This post is the second in a 4-part series on connecting your blog to Google Analytics. In the first post, we walked you through the process of creating a Google Analytics account step-by-step. You should do that prior to following the steps below, and you should also have your Google Analytics Tracking ID handy to copy & paste into your Blogger settings.
Below are step-by-step instructions for getting your Blogger blog properly connected to Google Analytics so that you can begin measuring, segmenting, tracking, and experimenting to grow and nurture your audience.
Connecting Google Analytics to Blogger
Since Blogger is a Google service, this setup is particularly easy. Follow these steps to connect your Blogger account to Google Analytics.
- Login to your Blogger account at https://www.blogger.com/home
- On the left side navigation menu, choose “Settings”, which is the very last item on the menu.
- Under the Settings menu, click “Other”
- Then scroll to the very bottom of that page, where you will see the “Google Analytics” section. Copy that code you got from the Google Analytics account setup, and paste it in the box.
- Click “Save settings” at the top right of the page, and you’re done. Wait 24 hours for your Google Analytics account and Blogger account to sync up.
Since Blogger is Google’s blogging platform, this process is very simple, and you only have to do it once. However, please note that Blogger does come with its own “stats” package (shown below). So why would you want to connect Blogger to Google Analytics? That’s a great question, and it has a straightforward answer that will create several more questions that only Google can answer. Unfortunately, Google does not officially and directly address this issue. The answer is that Google Analytics and Blogger’s “stats” will rarely, if ever, agree. Usually, Blogger’s stats are inflated, sometimes even double the numbers that Google Analytics shows.
Here’s a good discussion on the matter, which is summarized by the following statement: “blogger stats and analytics are not the same and do not “talk” to each other.” That’s one reason we recommend using Google Analytics. The main reason is that Blogger’s stats, in addition to not agreeing with Analytics, are very simple, and don’t allow you to do any sort of comparison or segmenting.