KB User's Guide - SitePref Tab - Google Analytics

In this document:

• Overview
• Setting up Google Analytics
  • Understand the difference between Universal Analytics and Google Analytics 4
• Finding your code snippets
• Navigating to the SitePref section and applying code snippets
• Reviewing data within Google Analytics

Overview

Google Analytics generates detailed statistics about a website's traffic and traffic sources. It is intended for learning more about how people use your website.

This tool helps with tracking things like:

• Page views
• Time on site
• Bounce rates (how quickly someone is coming to the page and leaving)
• User journey flows
• New users vs returning users
• User demographics

Please note that support of this tool is limited within the Google and KnowledgeBase teams at DoIT.

For a full list of Google Analytics’ abilities, please see Google’s documentation.

Setting up Google Analytics

1. Navigate to Google Analytics
2. If you have already created an account, click Sign in.
   • It is recommended that you use an Office 365 Service (departmental) account for this purpose. For more information regarding Service Accounts, please refer to Office 365 - Getting Started with Service Accounts.
   • You would use that account to sign in
3. Once you have gone through your sign-up process and verified your account, you'll be directed to the starting steps for your Google Analytics. Click the Sign up button. The views and screens change often, so be sure to follow the on-screen steps set up your analytics account.
4. Enter in the Property details information: Name, time zone, and currency.
5. Click Show advanced options below that, and click the slider for Create a Universal Analytics (UA) property.
   
   Note: When setting up Google Analytics, by default you are presented with setting up Google Analytics 4 (GA4). GA4 presents new views and reporting functions for you to take advantage of, such as tracking Events such as clicks and file downloads, among others. You do have the opportunity to create both a UA and GA4 account at the same time, and you could do so now.
   
   
6. Enter in the URL of the site you want to apply Google Analytics to, and leave the radio button for Create both a Goolgle Analytics 4 and a a Universal Analytics property selected. With this option, you can easily switch between both views and take advantage of both means of data collection.
   

   

7. Click Next.
8. Answer the Business information section, and click Create at the bottom of that screen.
9. The next page asks you to enter several pieces of information such as your site name and URL, the site category, and your time zone. You will also create an account name, and choose who this data can be shared with outside of yourself. Once you have entered this information, scroll to the bottom and click Get Tracking ID.
10. You will be prompted to accept the Terms of Service Agreement from Google. Click I Accept.

Finding your code snippets

Now that you have set up your Google Analytics account(s), you can get the appropriate code snippets to put into your Knowledge Base Admin area. It is important to know which account you want to use so that you access the appropriate code snippet. To change views between Google Analytics 4 and Universal Analytics accounts:

1. Click on the Accounts section in the upper right corner of your screen.
   

   

2. Select the account that you want to access, either Google Analytics 4 or Universal Analytics. Remember GA4 stands for Google Analytics 4.
   
   

Google Analytics 4

To access your Google Analytics 4 code snippet:

1. Click on the Admin cog at the bottom left of your screen
2. Under the Property column, click on Data Streams
   
   
   
   
3. In the next screen, click on the Data Stream that you want the code snippet for.
4. In the next screen, find the Tagging Instructions section, and click to expand the Add new on-page tag section.
   
   
5. Highlight and copy the code snippet displayed.

Universal Analytics

1. Click on the Admin cog at the bottom left of your screen
2. Under the Property column, click on Tracking Info, and then click on Tracking Code
   
   
   
   
3. In this screen, scroll down to the Website Tracking section, and select and copy the code snippet that is in the window.
   
   

Navigating to the SitePref section and applying code snippets

Once you have copied your desired code snippet, follow these steps to apply it to your KB space.

1. Navigate to the KB admin area, and click on the SitePref tab at the top of your screen.
   
   
   
   
2. Here, click on the Google Tracking on the left menu section
   
   
3. You have the opportunity to track both Internal and External data. Click in the appropriate drop down section based on the code snippet that you are going to use, and paste in the code that you have copied from Google Analytics. Be sure to check the box for enabling the site tag for your chose section.
   
   
4. Click the Update button.

Reviewing data within Google Analytics

Once you have added your code snippet for Google Analytics, you can follow these steps to check if the data is being collected using real time views.

Google Analytics 4

1. To test this yourself, open a browser window in Private or Incognito (somewhere you are not logged into the KB Admin view) and open your KB web space (kb.wisc.edu/your-space/)
2. Navigate to Google Analytics and click on the Reports menu item on the left, and select Realtime.
   
   
3. If you have set up the code correctly, you should see at least 1 user viewing your site within minutes of applying the code snippet.
   
   

Universal Analytics

1. To test this yourself, open a browser window in Private or Incognito (somewhere you are not logged into the KB Admin view) and open your KB web space (kb.wisc.edu/your-space/)
2. Navigate to Google Analytics and click on the Realtime menu item on the left, and select Overview.
   
   
   
   
3. If you have set up the code correctly, you should see at least 1 user viewing your site within minutes of applying the code snippet.