Last updated - September 15, 2023
Analytics data is a crucial factor for any online business. It will help you understand how users are perceiving your website and identify if there are any hindrances to a smooth user experience. You can use Google Analytics to know who visits your site, when they visit and also, how they are interacting with it. You can find more specific data from an eCommerce store that will offer actionable insights to enhance conversions as well. If you have a WordPress WooCommerce site, you can integrate Google analytics tracking to monitor your site performance. In this article, we will describe how you can add Google Analytics tracking code to your WordPress WooCommerce site.
How to Add Google Analytics Tracking to your site
In order to integrate Google Analytics to your WordPress WooCommerce site, you will have to first sign up for a Google Analytics account.
Read our article to see the step-by-step process of signing in to Google Analytics.
Once you have set up the Google Analytics account, you will be able to find the tracking code from the dashboard.
Adding the tracking code manually
Go to Admin and click Tracking info under your property settings.
When you click Tracking info, you will see a few more options. Click tracking code.
Now you will see the tracking code under Global Site Tag. Copy the entire code.
Now, you need to go to your WordPress admin. Navigate to Appearance > Theme Editor. On the right-hand side, you will find a section for Theme Files. Scroll down and open the Theme Header file.
Now, paste the tracking code you have copied from the Google Analytics dashboard before the </head> tag.
When you are manually entering the tracking code to your theme file, it is better to create a child theme and add the file to it. This will help you switch themes easily without worrying about overwriting the code.
Add Google Analytics tracking code with plugins
You can also add the tracking code with the help of some of the popular plugins. Here we will discuss some of the top plugins that will help you add Google Analytics tracking code.
WooCommerce Google Analytics Pro
This is a great option if you want to get detailed insights on your WooCommerce store’s performance. You will be able to get advanced event tracking for your store, and get insights on conversion rate average order value, sales by product or category, etc. In addition, you will be able to add advanced tracking events like adding coupons or changes in cart quantity. You can even track the choices customers make on the checkout page, such as payment options using this plugin. Also, the plugin lets you exclude store admins and shop managers from analytics tracking.
You can integrate Google Analytics with your website using this plugin in two ways. One by authenticating the plugin to access your settings. Or, by manually pasting the tracking code in the specific field.
You can authenticate the plugin by following the below steps.
- Click the Authenticate button.
- Grant permissions to access your Google Analytics account.
- Choose the property you want to track.
Alternatively, you can also paste the tracking id to the ‘Google Analytics tracking id’ field.
The single site subscription of this plugin will cost you $79.
Google Analytics Dashboard Plugin for WordPress by MonsterInsights
MonsterInsights is one of the most popular plugins that will help you integrate Google Analytics with your WordPress site. It is extremely easy to connect your site with Google Analytics using this plugin.
Instead of worrying about adding the tracking code in your theme file, you can manage the connection in the following steps:
- Choose the category of your website.
- Login to your Google account through MonsterInsights.
- Allow MonsterInsights to access your Google account.
- Specify the website profile that you want to track.
The main advantage of using this plugin is that you will be able to access the Google Analytics reports right from your WordPress dashboard. It also provides several customized reports that will help you track your website more efficiently. There will be reports on Audience, Behavior, Content, eCommerce, Forms, Search console and custom dimensions. In addition, it makes GDPR compliance easier for business owners. The premium version of MonsterInsights plugin comes with more advanced features such as eCommerce tracking, affiliate link tracking and more.
Google Analytics Dashboard for WP by ExactMetrics
This plugin will help you view analytics reports on your WordPress dashboard. This plugin will help you gain insights on the performance of your pages and posts along with the general analytics inputs. You will be able to get insights on events like downloads, emails, affiliate links, etc. In addition, you can track custom events like authors, categories, tags, user engagement, etc., as well. Moreover, the plugin is compatible with multi-site installs as well.
Instead of manually adding the Google Analytics tracking code, you can authorize this plugin to access your account. You can also specify the property you want to track and the plugin ensures that the tracking code is inserted automatically.
Insert Headers and Footers
If you don’t like the idea of editing your theme files to insert Google Analytics tracking code, you can consider using this plugin. It will help you insert analytics tracking code as well as other custom codes to your WordPress site easily. The plugin will help even beginners of WordPress to add custom code to a specific field in the plugin settings. You can insert HTML, CSS or JavaScript using this plugin. This will be a great help to ensure smooth customization of your WordPress site.
Basically, the plugin offers two fields to paste code snippets. Those codes that goes in the Header can be pasted in one field and those in the Footer in another. The Google Analytics tracking code needs to be in the Header. So, you can install the plugin and paste the tracking code in the field instead of manually adding it to the theme file.
Pixel Manager for WooCommerce
The Pixel Manager for WooCommerce is a robust plugin that makes monitoring and managing pixels from various marketing networks easier. It facilitates pixel integration, streamlines tracking, customizes events and parameters, optimizes conversions, and provides increased marketing insights. This plugin, which integrates seamlessly with WooCommerce, offers a variety of tools and benefits to improve your marketing efforts and promote the growth of your WooCommerce store.
The Pixel Manager plugin interacts seamlessly with Universal Analytics and GA4, as well as a variety of other systems like Meta Ads, Google Optimize, Hotjar, Twitter Ads, Pinterest Ads, Snapchat Ads, and TikTok Ads. It also provides GA4-specific interfaces to assure the accuracy and granularity of your data. With these integrations, you can track and manage all important eCommerce events and gain valuable insights into customer behavior for effective marketing optimization.
Google Tag Manager for WordPress
This is another free plugin that will help you integrate Google Analytics tracking code to your WordPress site. You can also add other custom code snippets to your WordPress site using this tool. The main advantage of using this plugin is that it saves you from the manual effort of adding the Google Analytics tracking code.
WooCommerce Google Analytics Integration
WooCommerce Google Analytics Integration is a simple option to connect your WooCommerce site with your Google Analytics account. You can download the free plugin from the WordPress repository, and set it up. Once you activate the plugin, you can go to the settings and add your Google Analytics ID and Set Domain name. It also allows you to choose different Tracking options as per your requirement. The plugin supports Universal Analytics, eCommerce, and enhanced eCommerce event tracking.
Enhance your store’s performance with Google Analytics tracking
For a WooCommerce store owner, Google Analytics tracking is one of the primary sources to get insights on varied metrics. Here is a quick glance at some of these aspects for a better understanding of eCommerce analytics.
Customer behavior
Through analytics reports, you will be able to deduce customer behavior on your site. Popularity of products can be understood through sales data as well as visits to specific pages. Also the number of users accessing the checkout page will give you an idea on purchase intent. You can even understand if there are any hindrances in the checkout flow that is preventing purchases.
Advanced eCommerce tracking
There are also several key metrics that needs to be monitored for continuous improvement of you eCommerce store. These include average order value, conversion rate, cart abandonment data, etc. You will be able to clearly evaluate if you store is achieving its business goals by continuously analyzing reports on these parameters.
Monitor product performance
You can get clear ideas about each of your product’s performance through analytics reports. For example, you can easily identify the most popular products in terms of traffic as well as sales. Similarly, you will be able to get some insights on the reasons behind the not so good performance of some other products as well.
Enhance marketing strategies
Analytics will also help you in improving marketing strategies. You can monitor the performance of specific marketing campaigns using analytics to improve them next time. Also, you can keep an eye out on the efficiency of your coupon codes, affiliate links, etc.
Hopefully, this article has provided a good understanding on adding Google Analytics tracking code to your WordPress site. It is important to do it correctly to ensure that the key performance metrics of your WordPress WooCommerce store are monitored. Leave us a comment if you have a query.
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Hi Akash, yes, you can. The exact process will be different though.