Google Analytics shows hundreds of numbers. You need five: how many people came, where from, which pages they saw, how many did the thing you want, and how all of that changes month to month.
Everything else is noise until those five are stable.
Not sure it is measuring correctly?
Request a free measurement check and we will tell you whether calls, forms and orders are being recorded properly.
How to set it up in 20 minutes
- Create an account at analytics.google.com using a business email, not a personal one.
- Create a property for your site and get the measurement code.
- Add the code to your site — on WordPress, via a plugin or your theme.
- Link it to Search Console. It takes two clicks and doubles the value of both.
- Check it works from your phone, in the real-time report.
Almost everyone skips step 4. Without it, you cannot see which searches bring people to you.
One important note: if you have a cookie banner, Analytics must load after consent. What exactly applies is in our guide to GDPR and your website.
The five reports that matter
| Report | What it tells you | Where to find it |
|---|---|---|
| Audience overview | How many came, how long they stayed, on what device | Reports → Overview |
| Traffic acquisition | Where they came from: Google, social, direct, referrals | Acquisition → Traffic acquisition |
| Pages and screens | Which pages get read most | Engagement → Pages |
| Key events | How many did the thing you want | Engagement → Events |
| Search Console queries | Which words brought them | Acquisition → Search Console |
Start with the second. “Where they come from” determines where your time and money should go.
How to define what counts as success
Without this step, Analytics measures visits — which tells you nothing useful.
Set as key events the actions that make you money:
- Phone taps from mobile.
- Contact form submissions.
- Clicks on email or on WhatsApp/messaging links.
- Completed orders, if you run an e-shop.
- Clicks on “directions” or your address.
With those defined, you can answer the only question that matters: what each customer cost you, by channel. Comparing channels is covered in our guide to Google Ads vs SEO.
What the numbers mean
| Term | What it means | What is normal |
|---|---|---|
| Users | Unique people, not visits | — |
| Sessions | Visits; one user can have several | — |
| Engaged sessions | Visits with meaningful interaction | 50%–70% of the total |
| Average duration | How long they stayed | 40 sec – 2 min for a service site |
| Conversion rate | How many took the action | 1%–3% in e-commerce, 2%–8% in services |
The ranges are indicative and vary hugely by sector. Their value is not comparison with others — it is comparison with yourself last month.
Which numbers to ignore
Three that grab attention and do not help.
- Total page views. They rise with anything, including the wrong audience.
- Average time on a single page. A “Contact” page at 15 seconds is a success, not a failure.
- Visitors from irrelevant countries. Usually automated traffic. Do not celebrate it, do not worry about it.
And one to check once: if direct traffic is above 60%, something is usually not being tracked correctly.
Want us to set measurement up properly?
Send us your site’s address and we will check the code, the events and cookie consent.
Analytics or Search Console?
You need both, because they show different things.
| Google Analytics | Search Console | |
|---|---|---|
| What it measures | What visitors do inside your site | How Google sees you before the click |
| Shows | Channels, pages, conversions | Searches, positions, impressions |
| Useful for | Deciding where to invest | Deciding what content to write |
| Cost | Free | Free |
The simple rule: Search Console tells you what to write, Analytics tells you whether it worked.
How to use Search Console for keyword research is described in our SEO for beginners guide.
The 15-minute monthly review
Once a month, on the same day, write five numbers into a file.
| Number | Where to find it |
|---|---|
| Users for the month | Overview |
| Users from organic search | Traffic acquisition |
| Conversions (calls + forms) | Events |
| Top 5 pages | Pages |
| Top 10 terms by impressions | Search Console |
After three months you have a trend. The trend answers questions no snapshot can: is the blog working? did the campaign pay off? did something break after that update?
And if the numbers are disappointing, the problem is often not traffic but the site itself — see the ten mistakes.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a developer to set it up?
Not for the basics. For proper conversion tracking on an e-shop, or complex events, it helps.
Why do the numbers differ from other tools?
Every tool measures differently, and cookie consent affects what gets recorded. Pick one tool as your baseline and stay with it.
Does the cookie banner affect my data?
Yes. A portion of visitors is not recorded if they decline. That is normal and lawful.
How far back can I see data?
From the day the code was installed. That is why it is worth adding even if you do not plan to look at it immediately.
Can I see who visited my site?
Not individual people. Analytics shows aggregate data, not identities.
The first step today
If you do not have Analytics, install it now — data starts the day the code goes in, not retrospectively.
If you have it but never look, open one report: where your visitors came from last month. It takes five minutes and usually overturns an assumption you were carrying.
Next step
Book a free 30-minute call with the team at The Dev Alley. We will set up the conversions that actually matter for your business.