How to set up Google Analytics for Shopify

If you are interested in expanding your Shopify business, you will need to make adjustments based on data analysis rather than assumptions.

Implementing Google Analytics will provide you with the information you need for store optimization to increase your search visibility, conversion rate, and revenue.

Implementing Google Analytics for your Shopify store may seem daunting, but in this guide, you will find answers to these common questions and challenges:

• What is Google Analytics?
• How to implement the Google Analytics code on your Shopify website.
• What to track with Google Analytics.
• Key metrics you need to know in Google Analytics.

What is Google Analytics?

Google Analytics It is a free web analysis platform, and the website can be implemented on its entire website to track various indicators.

Including traffic, click-through rate, conversion rate, bounce rate, time on page, etc. This free tool provides invaluable information to help business owners successfully run an online store.

As an online store, you might Put all kinds of ads,and InfluencerAnd run Email activity. All these marketing activities will link back to your website.

Once Google Analytics is implemented correctly, you will be able to determine whether your campaign is effective. You can see how many users interacted with your campaign, how many conversions, and the total revenue generated through your efforts.

This essential data analysis platform also allows you to view all marketing channels in one place.

The overall view will allow you to see total sales and average order value, and you will be able to generate custom reports highlighting the most meaningful metrics for your business.

If I already have Shopify Analytics, why do I need Google Analytics?

You might be thinking about yours Shopify analysis The platform provides all the information you need to make smart business decisions.

However, while this provides a general summary of your store’s performance, it does not provide you with all the information you need to make the most informed business decisions.

Your Shopify Analytics dashboard can display total sales, average order value, and conversion rate. It also has pre-built reports, so you only need to make very few settings.

This analysis source is very convenient, but it does have some very influential shortcomings.

For example, if you want to compare different traffic sources or commonly used device types at the time of purchase, you won’t be able to see this segmentation unless you use Google Analytics.

You can also use Google Analytics to determine how users interact with your website. If you find that your website is primarily accessed via mobile devices, your team can start optimizing the UX experience of your store for these end users.

Google Analytics is a bit difficult to use, but it is the best tool to provide a reliable overview of how customers interact with your online store.

You can collect the information needed to segment your customers into more effective marketing channels and create marketing campaigns that can be expanded with your business.

All this information is free in Google Analytics. If you want to use Shopify to access more reports, you need to upgrade to a more expensive plan.

How to implement the Google Analytics code on your Shopify website

To help make this as simple as possible, we will break down the step-by-step process of implementing the Google Analytics code on your Shopify website.

1. Create a Google account for your business

You may already have a Gmail associated with your Shopify site, don’t worry, you can use it to access Google Analytics. If you don’t have a pre-existing account, you will need to set up a free account to access Google Analytics.

It is not recommended to use your personal Gmail for your online store. Separating them will help you manage access to business information.

2. Create an analysis account

Google has two different types of analytics platforms, Universal Analytics and Google Analytics 4.

Universal Analytics is often referred to as “old” analysis.

Google Analytics 4 is the latest version, which provides more detailed data analysis and cross-device measurement functions for the store. Currently, Shopify does not support Google Analytics 4.

Before making changes, you need to create a Universal Analytics account.

You can follow this guide Help you create a universal Google Analytics account.

3. Enable Google Analytics

Your Shopify website may already be active. Before attempting to enable the code, please double check that it is not already enabled.

Log in to your Shopify account and click Online Store> Preferences. Here, you will be able to see if your Google Analytics box is checked.

If you see a numeric code beginning with UA, your Google Analytics account has been activated.

Screenshot of Shopify admin, December 2021

The second way to see if your analysis code has been implemented is to go to your Shopify backend and navigate to Theme> Actions> Edit Code.

There, in the layout section, click on {/} Theme Liquid. On this page, you need to find tags that contain the following content: ga.js, gtag, js, or analytics.js.

If you find one of these tags, it means that your Google Analytics code is enabled on your website.

If you have not enabled Google Analytics on the Shopify website, please follow the steps below.

How to enable Google Analytics

In google analytics

1. 1. Log in to your Google Analytics account using the Gmail account you created in the previous step.
   2. Create your account and choose your data sharing preferences.
   3. Click Next to navigate to the property settings.
   4. Select the attribute name, time zone, and currency.
   5. Select advanced options.
   6. Create Universal Analytics properties-Google Analytics 4 is selected by default, but it cannot be used on Shopify. Make sure to select Universal Analytics to continue.
   7. After continuing, in the “About your business” section, you need to select the appropriate settings for your store.
   8. Select “Create”.
   9. Accept the terms and service agreement.
   10. Copy your tracking ID-the number will start with UA.

Within Shopify

1. 1. Open your Shopify administrator account.
   2. Go to the online store-Preferences
   3. Next to Google Analytics, enter the tracking ID you copied from the previous step.
   4. Remember to remove the password protection from your Shopify store. This will ensure that Google Analytics will display the data.
   5. you did it! Google Analytics is now enabled on your Shopify website.

How to enable the e-commerce tracking code

Enable E-commerce tracking code Allows you to have a deeper understanding of the customer’s user experience.

You can use two different e-commerce tracking code options.

Basic e-commerce tracking

Use the confirmation login page to track transaction and revenue data.

How to enable basic e-commerce tracking in GA:

• Open Google Analytics
• Click on the management settings view and go to e-commerce settings
• Turn on the enable e-commerce button

Screenshot of Google Analytics account, December 2021

Enhanced e-commerce tracking

Track every page the user visits before the user makes a purchase. This includes tracking users browsing different product pages, tracking content added to the shopping cart, and whether they have made a purchase or returned an item.

How to enable enhanced e-commerce tracking:

• Open the Shopify management page.
• Online store → Preferences.
• In the Google Analytics section, make sure the Use Enhanced E-commerce button is turned on, then click Save.
• Open Google Analytics.
• Click the Manage Settings view and go to E-commerce Settings.
• Turn on the enhanced e-commerce tracking button.

What to track with Google Analytics

Focusing on traffic is helpful, but it won’t provide you with enough information to make meaningful long-term optimizations for your business.

To make Google Analytics a useful tool, you need to ask specific questions and compare analyses from different periods of time.

Here are some examples of questions you should focus on answering with Google Analytics.

Who is your best customer?

Use Google Analytics as a tool to help you Create buyer profile This affects the way you manage your marketing activities to help maximize conversion rates.

Analyze demographic, interest, and geographic data

Access demographics by navigating to Audience → Demographics → Overview. This dashboard will help you determine the age group and gender of users who convert most often on your website.

Under demographics, you will be able to see interest reports. These reports will tell you what else your customers are interested in. You can build up-sell opportunities and targeted advertising based on this knowledge.

Geographical data can provide invaluable information that can help you determine when and where to spend money. For example, if you analyze the data and learn that most of your customers live on the East Coast, you can place more ads targeted to that geographic area.

Similarly, if you find that a certain geographic area has not been converted, you can limit your spending in those areas.

Compare data from different periods to determine trends. Adjust your ads based on these findings.

How do people interact with your Shopify website?

You may have an ideal image in your mind about how users navigate and interact with your website. However, it is entirely possible that your end users will not use your website as you might imagine.

You can find a general overview of behavior information by going to Behavior → Overview.

From here, you can drill down to the website content and landing page to see if you have a great product page or some pages that may require some work.

Key metrics to know in Google Analytics

• Conversation: Interaction with your Shopify store in a specific time period.
• Page views: The total number of page views on a particular page. Repeated page views are counted. Therefore, if you view one product, navigate to another product for comparison, and decide to return to the first product page, it will count as three different page views.
• Unique page views: The number of sessions that have viewed a particular page at least once. Multiple visits to your product page A during the same session will count as a unique page view.
• Bounce Rate: Measure how often people click on your page and leave without triggering any other requests or leaving within one second of starting the page.
• Average time on page: How long the end user will stay on the page.
• income: Total revenue generated through the website.
• trade: Number of purchases.
• Exchange rate: The number of sessions ended with transactions.

Now that you have completed all the settings and have a general understanding of the key indicators in GA, here is a good guide Everything you need to know about Google Analytics for Shopify Help you make the most of it.

This resource will help you really understand the data in your account and use it to make more informed decisions to help you scale.

More resources:

Featured image: Kaspars Grinvalds/Shutterstock