Google Analytics | WordPress.com Support

You can add Google Analytics to any WordPress.com site with an eligible plan. This guide will show you how to connect your site to Google Analytics.

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WordPress.com Stats vs Google Analytics

WordPress.com Stats

WordPress.com has built-in stats tracking with reports that offer quick, at-a-glance views of the traffic on your site. New posts, likes, and comments are shown alongside visitor activity, so it’s easier to make sense of the numbers.

Google Analytics

Google Analytics includes advanced features to complement WordPress.com stats. Funnel reports help track the path visitors take through your site, and goal conversion lets you measure how visitors complete specific tasks (such as reaching a product page or contact form). If you already use Google Analytics with other projects, you’ll be able to see all your stats in one place.

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How to Enable Google Analytics on WordPress.com

Sign Up With Google Analytics

To get started, you’ll need to sign up on the Google Analytics site. Sign in or Sign up to get started.

If you already used Google Analytics with other sites, you can create a new account in your existing Google account. In your Google Analytics account, click Admin and then click Create Account to create a new profile for the site you want to add Analytics to.

Be sure to fill in the “Account Name” for your new Google Analytics account. You will see some data sharing options under “Account Data Sharing Settings.” By default, all four Data Sharing settings are selected. You can read the description for each setting to decide if you would like to opt out. When you’re ready, click Next.

You will then be taken to the Property Setup:

Google Analytics Property Setup screen

On the Property Setup screen, fill in the following details:

1. Property Name: Enter a name for your property, such as your site title.
2. Reporting Time Zone: Choose the timezone you want the reporting of your website to be in.
3. Currency: Choose the currency of the location you normally operate in.

On the next screen, fill in your business information and click Create:

A pop-up will appear with “Google Analytics Terms of Service Agreement” and “Additional Terms Applicable to Data Shared with Google”. You will need to click the checkbox for both and accept the terms to continue.

You will then be presented with this screen asking you to choose a property:

Choose Web and insert your website’s domain. Make sure to keep https:// selected. Type something in the Stream Name box (this can be your site’s title again) and click Create Stream.

Google Analytics web stream setup screen

Get Your Measurement ID

After following the steps in the previous section, you will be presented with this screen that provides you with your Measurement ID.

Click the copy icon next to your Measurement ID to copy it to your clipboard.

If you already closed this screen, or need to find your Measurement ID again at a later time, follow these steps:

1. In Google Analytics, go to Admin by clicking the gear ⚙️ icon in the lower right corner of the main Google Analytics dashboard.
2. Under Property, click on Setup Assistant.
3. Go to Tag installation.
4. Click on the Web tab.
5. Click on your site.
6. Copy the Measurement ID that looks something like G-A1B2C3D4E5.

On Your WordPress.com Site

Copy the measurement ID and go to Tools → Marketing → Traffic.

Head to My Sites → Tools → Marketing → Traffic and scroll down until you find the Google Analytics section.

Paste the entire ID you copied from the Google Analytics site into the “Google Analytics Measurement ID” box. After you click “Save Settings,” your site will be connected to Google Analytics and start sending data to Google.

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Advanced Options for Shop Owners

This section of the guide applies to sites with the WordPress.com Business or eCommerce plan. If your site has one of our legacy plans, this feature is available on the Pro plan.

If you have activated the WooCommerce plugin on your site, you will have additional analytics options for your store.

The Shopping Analysis reports give you insight into shopping activity: product page views, adding and removing products from shopping carts, initiated, abandoned, and completed transactions.

– Google Analytics

1. In Google Analytics, navigate to Admin and choose the account for which you want to enable Enhanced Ecommerce.
2. Click Ecommerce Settings and toggle both Ecommerce Settings and Enhanced Ecommerce Settings to On.
3. Return to your WordPress account and visit Settings → Traffic. 
4. Toggle the settings below the Google Analytics label on to track (or off not to track) features like add to cart events, product impressions, and the checkout process.

You can read more about enabling Enhanced Ecommerce Tracking, as well as learn about the benefits of this enhanced tracking.

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Frequently Asked Questions

I connected Google Analytics but I’m not seeing visits reported. Is it working?

Most Google Analytics reports do not work in real time. Reports are normally delayed by at least a few hours. Use Real Time reports in Google Analytics to monitor activity on your site as it happens. The following Google help page will show you how to check whether your tracking code has been installed properly or not.

If you are not seeing visits reported after 24-48 hours, and you know you have had visitors based on your WordPress.com Stats, go back to your Google Analytics dashboard and check that your domain is spelled correctly, does not contain www, and matches your primary domain. If it meets all of those criteria, generate a new Tracking ID. Enter the new ID on your Settings → Analytics screen as outlined above.

The data from WordPress.com stats and Google Analytics doesn’t match. Is something broken?

WordPress.com stats and Google Analytics use different methods to identify and track activity on your site. You can expect Google Analytics and WordPress.com stats to always show slightly different totals for your visits, views, etc. However, you will be able to notice the same trends and patterns in both systems.

Where can I get support for using Google Analytics?

Google Analytics is a very popular website analytics service, and you can find plenty of information about it in books, workshops, blog posts, online forums and more. We suggest you start with Google’s help center for Analytics, and specifically the getting started guide. You can also check out the Google Analytics Solutions Community, where you can interact with other Analytics users.