After creating a pretty website, you will want to expand its audiece- and this is where web analytics comes in. This blog post will guide you through the process of adding Google Analytics to your One.com website, step by step. Let's dive in!
- Set Up Google Analytics
- Add Google Analytics to Your One.com Website
- Verify the Integration
- Final Thoughts
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!
Set Up Google Analytics
If you haven't already set up a Google Analytics account for your website, you'll need to do that first. Here’s a quick setup guide:
- Visit Google Analytics: Go to Google Analytics and sign in with your Google account. If you don’t have one, you’ll need to create it.
- Create a New Property: Follow the on-screen instructions to create a new GA4 property, selecting "Web" as the platform type.
- Retrieve your Tracking Code: Once your property is configured, inspect it to retrieve your GA Tracking Code. This code is essential for integrating GA and contains the unique Measurement ID for your website.
Add Google Analytics to Your One.com Website
Integrating Google Analytics with a One.com website is straightforward, thanks to One.com's user-friendly website builder. Here’s how to add your GA tracking code:
- Log Into Your One.com Control Panel: Access your One.com account and navigate to the control panel for your website.
- Open the Website Builder: Find and launch the One.com Website Builder where you've created your site.
- Access Site Settings.
- Insert the GA Tracking Code: In the site settings, find a section dedicated to adding custom HTML or JavaScript. Paste your entire Google Analytics tracking code snippet into the header section.
- Publish Your Changes: After adding the tracking code, save your changes and publish or republish your site to ensure the Google Analytics tracking is activated.
- (Optional) Create New Properties: if you want to track multiple websites, create a new property for each of them and use the corresponding tracking code. This allows GA to collect data separately for each website.
Verify the Integration
To ensure that Google Analytics is correctly tracking your One.com website:
- Visit Your Site: Open your website in a web browser to generate some initial traffic.
- Check Google Analytics: Log into your Google Analytics account and navigate to the "Realtime" report. If you see your visit being tracked, the integration is successful.
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 website and off you go. This takes about one minute- and there is a free version as well!
Enjoy!