Friday, January 4, 2013

How Do I Set Up Google Analytics for HubPages?

Google Analytics is a great tool if you would like to delve deeper into your readers' behavior. Setting up Google Analytics on your HubPages subdomain is straightforward when executed from the Earnings Section of My Account.
What follows is a guide to starting the setup process, as well as an overview of the entire account creation flow.

Visit My Account > Earnings > Settings

  1. Under the Earnings section of My Account, visit the Settings tab.
  2. Scroll down to the Reporting Settings box and click the "get started" button next to Google Analytics.
  3. Follow the instructions on that page.
For a general walk-through of the signup process, read on!

Step 1: Create Your Account

  1. Visit the Analytics homepage: Visit Google Analytics. Google Analytics requires a Google Account, so if you do not have a Google Account already, you will need to create one.
  2. Follow their directions to create an account

Sign up

Step 2: Enter Website Information

We recommend the following settings:
  • Account Name: HubPages
  • Website's URL: YOURSUBDOMAIN.hubpages.com
  • Time zone country or territory: United States
  • Time zone: (GMT-08:00) Pacific Time
You can use a different time zone country or time zone if you like, but keep in mind that the data we report at HubPages is based on Pacific Time.
You will also be prompted to select your data sharing settings. Select the sharing settings with which you are most comfortable.
When you are finished entering this information, have read the Google Analytics Terms of Service, and agree to the terms and conditions, click the "create account" button.

Enter your general information

Step 3: Finish Account Setup

  1. Copy the Tracking ID- it should look something like UA-123456-01 (Note: At the bottom of the page, there is an option to email yourself their instructions for convenient reference at a later date).
  2. Ignore the "what are you tracking" and "paste this code on your site" sections.
  3. At the bottom of the page, click "Save."
  4. Now it's time to connect this account with your HubPages account!
You may notice on this page that under "Tracking Status" it says "Tracking not installed." You must proceed to My Account > Earnings > Settings > Reporting Settings and submit your Tracking ID for this action to be complete. There may be a delay of up to 48 hours after submitting the Tracking ID before your Analytics account status will change.

Copy your Tracking ID

Step 4: Add Your Google Analytics ID to Your Earnings Settings Page

  1. Visit My Account > Earnings > Settings.
  2. Click "get started" next to Google Analytics in the Reporting Settings section.
  3. Paste the Tracking ID into the text box.
Remember, you can always go back and find the Tracking ID by visiting your Google Analytics account. Click "save." Now you're set!
Connecting Google Analytics with HubPages
Connecting Google Analytics with HubPages

Google Webmaster Tools

Once you have your Google Analytics set up, you can collect even more data on your Hubs by linking your Analytics account to Google's Webmaster Tools. Check out our helpful guide on how to do this!

Step 5: Have Fun!

Google Analytics can be a very helpful tool and we hope you find it useful. Be warned that the page view and referrer data from Google Analytics is never going to match up precisely with what we report on HubPages; the method they use to collect data is different, so you should expect discrepancies.

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