(And Why You Should Have It)
You don’t need to be a tech wizard to understand what’s happening on your website.
Whether you’re a plumber in Preston or a baker in Basingstoke, Google Analytics helps answer one important question:
Are people actually visiting my site—or am I just shouting into the void?
If you’re paying for ads or sharing your link anywhere, you deserve to know if it’s working.
Google Analytics shows you:
- How many people visited your site
- Where they came from (Facebook? Google?)
- What pages they looked at
- And whether they stayed or bounced off like a bored squirrel
Step-by-Step Setup (Manual)
1. Go to analytics.google.com and sign in with your Google account.
2. Click Start measuring.
3. Create a new property (your business website).
Give it a name like “Prestonplumber.co.uk”
4. Choose Web as the platform, then enter your website address.
5. Google will give you a tracking ID (it looks like G-XXXXXXXXXX)
Under that, you’ll see a bit of code that looks like this:
htmlCopyEdit<!-- Google tag (gtag.js) -->
<script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-XXXXXXXXXX"></script>
<script>
window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || [];
function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);}
gtag('js', new Date());
gtag('config', 'G-XXXXXXXXXX');
</script>
You’ll need to paste this into your website’s header.
How to Add This Code to Your Website
You need to paste this into the header of your website. That just means the top part of your website’s code—don’t worry, there’s a plugin for that.
If you use WordPress (Insert Header and Footers plug-in):
- Install a plugin like Insert Headers and Footers
- Go to Plugins > Add New
- Search “Insert Headers and Footers” by WPCode or similar
- Click Install, then Activate
- Go to Settings > Insert Headers and Footers
- Paste the Google Analytics code into the Header box
- Click Save
That’s it—Google is now watching (in a good way).
If You Use WordPress (Site Kit plug-in):
Don’t want to mess with code? No problem.
Just install the Site Kit by Google plugin:
- Go to Plugins > Add New
- Search for “Site Kit by Google”
- Click Install then Activate
- Follow the setup steps—it connects Analytics (and other Google tools) automatically
Takes about 2 minutes, and you never have to touch a single line of code.
Other Website Builders (Wix, Squarespace, etc.)
Most modern platforms make it easy:
- Look for a “Marketing” or “Analytics” section in your settings.
- They usually ask for your Google tracking ID.
- Paste it in, save, done.
If unsure, search:
“How to connect Google Analytics to [your website builder]”
Or just ask us—we’re happy to help.
Why It Matters
Even if you only get a few visitors a day, it’s important to know what’s working and what’s not.
You wouldn’t fix pipes blindfolded—so don’t run your website blind either.