Google Analytics

From The Unofficial Google Wiki

Google Analytics is a free web analytics solution that was released on November 14, 2005.

Definition

Wikipedia defines Google Analytics as "a service offered by Google that generates detailed statistics about the visitors to a website. Its main highlight is that a webmaster can optimize his ad campaigns through Google Analytics' analysis of where the visitors came from, how long they stayed on the website, and their geographical position."

Cost

Analytics is free, but only up to five million page views per month. The limit doesn't apply to AdWords users.

Users

You can add more than one user to an Analytics account and assign them different levels of access to the reports, such as "View Reports Only".

UrchinTracker

UrchinTracker is for tracking events other than page views (such as Flash, JavaScript, and downloads).

Languages

Analytics is available in Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, and Russian.

How to add Analytics to your site

Analytics is used by adding some tracking to your page source. For example:

<script src="http://www.google-analytics.com/urchin.js" type="text/javascript">
</script>
<script type="text/javascript">
  _uacct="UA-xxxx-x";
  urchinTracker();
</script>

[edit] Google Analytics links

• Google Analytics home page
• Features
• Case studies
• Help
  • FAQ
  • Glossary
  • Help at Google Groups

[edit] Blog posts

add yours here!

Official Google Blog

"Today we're launching Google Analytics. The same service used by dozens of Fortune 500 companies is now available to every business on the web. We’ve integrated it with AdWords, it's easier to use – and it's free."

Matt Cutts: Gadgets, Google, and SEO

"I just noticed that Google Analytics is live. This is a result of Urchin joining Google."

Google Blogoscoped

"Google – never shy to launch something every other week – introduces Google Analytics."

Search Engine Watch

"Google Renames Urchin Google Analytics, Makes It Free"

InsideGoogle

"Google has untethered its March aquisition, Urchin web analytics, from its cumbersome need to charge for services rendered."

[edit] Tutorials