How to Add Google Analytics to Squarespace in 5 Easy Steps

When it comes to analyzing your website, Google Analytics is the best platform around.

It’s easy to use, you can schedule reports to keep on track of your traffic and conversions, and best of all… it’s free!

In this article, I’ll show you how to add Google Analytics to Squarespace in just a few minutes. I’ll also introduce you to Squarespace Analytics and help you determine which platform you should use to monitor your website.

Step one: Create your Google Analytics account

If you haven’t already, start by creating a Google Analytics account. You can do this by visiting Google Analytics, clicking Get started today, and following the instructions.

Step two: Get your tracking code

This tracking code (also known as a measurement ID) is what you’ll use to connect your Google Analytics account to Squarespace.

To get it, log into Google Analytics and go to the Admin section. Click on Data Streams under Data collection and modification.

How to access Data streams in Google Analytics settings

Click on the website you want to get the tracking code for. This will open a dialog box with more information about your website, including the measurement ID.

Your measurement ID should be a 12-character set of letters and numbers that start with a ‘G’. Copy and paste this ID somewhere on your desktop.

If your measurement ID starts with ‘UA,’ this means you’re using the old version of Google Analytics (‘Universal Analytics’), which is now depreciated.

Step three: Add your code to Squarespace

Go to your Squarespace website and click on Settings. Next, select Developer Tools.

Click on External API keys. Paste the measurement ID you got from Google Analytics in the box at the top of the page. Click Save when you’re done.

If you ever want to disconnect Google Analytics from Squarespace, just delete your measurement ID and click Save.

Step four: Wait a while

It can take up to 24 hours for your Squarespace traffic to populate in Google Analytics.

If you’re still not seeing anything after a day, I recommend waiting another 24 hours.

Step five: Test your analytics

When 24 hours is up, go into your Google Analytics account to make sure your data is coming through.

A good way to see if your data is tracking is to visit your Squarespace site and check out the real-time report in Google Analytics. If everything is working, Google Analytics will identify that you’re on your site.

If you’re still not seeing anything, it’s worth checking that you added the correct tracking code into Squarespace.

And that’s it – you’ve added Google Analytics to your Squarespace account!

Squarespace Analytics vs Google Analytics: Which is best?

Squarespace also comes with its own analytics platform, which comes free of charge with your Squarespace account. You can access it by clicking the Analytics link in the main menu.

So, Squarespace Analytics vs Google Analytics, which one should you use? Google Analytics offers a wider range of analytics and functionality.

For example:

You can get detailed demographic information about your website visitors, including their interests and how they behave
You can set up custom dimensions to measure the performance of specific marketing campaigns
You can use attribution modeling to see which marketing channels are bringing you the best return on investment

While it’s a lot simpler, Squarespace Analytics still provides valuable insight. For example, Squarespace shows how many people have subscribed to your RSS feed, a metric Google Analytics doesn’t offer.

Another benefit of Squarespace is that it automatically ignores your own website visits as long as you’re accessing your site while you’re logged into your Squarespace account.

This means you get a more accurate representation of traffic, as it’s not inflated by your own page views.

You can block your IP address in Google Analytics to do the same, but this isn’t done automatically – you have to set up a filter.

If you want to learn more about how Squarespace Analytics works, there’s a short on-demand webinar that’s worth watching. Just register with your name and email to get started.

So, which analytics platform would I recommend?

I definitely think it’s worth using both platforms. They both offer different insights into your website and are both free to use. You can use them together to get a more well-rounded view of your Squarespace website.

Over to you! Squarespace Analytics vs Google Analytics: which one do you prefer?