Table of Contents
What is Google Analytics?
Google Analytics is an available tool from Google that analyzes the performance of your website and generates valuable results related to it. Google uses data collected from websites in cookies, browser code, and JavaScript code to analyze various parameters related to your website. For example, the tool tracks the number of visits, length of stay, traffic source, keywords used, and mobile-optimized type to analyze and gain insights into page traffic performance.
Google Analytics uses JavaScript code on the website to track users from when they enter your website to when they leave. The collected data is presented in various formats, such as graphs, pie charts, and other statistical representations, to understand the website’s performance in attracting customers.
The 3 Main Steps that are Performed by the tool are:
- Collection of Data
- Processing the collected data into an Understandable Format
- Generating the Reports
Main Features of Google Analytics
Google Analytics includes many features that make it popular among other alternatives. Some of these features include:
- Traffic Report: Reports the number of people who visit the website during a given period.
- Conversion Tracking: This metric measures how many people go from visitors to customers.
- Keyword Referrals: This metric determines which keywords are most commonly used to search for a page and its SEO ranking.
- Third-Party Referrals: This shows all third-party websites that have sent traffic to your website.
- Dashboard Generations: Reports are generated based on all the data collected.
In terms of this article, the data generated by integrating Google Analytics with Instagram traffic helps provide valuable information and influences a product’s development and promotion cycle. For example, Google Analytics allows you to calculate the ROI (return on investment) on the page or product. This critical information gives the company a wealth of self-assessment options and an idea of where to increase investments to maximize profits.
Also Read: What is Buying Backlinks? – A Complete Guide
What is Instagram?
Instagram is known to be one of the best popular social media platforms ever created. It is a platform that permits users to share images and also comment on their thoughts on an image. Facebook developed it in 2012. This stage allows users to upload, view, and edit photos and short videos for other users to view. In addition, the Instagram app allows users to add captions to their images and use location-based hashtags and geotags in the content they share.
Why Doesn’t Instagram Traffic Show Up in Google Analytics?
Instagram traffic doesn’t show up in Google Analytics because when you open a link from the mobile application, Instagram opens the link openly on your mobile browser. Therefore, it affects the link and all traffic ending up in the ‘direct’ category of your analytics profile.
We won’t get too deep into the why. The explanation is more important for moving forward and also what we’re focus on for this post. Whether new or seasoned with Google Analytics, you want to reduce the amount of ‘direct’ traffic you see in your analytics dashboard. It’s like a blindfold.
Why Should you Track Instagram Traffic?
Instagram is one of the most standard and efficient ways of creating a presence for your business. With nearly a billion monthly users, it’s easy to find your audience and build a community around your brand.
It’s consider the most use platform to share videos and images, and also tracking your key metrics is essential as a company. You can create optimized content strategies that work best with your follower base.
For many businesses, using Instagram is essential for brand awareness and increasing traffic to other critical channels like their website, whether you are an eCommerce store trying to boost sales or a Service provider whose goal is to see a rise in contact tickets.
Can you use Google Analytics to Track it?
It used not to be that easy to integrate your Instagram profile with Google Analytics. Usually, the traffic would be categorize as direct traffic within the reports. It was also difficult to track the visitors who came from the app and used their mobile browsers.
You can now track the general traffic from your Instagram business profile on the Google analytics four property. Also, you can choose to use UTM parameter tags, which can help analyze how different promoted links influence your website traffic.
With UTM tags, you can track three different types of links within your account:
- Profile like: If you place a link on your Instagram bio, like, for example, your website URL. You can track the number of users who access your website with it.
- Post link: If you choose to add a link to a post if you aim to promote a particular product. Adding this UTM will allow you to track how many of your Instagram users bought that product due to the post.
- The Campaign Link: Using Instagram promotion is an excellent way to increase brand awareness and also track new visitors. Adding a campaign-specific UTM will provide you with all the necessary data.
Conclusion
Using Google Analytics to extent Instagram is a best way to link engagements to sales. Instagram provides the most attention out of all the social networks I use. As quickly as I post an image, I immediately check the number of engagements.
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