Is Google Analytics Overwhelming?

Do google analytics seem a little overwhelming to you? You are not alone. Google Analytics is notoriously complicated. Even for those of us who love data analytics, it can be hard to know where to start. So, what’s the deal with Google Analytics and how can you make it work for you?

Google Analytics was originally Urchin, a company founded in 1998. Urchin worked by analyzing web server log files and displaying the traffic information from that website. Google acquired Urchin and 2005 and rebranded it “Analytics.”

15 years in, Google Analytics has a massive list of capabilities and can be overwhelming to use. But simply put, it tracks website data. Using tracking code, analytics collects information about the way the website was used. Such as, time of visit, pages viewed, the time spent on each page, what browser and OS are being used, referring site details, and network location and IP address. It has tons of options for customization to give the exact data you are looking for.

Google Analytics works by using a “page tag.” Those “page tags” are little pieces of JavaScript code that be inserted into any website’s code. Any browser with JavaScript enabled can be tracked, and thats most of them. The websites owner puts that little code snippet onto every webpage they want to track, and Google sends the data collected to the website owner’s Google Analytics account.

What ways could you use Google Analytics to maximize your website’s efficiently?