How To Add Google Analytics To Shopify & Use It?

While Shopify offers essential analytics features for optimizing and running a profitable e-commerce business, it may not cover all aspects required for informed decision-making.

To fill this gap, Google Analytics plays a vital role by providing all the valuable insights and data to optimize your store. Whether you’re new to Shopify or a seasoned seller, this guide on adding Google Analytics to Shopify is a must-read. 

In this guide, we will walk you through the steps of adding Google Analytics to Shopify. We’ll also cover essential steps for setting up Google Analytics and provide insights into key metrics to track. So, without further ado, let’s get started.

But, before moving further, let’s get a quick overview of Google Analytics for Shopify.

Google Analytics For Shopify: A Quick Overview 

Google Analytics is a powerful web analytics service that provides website owners with valuable data on their site traffic. It can be seamlessly integrated with Shopify and provides you with insightful data into your e-commerce site’s traffic, conversion rate, user behavior, user country, and many other crucial metrics.

You can make informed decisions, optimize your marketing strategies and campaigns, and improve the overall performance of your Shopify store with the help of these insights.

How To Add Google Analytics To Shopify?

Google Analytics is one of the best and most popular platforms, as it can provide more powerful insight than any other analytics tool. This tool helps analyze your store’s performance, customer behavior, and traffic location. 

Below are the steps that will help you add Google Analytics to Shopify:

1. Sign Up With Google Analytics

You must create a Google Account for your brand first and then sign up for a new Google Analytics account (if you don’t have one). It is a straightforward step; you just need to add your details to Google Analytics.

2. Create A GA4 Property.

After signing up, you will be asked to create a GA4 property. In Google Analytics, a property is similar to a profile in that you can create multiple properties to measure different stores or brands individually. You can associate particular websites with each property.  

Once done, Google Analytics 4 tags can be added to your Shopify store and connect your Google Ads account with your GA account.

Follow the below-mentioned steps to create a GA4 property:

• Look at the property column, and click on the “create a property” button
• Enter the name of the property and select the time zone and currency.
• Click next and choose the business size and category of the industry.
• Click next and choose the intent to use Google Analytics 4
• Now, click “Create and accept the Terms and Services and Data Processing Amendment.”.
• Click on “Continue” to add a data stream and begin data collection.

3. Add Google Analytics 4 tags.

If you have not installed a Google or Youtube channel, you must do so during the setup process for GA4 tags. Remember, you do not have to connect to the Google Merchant Center to complete the Google Analytics 4 tag process. 

Below are the steps that you must follow to add GA4 tags:

• Visit the Shopify admin panel, then go to the online store, then preferences.
• Click on “Megapixel here” in Google Analytics section.
• Click on Connect to your Google Account.
• Choose the TAG ID for the Google Analytics 4 property you want to connect with your Shopify Store.
• Click Connect to your Google Analytics 4 property.

Setting up tags in Google Analytics 4 will track specific e-commerce events automatically.

4. Connect Your Google Analytics Account With Your Google Ads account.

Linking a Google Analytics Account with Google Ads will help you analyze your potential or existing customers’ activity in your store. Below are the steps you need to follow to link GA accounts with Google Ads accounts:

• Visit the admin panel of Google Analytics, and navigate to the Analytics property you want to link.
• Press the “Google Ads Linking” option in the property column.
• Click on the new link group.
• Select the Google Ads Account you want to link, then hit the “Continue” button.
• Enter the title of the group link
• Turn on the link for each view of the property.
• If auto-tagging is already enabled in your account, skip to the next step. Otherwise, choose Advanced Setting, then select “Leave my auto-tagging settings as they are” to enable manual tag linking.
• At last, click Link accounts.
  

5. Connect Google Analytics with Shopify

After creating the property, you must connect your Shopify store with Google Analytics. You will find the text field with some HTML code on the next page. This will be your global site tag and provide an identifier to track your website.

Copy this code and navigate to Shopify’s admin panel. Now visit the online store, then preferences, paste this tracking code in the Google Analytics box, and save your changes.

Congratulations! Google Analytics has been successfully added to your Shopify store. After following these steps, you can make some basic configurations. 

Now it’s high time to jump into the setup steps:

How To Set Up Google Analytics

Adding Google Analytics to Shopify is not enough. You need to set up Google Analytics to harness its power. Below are the appropriate settings that you must make:

1. Setting Up Views In Google Analytics 

You can make several ‘views’ in your Google Analytics properties. These views apply different filters to the data that help analyze specific metrics. 

Remember, there is no pre-set view on GA that you can choose from. If you want to create a ‘view,’ visit the admin dashboard of Google Analytics and click the ‘Create view’ button in the far left column.

Here are three essential views that every e-commerce store owner should set up in Google Analytics:

Raw/Unfiltered View: This view displays an unfiltered representation of all your data. It is a backup in case your filtered views become too complex or produce unexpected results. 

Filtered/Custom View: Creating a view where you apply all your desired filters is recommended. To prevent your team members’ activity from skewing your data analysis, use the “filter internal traffic” filter.

Test View: Set up a view specifically for testing new filtering methods. This enables you to experiment without affecting your main data analysis view.

2. Choose Between Enhanced Or Basic eCommerce Settings.

If you want to unlock a wide range of valuable data unavailable in basic settings, you can switch to an enhanced e-commerce setting. Although enhanced e-commerce is a free service, beginners may find it challenging to set it up. With enhanced settings enabled, you can examine metrics such as how your customers enter the sales funnel, how they progress through it, your click-through rates, and more.

A basic e-commerce setting is ideal for beginners, but if you want to enhance your site’s potential and customer journey, you should shift to enhanced settings.

3. Building Reports

The report section in your Google Analytics panel lets you view a different data set in the same place. Building reports will allow you to track demography, location, acquisitions, and more to help you make more informed decisions.

4. Create A Goal Or Conversion Event.

Setting up goals in Universal Analytics lets you track overall site performance. Goals are a powerful way to measure crucial KPIs, such as which parts of a site are working well and which need updating. However, they only track visitor actions during a session, not the number of them. 

On the other hand, GA4 introduces conversion events in place of goals and measures events. 

But it doesn’t matter whether you’re tracking conversion events or goals; the metrics you should look at are mostly the same. The most important metrics to monitor when tracking goals or conversion events are purchases, add-to-cart actions, navigation to particular pages, and progress through the sales funnel.

What Analytics Comes Standard With Shopify?

Similar to Google Analytics, Shopify has its built-in analytics tool. What metrics you can track with Shopify Analytics depends on your chosen plan. For example, if you opt for its basic plan or any of the higher-tier plans, you can track and analyze the following metrics:

• Finance report – It will provide you with details like payment, fees, taxes, and more.
• Live view of site activity – In this metric, you can get sales data with a map representing the visitor’s current location.
• Sale analytics – Sale analytics lets you track the performance of your various channels and analyze product performance over time.
• Acquisition report – This report will help you track the source of your traffic, such as direct, organic, or referred. You can also identify from which social media platform and geographical location your customers are coming. 
• Analytic page – You can view key metrics like sales and orders about your online store across various sales channels.
• Product Analytic – You can get insights into your product’s performance over the last 90 days. In addition, you can also know who is buying which product and the selling pattern of that product.
• Inventory report – This report will help you track the percentage and quantity of inventory sold daily.
• Marketing report – This report will help you measure the effectiveness of your marketing campaign.

There are some more metrics available that you can track with Shopify analytics. You can get the complete list of metrics here.

Key Metrics To Know In Google Analytics

Metrics are the foundation of GA because they provide insight into the performance of your website. Below are the top key metrics to know in Google Analytics:

1. Behavior-Based Metrics

This metric focuses on a specific page rather than the whole website. You can get details like page views, bounce rates, average time on the page, and more with the help of behavior-based metrics.

2. Acquisition Metric

Acquisition metrics are crucial for entrepreneurs, as they help them know how visitors get to their websites. “All traffic” on the GA account provides you with details on different traffic channels. Google Analytics tracks traffic from organic search, paid search, referrals, and email campaigns.

3. Conversion-Based Traffic

Conversion-based traffic lets you track conversion goals. Below are the four types of goals that anyone can set under the ‘considerations’ tab in GA:  

• Destination
• Duration 
• Events
• Page or screen per session

What Metrics To Track With Google Analytics

Google Analytics allows anyone to track infinite metrics, making it difficult to determine which is best for them. Below is the top metric that every entrepreneur must track:

• Traffic: GA can analyze website traffic from two angles: session (total number of visitors) and user (unique visitors). 
• Traffic source: Know from which source your traffic comes to your website.
• Bounce rate: It is the percentage of visitors that arrive on a specific page of your website and immediately leave.
• Conversion rate: The conversion rate refers to the percentage of visitors who take a specific action. This could be filling out a form, purchasing a product, downloading an e-book, etc.
• Average time on the website: know the average time spent on your site by visitors.
• Mobile traffic: You can get data on the number of visitors visiting through their mobile devices.

This list is not finished here; there are some more essential metrics, like landing pages, referrals, and exit pages, that you can track using Google Analytics.

Differences Between Google Analytics And Shopify Analytics

Both Google Analytics and Shopify Analytics can help eCommerce businesses to track and analyze their online performance. While both provide detailed insights into sales data and user behavior, they have distinct functionalities and features that cater to different analytical needs.

Here are some key differences between Google Analytics and Shopify Analytics:

1. Integration and Data Collection: 

Google Analytics can be integrated with any website, including Shopify stores, by adding a tracking code. It collects data related to user behavior, conversion metrics, and website traffic.

Shopify Analytics is built with your Shopify store and specifically tracks eCommerce analytics. It provides data related to returns, payments, and orders.

2. eCommerce Tracking:

Shopify Analytics is tailored for eCommerce tracking, so it doesn’t need any kind of setup. You will get detailed reports on your customer’s behavior, orders, sales, and other metrics related to your Shopify store’s operations. Store owners can access data like average order value, customer lifetime value, conversation rate, and more.

Google Analytics also offers eCommerce tracking, but it needs additional configuration. You need to set up and enable eCommerce tracking properly. Once you configure it properly, it will provide comprehensive data on customer journeys, sales & product performance, and different shopping behaviors.

3. Usability and User Interface: 

Shopify Analytics has a user-friendly interface, and it is designed keeping in mind those store owners who don’t have technical expertise. All the key metrics are presented in an easy-to-understand format directly on the Shopify admin dashboard.

Google Analytics has a more complex interface with a steeper learning curve. It offers detailed data and customization options, which can overwhelm beginners. But if you invest time to learn these intricacies, then you will get deep insights into your business.

More On Shopify:

• Best Products To Sell On Shopify
• Best Shopify Themes For Clothing Stores
• How Much Does Shopify Take Per Sale
• How To Start A Shopify Store
• Shopify Launch Checklist

FAQs