How to Connect Google Analytics to Shopify

Learning how to connect Google Analytics to Shopify is very important to help you measure essential metrics from your online store. With Google Analytics, you will know your target audience better and understand their behavior to draw effective strategies that can bring more traffic to your pages and turn leads into customers.

Google Analytics provides you with the proper tools to know where your audience comes from, the percentage of access from mobile devices and computers, the age range, and much more.  Enjoy these tools to build your target audience profile, understand their buyer journey, and continuously enhance customer and user experience.

What Is Google Analytics#

Basically, we can define Google Analytics as a platform that collects very important data from websites, which includes online stores as well.  It provides the proper tools to understand how users interact with your pages.

Once you embed the Google Analytics code to a website, every time someone accesses it, Google Analytics will automatically gather information about the type of browser used, the device, and the operating system where the browser was opened. 

You can also know where the access came from, for example, if the person entered your website through a link on Instagram, via Google research, or an ad on a blog. 

Google Analytics will process all this information and gather them in reports to make it easier for you to read and interpret the data. You can choose the data you want to see and compare it with other metrics. You will have access to real-time reports which can be personalized according to your needs. 

Google Analytics allows you to know:

• Number of website accesses
• Source of access
• Average time spent on each page
• Which browsers were used to access your website
• Bounce rate
• Total number of pages viewed
• The average number of pages viewed per session
• Goal completions
• User age group
• Models of devices where the accesses came from

Why Is Google Analytics Important #

When you have an online store it's fundamental to know and comprehend your target audience's behavior. Based on the information gathered by Google Analytics when you connect it to Shopify, you can have a much more precise view of how people interact with your website, and draw the path they make until they complete a purchase on your store.

Once you understand that, you are able to develop a marketing plan that considers the particularities of your audience. A data-based marketing plan is much more effective because it's personalized according to your potential customers' needs, instead of guessing, you are using the information provided by Google Analytics. 

You can identify the weak points of your website, for example by seeing the journey users make when navigating through your website. If they often leave the online store on the section to finalize a purchase, this might indicate that you need to improve the check-out process. On the other hand, when users often go to your landing page and don't follow the call to action (CTA) this is a signal you need to improve it. 

It isn't only about learning how to connect Google Analytics to Shopify, the key here is using the information you will get to continuously improve your website, which will lead to more access, visibility increase, and more sales. It will be worth nothing if you install Google Analytics but don't enjoy the information to implement improvement. 

The ecommerce world is a very competitive one. When you sell online, you may be competing to drive attention to your store with thousands of websites from all around the world. Therefore, it's necessary to take action based on data to guarantee your audience will have a great customer experience.  

How to Connect Google Analytics to Shopify#

Knowing how to Connect Google Analytics to Shopify is simpler than you might think. It will take just a few steps to set everything up, and start enjoying its features. 

1. Certify You Haven't already Enabled Google Analytics #

The first to add Google Analytics to Shopify is by verifying if you haven't connected it yet. Because if you enable Google Analytics twice it can lead to inaccurate data. To check that, you need to log in to your Shopify account, click settings and follow the path: "Apps and sales channels", "online store", "open sales channels",  and "preferences".

You will see the Google Analytics section, there it needs to be written: "Paste your code from Google here". This means you haven't enabled Google Analytics yet and can proceed to the installation process. 

2. Create a Google Account#

To enjoy Google Analytics tools, whether it's on Shopify or any other website builder or ecommerce platform, you need to have a Google Account. If you use Gmail, you already have one. 

If not, access Google website, and follow the instructions to create your account. Once you have created your account, you will have to create your Google Analytics account, Google will guide you on this process that's very intuitive. 

3. Set Up Google Analytics#

Now, you need to connect Google Analytics to your website. Follow these steps to accomplish that: 

• Sign in to Google Analytics;
• In the property column, click on "create property";

• Name the property;
• Click on "Show advanced options";
• Select "Create a Universal Analytics property only";
• Click on "Next";
• Fill the required information about your business and website;
• Click on "Create".

Once you have finished those steps, you will receive the Global Site Tag to be added on Shopify, so Google Analytics can gather your ecommerce data.

4. Enable Google Analytics on Shopify#

Now, you need to go to your Shopify account and add Google Analytics to your website:

• Log in to Shopify
• Click on "Online store" and go to "preferences";
• In the Google Analytics sections, paste the Google Site Tag.

5. Turn On Ecommerce Tracking#

To finalize setting up Google Analytics, it's necessary to enable Google ecommerce tracking too, so you can have access to resources focused on online stores. There are two options to choose from basic ecommerce tracking or enhanced ecommerce tracking. The first one will provide only transaction and revenue data, while the second option gives you additional information about visitor behavior. 

To turn on basic ecommerce tracking, you need to:

• Go to your Google Analytics account, click on "Admin"; 
• Select "Ecommerce Settings"
• Turn on the "Enable Ecommerce" option.

To turn on enhanced ecommerce tracking you have to: 

• Enter your Shopify account;
• Go to the "Apps and sales channel", and click on "Online store";
• Select "Open sales channel", then "Preferences";
• In the Google Analytics section, click on "Use Enhanced Ecommerce", and "Save;
• Enter your Google Analytics account, and go to "Ecommerce settings";
• Enable enhanced ecommerce reporting, and save the alterations.

Enjoy Google Analytics Tools with Shopify#

After learning how to connect Google Analytics to Shopify, and adding it to your website, take a time to explore the features offered by this platform. Google Analytics has an intuitive dashboard that is easy to navigate and will help you to compare and analyze important data. Set up the main key performance indicators, and keep track of them through Google Analytics. This will be a great asset to you and your team.