Google Analytics - Basics 101!

we've been chatting over on the traders's thread about Google Analytics. i have to admit that at first, i was quite befuddled (and frustrated) over the whole thing. i actually had to register TWICE before i could see my stats! hopefully, this little cheat sheet will help all traders sign up successfully with GA so that you can see where your traffic is coming from! i can't wait to try this at our next Trade and Stay... won't THAT be a hoot!


STEP 1:
visit www.google.com/analytics and sign in (if you have an existing igoogle account)/sign up for a new account.


STEP 2:
click on "Add Website Profile". in the URL area and enter your etsy shop address like this: http://www.yourshop.etsy.com/, set your location, time and hit "finish". If they ask for your shop name type in http://www.yourshop.etsy.com/ (Do NOT include the http:// in the URL)


STEP 3:
when you get to the tracking code page just scroll to the bottom and hit "finish". you don't need this code - it states here that you should copy the code and put on all your webpages, but, lucky for us, etsy already does this for us automatically. just hit "finish".


STEP 4:
on the next page you will see a grey table with your website URL. next to the URL should be a code that looks like UA-1234567-8. highlight and copy the code to your clipboard. (ctrl + C)


STEP 5:
open up a separate browser page (don't close your Google Analytics page) and go to http://www.etsy.com/shop_analytics.php. you can also access the page you need on etsy via "your etsy" - there is a link on the left hand side toolbar that says "web analytics". paste (Ctrl + V) the code in the designated area. save changes.


STEP 6:
now you're finished setting up Google Analytics for your etsy shop!! if you look at the overview page in Google Analytics you will see that there is a yellow symbol with an exclamation mark on it under the status column. this just means that your account isn't showing stats yet - not that you did anything wrong! when it turns into a green check mark then you can start viewing your stats. it can take up to 24 hours for the stats counter to update - but mine started showing before that.

i hope that it helps make things a little clearer for everyone. i know that the first time i registered, the little yellow symbol never went away and i was freaking out thinking that NO ONE was visiting my shop! however, i just deleted the website profile and added it again. i received a new code and i went to etsy and put the new code into the "web analytics" area. and it's worked fine ever since.


so, maybe we should have a Trade and Stay so that we can all watch our GA numbers climb? LOL! what do you think?


xoxoxo muffin