Conversions, Audiences, Custom Definitions, and a DebugView.<\/p>\n As you can see, Google Analytics can be an extremely effective way to track your website’s performance. By becoming familiar with the Google Analytics interface, you can understand what the data is telling you and then use this data to make informed decisions on how to improve your WordPress website.<\/p>\n \ud83d\udc49 You might also be interested in finding a way to integrate your site with Google Analytics easily<\/a>.<\/p>\n Have a question about the Google Analytics interface? Ask away in the comments below… <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\nThe Google Analytics interface explained<\/h2>\n
![\"the](\"https:\/\/mllj2j8xvfl0.i.optimole.com\/cb:c5QE.37290\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/themeisle.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/google-analytics-reports-and-charts.jpg\")
<\/p>\nHow to access the Google Analytics interface<\/h2>\n
![\"use](\"https:\/\/mllj2j8xvfl0.i.optimole.com\/cb:c5QE.37290\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/themeisle.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/allacounts-dropdown-menu.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"pick](\"https:\/\/mllj2j8xvfl0.i.optimole.com\/cb:c5QE.37290\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/themeisle.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/pick-a-website.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"the](\"https:\/\/mllj2j8xvfl0.i.optimole.com\/cb:c5QE.37290\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/themeisle.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/main-dashboard.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe Google Analytics navigation menu<\/h2>\n
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![\"GA4](\"https:\/\/mllj2j8xvfl0.i.optimole.com\/cb:c5QE.37290\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/themeisle.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/GA4-menu.png\")
<\/p>\nGoogle Analytics home page: a quick look at your site<\/h2>\n
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![\"homepage](\"https:\/\/mllj2j8xvfl0.i.optimole.com\/cb:c5QE.37290\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/themeisle.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/analytics-homepage.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\n
![\"insights](\"https:\/\/mllj2j8xvfl0.i.optimole.com\/cb:c5QE.37290\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/themeisle.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/the-insights.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\n
The Reports page in the Google Analytics interface<\/h2>\n
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![\"go](\"https:\/\/mllj2j8xvfl0.i.optimole.com\/cb:c5QE.37290\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/themeisle.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/all-reports.jpg\")
\nThe reports snapshot<\/h3>\n
![\"reports](\"https:\/\/mllj2j8xvfl0.i.optimole.com\/cb:c5QE.37290\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/themeisle.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/how-much-revenue.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"change](\"https:\/\/mllj2j8xvfl0.i.optimole.com\/cb:c5QE.37290\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/themeisle.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/change-time-frame.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\n
![\"reports](\"https:\/\/mllj2j8xvfl0.i.optimole.com\/cb:c5QE.37290\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/themeisle.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/snapshot-reports.jpg\")
\nRealtime reports<\/h3>\n
![\"realtime](\"https:\/\/mllj2j8xvfl0.i.optimole.com\/cb:c5QE.37290\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/themeisle.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Analytics-Realtime-overview.jpg\")
<\/p>\nUsers in last 30 minutes + a realtime user map<\/h4>\n
![\"view](\"https:\/\/mllj2j8xvfl0.i.optimole.com\/cb:c5QE.37290\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/themeisle.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/users-in-last-minutes.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"click](\"https:\/\/mllj2j8xvfl0.i.optimole.com\/cb:c5QE.37290\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/themeisle.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/scroll-over.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"users](\"https:\/\/mllj2j8xvfl0.i.optimole.com\/cb:c5QE.37290\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/themeisle.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/one-city.jpg\")
<\/p>\nUsers by source and audience<\/h4>\n
![\"users](\"https:\/\/mllj2j8xvfl0.i.optimole.com\/cb:c5QE.37290\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/themeisle.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/users-by-source-and-audience.jpg\")
<\/h4>\n\n
Views<\/h4>\n
![\"views](\"https:\/\/mllj2j8xvfl0.i.optimole.com\/cb:c5QE.37290\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/themeisle.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/views.jpg\")
<\/p>\nEvent name details<\/h4>\n
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![\"event](\"https:\/\/mllj2j8xvfl0.i.optimole.com\/cb:c5QE.37290\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/themeisle.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/event-names.jpg\")
<\/h4>\nAcquisition (Where your traffic comes from)<\/h3>\n
Acquisition Overview<\/h4>\n
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![\"acquisition](\"https:\/\/mllj2j8xvfl0.i.optimole.com\/cb:c5QE.37290\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/themeisle.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Analytics-Acquisition-overview.jpg\")
<\/p>\nUser acquisition: user medium<\/h4>\n
![\"user](\"https:\/\/mllj2j8xvfl0.i.optimole.com\/cb:c5QE.37290\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/themeisle.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Analytics-User-acquisition-First-user-medium.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\n
\nEngagement (What users do, and how long it takes, on your website)<\/h3>\n
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![\"engagement](\"https:\/\/mllj2j8xvfl0.i.optimole.com\/cb:c5QE.37290\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/themeisle.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Analytics-Engagement-overview.jpg\")
<\/p>\nEvent name page<\/h4>\n
![\"events](\"https:\/\/mllj2j8xvfl0.i.optimole.com\/cb:c5QE.37290\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/themeisle.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Analytics-Events-Event-name.jpg\")
<\/p>\nConversions: event name page<\/h4>\n
\n![\"conversions](\"https:\/\/mllj2j8xvfl0.i.optimole.com\/cb:c5QE.37290\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/themeisle.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Analytics-Conversions-Event-name.jpg\")
<\/h3>\nPages and screens: page title and screen class<\/h4>\n
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![\"pages](\"https:\/\/mllj2j8xvfl0.i.optimole.com\/cb:c5QE.37290\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/themeisle.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Analytics-Pages-and-screens-Page-title-and-screen-class.jpg\")
\nMonetization (How much money you’ve made and how you’ve made it)<\/h3>\n
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Monetization overview<\/h4>\n
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![\"monetization](\"https:\/\/mllj2j8xvfl0.i.optimole.com\/cb:c5QE.37290\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/themeisle.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Analytics-Monetization-overview.jpg\")
<\/p>\nEcommerce purchases: item name<\/h4>\n
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![\"ecommerce](\"https:\/\/mllj2j8xvfl0.i.optimole.com\/cb:c5QE.37290\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/themeisle.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Analytics-Ecommerce-purchases-Item-name.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nRetention (How well you keep users on your site and coming back)<\/h3>\n
Retention overview<\/h4>\n
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![\"retention](\"https:\/\/mllj2j8xvfl0.i.optimole.com\/cb:c5QE.37290\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/themeisle.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Analytics-Retention-overview.jpg\")
\nThe User page<\/h3>\n
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![\"demographic](\"https:\/\/mllj2j8xvfl0.i.optimole.com\/cb:c5QE.37290\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/themeisle.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/user-stuff.jpg\")
<\/p>\nDemographics<\/h4>\n
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![\"demographic](\"https:\/\/mllj2j8xvfl0.i.optimole.com\/cb:c5QE.37290\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/themeisle.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Analytics-Demographics-overview.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"demographic](\"https:\/\/mllj2j8xvfl0.i.optimole.com\/cb:c5QE.37290\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/themeisle.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Analytics-Demographic-details-Country.jpg\")
<\/p>\nTech<\/h4>\n
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![\"Google](\"https:\/\/mllj2j8xvfl0.i.optimole.com\/cb:c5QE.37290\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/themeisle.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Analytics-Tech-overview.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\n
![\"app](\"https:\/\/mllj2j8xvfl0.i.optimole.com\/cb:c5QE.37290\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/themeisle.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Analytics-Tech-overview-2.jpg\")
<\/p>\nAdvertising<\/h2>\n
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![\"Google](\"https:\/\/mllj2j8xvfl0.i.optimole.com\/cb:c5QE.37290\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/themeisle.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Analytics-Advertising-snapshot.jpg\")
<\/p>\nEvents<\/h2>\n
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![\"Google](\"https:\/\/mllj2j8xvfl0.i.optimole.com\/cb:c5QE.37290\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/themeisle.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/configure.jpg\")
<\/p>\nFinal thoughts on the Google Analytics interface<\/h2>\n