Problem is, it’s so damn difficult to try and figure out when you’re just starting out because there’s SO much you can do with it. One of my first frustrations with it was the fact that I couldn’t determine which clicks and visits were my own?

Obviously, you’re more interested in who is visiting your site, where they came from, and what they did to find you. You’re not interested in how you found your own website.

So here’s a little video I put together which hopefully you’ll find useful. It will show you how to set up a filter on Google Analytics so you don’t track your own movements and visits to your own website.

If you haven’t already set up Google Analytics to run on your blog, here’s how: How To Install Google Analytics On A WordPress Blog Without Using A Plugin

How To Set Up A Google Analytics Filter

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It allows blog owners to do such things as:

• Discover how your site visitors found your blog
• View how many visitors your blog receives each day
• View areas on your blog where people have clicked
• . . . and a ton more.

If you blog, it’s inevitable that you are going to try Google Analytics at some point. It really is a great analytics program; however, I must admit that it can seem quite complex at times and if you’re new to the program and you might feel a bit intimidated. In the near future I’ll try to post some examples on how to use the program.

When it comes to plugging Google Analytics into your blog, you have a couple of options available to you.

1. Download and use a plugin
2. Copy and paste code into your blog’s footer file

Why I don’t like plugins

Simply put, plugins slow down the load time of your website and also pose security risks which could leave your blog open to intruders. Even if the plugin is secure today, it might not be when a newer version of WordPress is released or if the plugin author abandons the program and stops issuing updates.

In my opinion, the best way (and just as easy) to install this is to simply copy and paste Google’s supplied code into your theme’s footer file. That’s it, no plugin, done and move on.

How To Set Up Google Analytics Without A Plugin

Ok, let’s move on to the tutorial. If you have any questions, feel free to comment below.

Watch The How-To Video

Step 1: Sign up for a new Google Analytics account.

Step 2: Copy the JavaScript code.

During the sign up process you’ll be asked things like your name, email address, etc. At some point, you’ll come to a page that looks like the image seen below. You will will need to copy this code and paste it into your blog.

As a side note, even if you used a plugin to install Google Analytics, you would still need to copy and paste this code at some point; so plugins don’t necessarily make things any easier.

Step 3: Pasting the code into your footer.php file

At this point, log into your WordPress blog and navigate to your theme’s editor by going to Dashboard -> Appearance –> Editor.

Then on the right you should see a list of your theme’s files. Click on the Footer.php file.

Paste the code you copied from Google Analytics just above the ending </body> tag.

Click Update File

And that’s it. No plugins and no worries about updates.

To view your site’s statistics now, log into your Google Analytics account and view your stats. It may take a day or so to start receiving your traffic stats, so if you don’t see it right away, just be patient.

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I was scanning through our company’s website stats the other day and noticed quite a few visits came from direct traffic.

This typically means either these visitors typed in our web address in their web browser’s address bar or they have our site bookmarked.

At first glance this may appear to be useless information regarding your website and how people find you, but realize this: This is what you want to see!

Yahoo! doesn’t want to see people are finding their website through your website, neither does Google. What they want is every time someone thinks “I need to search for this on the Web,” they need to go to our site.

No referrers, no links, no tweets.

What is it then they strive for (and the reason why I like seeing direct traffic in my stats)?

Brand recognition!

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