The First Steps to becoming a Google Partner are to watch three webinars: Introduction to Google Analytics, Installing the Google Analytics Tracking Code, and Working with Report Data.
In the blog series “How to Become a Google Partner”, I am going to provide you with my key takeaways from each lesson. I have realized that some lessons, such as the First Steps: Installing the Google Analytics Tracking Code, are a bit technical, but they are brief and informative. I recommend you watch Google’s presentation in order to get the most accurate installation steps.
First Steps: Installing the Google Analytics Tracking Code
The following image was taken from the Google Analytics IQ Lessons page.
Here are the nuggets I pulled from this lesson:
- Choose to copy the ‘asynchronous’ code because it allows your site to run at your fastest.
- Source Code language can be overwhelming for a new user. Familiarize yourself with Google Analytics language because it can only help you down the line. “UA-12345-1” is your unique Google Analytics Account Number; “12345” represents your main account number; “-1” is the property index.
- The tracking code should be placed on every page of your site that you want to track.
- 24-hour lag time. The first time I installed a tracking code, I was so excited to see results. Try to distract yourself for the next 24-hours because the spiders are crawling and data is on its way!
- Verify the installation by viewing your Google Analytics results after 24-hours. Another way to verify is by right clicking on your website pages and choosing View Page Source. Search for “ga.js” code. If you find the code, you have done your job correctly!
This lesson was a bit dry, but it is the key ingredient to becoming a Google Partner. Installing the code will allow you to track website activity and make informed decisions about your website’s content.
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