Integrating Google Analytics with your Weebly website is an effective way to understand user behavior and analyze traffic. Thankfully, Weebly provides a straightforward method for adding GA.
Here's a guide on how to integrate GA into your Weebly site, step by step. Let's dive in!
Before we dig in I want to show you something. I promise it's worth it...
Google Analytics is great, but also complex and a bit clunky. If you just want a straightforward dashboard with the insights you need, GA is not a great place to start. Additionally, Google doesn't care about privacy and GA requires an annoying cookie banner.
That's why I built Simple Analytics, a privacy-friendly and simple analytics tool - no personal data, no cookies, just the insights you need in a straightforward dashboard.
Here is how it looks vs GA. Feel free to check our live analytics to get an idea for your project. (It is free btw)
All right, enough about us. Now let's get into answering your question!
Step-by-step integration
Set up Google Analytics
- Log into your GA profile (or create one, if you haven't already).
- Create a GA property for your website.
- Inspect the property and note down your Measurement ID. You will need it later.
Log in to Your Weebly Dashboard
Access your Weebly account and navigate to the dashboard of the site you wish to integrate with GA.
Go to the Site Settings
In your Weebly site editor, look for the 'Settings' tab at the top of the page.
Find the SEO Settings
Under the 'Settings' tab, locate the 'SEO' section. This section allows you to add site-wide code.
Add Your GA Measurement ID
In the 'SEO' settings, scroll down to the 'Footer Code' box. This is where you'll paste your Google Analytics script. The standard GA script looks something like this:
<script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=YOUR_MEASUREMENT_ID"></script>
<script>
window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || [];
function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);}
gtag('js', new Date());
gtag('config', 'YOUR_MEASUREMENT_ID');
</script>Make sure to replace YOUR_MEASUREMENT_ID with your actual GA Measurement ID!
Save and Publish Your Changes
After adding the code, save your changes and publish your site to apply these changes live.
Verify the Integration
To confirm that GA is correctly tracking your site, check the 'Realtime' section in your GA dashboard. You should see real-time data if the integration is successful. Note that it might take some time for the data to start showing.
(Optional) Create New Properties
To track multiple websites, create more GA properties and use the corresponding Measurement IDs. This prevents GA from conflating the data.
Final Thoughts
Adding Google Analytics to your website can give you great insights. However, ask yourself: is Google Analytics the right tool for you?
GA is an overpowered solution for straightforward analytics. If you're looking for a simple and intuitive dashboard with the insights you need, there are better alternatives. Yes, I’m talking about my own product (Simple Analytics), but there are others out there as well.
I hated using Google Analytics for my projects. It's clunky, there are hundreds of dashboards and it doesn't look appealing. Also Google doesn't care about privacy or ethics. That's why I decided to build my own and more intuitive web analytics tool.
If this resonates with you, feel free to give Simple Analytics a spin. You just need to add the script to your site and off you go. This takes about one minute- and there is a free version as well!
Enjoy!