What is Google Analytics?
Google Analytics is for keeping track of how people use your site. You can use this data to make more informed decisions about website design, email campaigns, or your target audiences.
Data examples:
- How many people visit and when
- How they got to your site
- Where they’re located
- Which device they’re using
This is just the beginning—Google Analytics offers a lot of options to answer your questions about your site.
Google Analytics Options at OSU
All centrally managed OSU Drupal 7 and 10 websites come with Google Analytics already. Check the list of all OSU Drupal sites to see if your website is one of them. If not, you'll need to contact your web administrator as your site isn't centrally managed.
Drupal
- Request access to the university-wide Google Analytics account that is already installed on most websites here at OSU.
- Your OSU Google account will be added to view the university-wide account. Here's how to log in once you've been given access.
- You'll need to filter the data in order to see it only for your domain.
- Create your own Google Analytics account and add the measurement ID to your site. There are instructions below for Drupal 7 and Drupal 10 on how to add the measurement ID.
- This option will give you the most autonomy and control, but also requires more knowledge and expertise as you'll need to manage your own departmental level account. The central University Marketing office is unable to provide support for individual departments accounts beyond how to add the measurement ID to Drupal, which is a unique environment to OSU. There are learning resources if you want to learn more about Google Analytics.
- Your data collection will begin when you add the measurement ID to your website and is not retroactive.
Logging into Google Analytics
Once you have been given access to the university-wide analytics account, you'll log in with your OSU Google account.
If you don't see the Oregon State University – Core > University-wide-GA4 property or are prompted to create an Analytics account, check the upper right hand corner to verify you are using your OSU Google account. If you have logged into other Google accounts on your browser, Google Analytics it will not display the correct properties.
How to see only your data in the University-wide account
After you have logged into the university-wide Google Analytics account, you'll need to narrow down the data displayed to just your website. By default, it shows data from all OSU websites.
Adding the GA4 Measurement ID to a Drupal 7 Website
After you have created a GA4 property you need to add the measure ID to your Drupal website. You do not need to follow this process if you are using the university-wide Google Analytics account. You need to be an architect in the site to update. Contact Digital Experience if you need more permissions to your site.
The Google Analytics module has been turned on for all centrally hosted Drupal websites. That is where an individual department or unit's GA4 measurement ID should be added.
Adding the GA4 Measurement ID to a Drupal 10 Website
After you have created a GA4 property you need to add the measure ID to your Drupal website. You do not need to follow this process if you are using the university-wide Google Analytics account.
If your website has been updated to Drupal 10, then you'll need to follow these instructions. You need to be either have the site configuration or architect role to add a GA4 measurement ID.
Google Analytics 4
Universal Analytics (UA) stopped collecting data on July 1, 2023. Its replacement is Google Analytics 4 (GA4).
The university-wide property has been updated to Google Analytics 4. We turned on GA4 on February 17th, 2023.
Anyone who had access to to the university-wide UA property now has access to the GA4 property.
If you are accessing the university-wide Google Analytics account, then you do not need to add any measurement ID to your site.
Google Tag Manager (GTM)
If you are running digital advertising and want to measure the success of your ads via pixels or closely track form submissions, you can use Google Tag Manager (GTM).
There is a university-wide GTM container used for central marketing purposes only. However, individual units can create their own GTM for their own marketing efforts and add it to their Drupal website.
Google Tag Manager is a complex platform that requires knowledge in the areas of digital advertising and web development. The learning resources listed on this page have tutorials and background information to get you started.
If you add your Google Analytics via GTM, then don't add it to the site using the steps listed above. The tag will fire twice and all your numbers will double.
Here are the steps to add a GTM container to your website.
Learning Resources
- Analytics Help: includes documentation and step by step instructions for GA4 Analytics and Universal Analytics
- SkillShop: training for Google Analytics 4 from Google
- LinkedIn Learning available to active OSU faculty, staff, and students. They have Google Analytics courses and Digital Marketing courses
- Loves Data: excellent website and YouTube channel that provides step by step instruction for analytics tasks
- Analytics Mania: another excellent YouTuber who provides thorough tutorials
- A demo account from Google for a low-stakes testing environment
- Google Analytics is tied in with SEO (Search Engine Optimization), so Moz's Beginner's Guide to SEO can be helpful
WordPress
The university-wide Google Analytics accounts runs on some of the WordPress blogs produced by https://blogs.oregonstate.edu/. It will be updated for GA4 for only the OSU branded themes, Branch, Sapling, Magazine, Pine, OSU Standard. If you opt to use a non-branded theme, you need to manage your own Google Analytics.
If you want your own analytics account for a blog, you have 2 options:
- JetPack plugin for analytics data. It isn’t Google Analytics, but it still collects similar data.
- You need to create your own WordPress account. The setup guide will walk you through all the steps required.
- Create your own Google Analytics account and use Google’s Site Kit Plugin for WordPress. Google has written up documentation on how to setup Site Kit (skip the section about installing. We have already installed the plug in for you).
To configure either of these options, you need to be an administrator of the blog.
If you are using the existing Google Analytics plugin, you need to update to GA4 and enter your new GA4 analytics into the Site Kit Plugin. The existing Google Analytics plugin doesn’t accept GA4 tracking IDs.
How to check if you are using the old Google Analytics plugin
- Log into your WordPress site at https://blogs.oregonstate.edu/ with your ONID username and password.
- The Google Analytics plugin is located in the left-hand sidebar menu under Settings > Google Analytics.
- Find the field for Site Tracking Code.
- If you have a tracking ID in that field that starts with UA, you are using the old version of Google Analytics and need to update to Google Analytics 4.
- You also want to use the Site Kit Plugin to add Google Analytics to your site. It will walk you through all the necessary steps.