One of the most integral and essential elements that any website or blog should have, is some way to track your website statistics, traffic, and find information about your website visitors.  There are hundreds of different programs available for you to use, however, I highly recommend using Google’s free service – Google Analytics.

How do I get started using Google Analytics?

1. To get started using Google Analytics on your website or blog, simply go to the Google Analytics page and either sign in with your existing Google account, or sign up for a Google Account if you don’t have one.
2. Once you have signed up, you will want to log in and select the “Add Website Profile” link that is toward the bottom of the page.
3. Since you are going to be setting up a new domain on Google Analytics you will want to choose the option that says “Add a Profile for a new domain”.
4. Type in your domain name in the box provided.
5. Select your time zone and click “Finish”
6. You will then be given a piece of code.  This piece of code will need to be inserted on your website located immediately before the code that says </body>.  If you are not familiar with how to access or change the code on your website, simply email the person that is maintaining your website the code that Google Analytics provided.
7. Once the piece of code has been installed, you can then login and view to see whether or not it tracking was installed correctly by clicking “Edit” next to your domain name on the main Analytics interface.  Once you have click on “Edit” you should see a message near the top of the screen that says whether or not Analytics is receiving the data.
8. You’re finished!
9. When you want to check your traffic statistics and information about your website, you can simply log into Google Analytics and view the information.