how to add google analytics to shopify

Google Analytics is a very powerful tool for your online store, and you need to have it properly set up. Besides giving you information about your website's stats, you can also see what pages are performing best, what your rankings are, and of course, how people find your website.

By knowing what pages are performing better, where your visitors are and how they interact with your website, you have all the tools you need to optimize your marketing funnel and improve your conversion rates.

Why You Need Google Analytics?

1. Measure the effectiveness of your campaigns

You need to know if your ad campaigns are reaching the right audience, and by paying close attention to your analytics, you can figure out data about your visitor's location, the way they found your website, and the time they spend on your website. Above everything, you can also find out what their interests are.

2. Improve your conversion rates

In your analytics menu, you will be able to see what your bounce rates are and make a plan to improve them. In general, high bounce rates mean that your visitors didn't find what they needed, so you need to work on the quality of your content.

3. See what your visitors are looking for

Using the "Site Search" tab in your Google Analytics screen, you can find out what people are searching for, how many of them searched for the same thing, and how many unique searches you had in a specific time frame. This can help you create targeted content for your visitors, and your conversion rates will improve.

4. Have access to real-time stats

The best thing about Google Analytics is the fact that you can see who is visiting your website in real-time. This can help you get an idea of where your visitors live and what are the times they interact with your website. By sending ad campaigns in that timeframe, you can increase the number of people entering your marketing funnel.

Of course, you need to use Google Analytics along with your Shopify store. Even though all the codes may lead you thinking that it's a hard process, it's actually very easy thanks to the integrations Shopify is offering.

We suggest to install both Universal and GA4

Google use the old version (Universal Analytics) & the new version released in 2020 (GA4). Both versions should be installed with Shopify but Universal is more important currently. The universal method is integrated into checkout pages by Shopify's built-in GA entry.

GA4 unfortunately has not been integrated into Shopify's platform yet, so we need to install this manually, but it cannot track Ecommerce information on checkout pages. This is why we suggest to always install both versions as the old Universal version tracks the checkout Ecommerce pages & info.

Universal Google Analytics is the most important for Shopify currently, GA4 is second priority.

Universal Analytics	Google Analytics 4
Older version of Analytics which has a native integration into Shopify's platform which tracks checkout pages.	New version of analytics since Q4 2020. Only problem currently with this version is Shopify have not created a native integration method for this. Shopify block access to checkout pages unless you have the Shopify Plus plan, which costs around $2000/month. So this means when you install code into the theme.liquid file, you cannot track checkout pages.

How To Add Universal Google Analytics To Shopify

1. Create your Universal Google Analytics code if you haven't yet

Skip to number 2 if you have a universal code already.

Go the gear icon "Admin" in the bottom left. Then "Create Property".

Click "Show advanced options". This will open up the section to create a universal property.

Enter your website domain. If you haven't created a Google Analytics 4 property yet, you can keep the first bullet point selected where it says "create both a Google Analytics 4 and a Universal Analytics property".

If you have already created a GA4 property, then select the second bullet point saying " Create a Universal property only".

2. Find your Universal Google Analytics code

After setting up your Universal property, you will want to go to your Google Analytics dashboard and find your "Admin" screen. From there, click on "Tracking info," where another menu will open. Next, you will want to open the "Tracking code" tab and copy your ID.

Please make sure you have selected the Universal Analytics property for this. If the tracking info doesn't show, you are not in the Universal property.

3. Add your tracking ID to Shopify & enable Ecommerce

Open a new tab or window then go to the Shopify dashboard and open the "Preferences" tab.

You need to add your Google Analytics tracking ID (example – UA-00000000-0) in the "Google Analytics account" field. Your universal ID always begins with UA.

Currently in Q3 2021, Shopify seems to have written "You must upgrade to the latest version of Google Analytics in order to use Enhanced Ecommerce." This doesn't make sense because they still only accept the old universal analytics. Just place the universal analytics code in there and you will be able to enable enhanced eCommerce.

Then tick the "Use enhanced ecommerce" setting and click save.

4. Enable Ecommerce Tracking in Google Analytics

In this step, you need to return to the Admin screen of your Google Analytics console and click on "Ecommerce Settings".

This step is very straightforward and you only need to move the slider from "Off" to "On," and then save your settings.

After completing this step, you can go back to step 2 and check the "Use Enhanced Ecommerce" box under your tracking ID.

How To Add Google Analytics 4 to Shopify

1. Open the GA4 Assistant

If you have already created the GA4 property in the Universal method, skip to number 5.

From Google Analytics, go to "Admin" and select "GA4 Setup Assistant".

2. Create a New GA4 Property

When you reach the setup menu, you'll need to create a new GA4 property.

3. Complete the Setup Process

Click the "Create Property" button.

4. Open Your GA4 Property

5. Access the Tag Installation Tab

You need to click on the "Tag installation" tab in order to get your code and add it to Shopify.

If you have skipped to 5. from 1. because you already have GA4:

If you can't find this section the analytics dashboard, go to "Admin", then go to the drop-down under "Property" and choose your GA4 property. GA4 properties do NOT begin with UA.

Then click on "Setup Assistant". You will find the tag installation instructions in here.

6. Select Your Property

7. Copy Your Global Site Tag

Use the copy button in the top right corner.

8. Open the Shopify Theme Code

Open up your Shopify dashboard in a new tab or window.

9. Add the GA4 Tag in Your Store's Code

You need to paste the GA4 analytics code underneath <head>, otherwise, it won't work. Remember to hit the save button when you're done.

Even though it's very easy to add Google Analytics to Shopify, Google Analytics 4 is a little more complicated. Hopefully, we'll have full support for it in the near future.

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