How to Install Google Analytics to Your Blog

By Leslie Poston from Social Media Metrics For Dummies

If you don't already have Google Analytics tracking metrics for you on your blog or site, you can quickly and easily install it. Installation takes only a minute and is completely painless.

First, grab your Google Analytics ID and write it somewhere. It's easy to find. Just log into Google Analytics and from your dashboard and click the gears icon. You should see your ID next to your URL on the page that comes up. It's the number that starts with UA-.

WordPress is by far the most popular blog solution right now, and the most accessible (and freeIf you have a WordPress installation on your own hosted blog or site, a quick and simple plug-in does all the installation dirty work for you. To use it, simply do the following:

Log in to your WordPress blog.
In the left column of your dashboard, click Add Next next to the word Plugins heading.
In the Search For Plugins area of the new window that opens, type "Google Analytics for WordPress".
In the search results, look for the plug-in authored by Joost de Valk.
Click the words Install Now below the plug-in title (Google Analytics for WordPress).
Confirm that you want to install the plug-in.
After the Installation indicator lets you know that you're finished, click the words Activate Plugin.
Follow the instructions for setting up the plug-in.

You must enter your website Analytics ID (the number on the Google Analytics Dashboard that starts with a UA- next to your site URL).

You're all set and ready to start crunching data from your WordPress blog!