We set up Google Analytics and Google Search Console for a client whose website had no analytics at all. No visitor numbers, no view of what people searched to find them. We built both from scratch and then added the numbers to the client's regular end of day report, so the owner could finally see what the website was doing.
Along the way we hit a few things that are worth knowing before anyone touches your website's code. The biggest one is simple to explain and easy to miss.
Why a Small Piece of Code Can Cause a Big Problem
Google Analytics works by adding a short piece of code to your pages. On most websites that is harmless. The risk comes with a certain kind of custom-built website.
Some custom websites are not written page by page. Instead, a small program builds every page by copying the shared parts out of one master page: the styling, the menu, the footer, and the block of code that makes the menu and pop-ups actually work.
If that program is told to copy "the first block of code it finds", and someone pastes the analytics code in above the real one, the program copies the wrong block. Every page it builds then carries the analytics code where the working code should be.
Analytics code pasted in as is
- The page builder finds the analytics code first
- It copies that block instead of the working one
- The phone menu and pop-ups stop responding
- It happens on every page at once
- Nothing shows an error, so it can go unnoticed
Analytics code added with a label
- The analytics code carries a small, harmless label
- The page builder no longer mistakes it for the working code
- The menu and pop-ups keep working
- Visitor numbers start arriving as normal
- We check it on a phone, not only on a desktop
Ask before anyone pastes in code: if your website was custom built, ask whoever built it whether the pages are put together from one master page. If they are, any new tracking code needs care, and that includes code for ads and chat widgets, not only Google Analytics.
What Setting Up Analytics Actually Involves
The other thing owners are often surprised by is that this is not something an outsider can do quietly in the background. Google ties both tools to an account, and that account should be yours.
The Google Analytics property is created while signed in as the account that will own it.
Google Search Console needs proof you own the website, either through that signed-in account or through your domain settings.
The tracking code goes onto the website with the label described above, then the site is checked on a phone.
The numbers are added to your regular report, in plain words, so you can read them without logging in.
Keeping both accounts in your own name means the history stays with your business, whoever works on your website in the future.
How This Fits Into a Balay ni Bruno & Co. Partnership
Setting up measurement is often the first thing we do for a client, because you cannot improve what you cannot see. A real person on our team does the setup, checks that nothing else on the website broke, and turns the numbers into a report you can actually read.
Common Questions
Can adding Google Analytics really break my website?
On most websites, no. But some custom-built websites are put together by a small program that copies shared parts, like the menu, the footer and the code that makes things work, out of one master page. If that program grabs the first block of code it finds, and the analytics code has been pasted in above the real one, it can copy the wrong block. The phone menu and pop-ups can then stop working on every page, without any error showing.
How do you add the analytics code safely?
We give the analytics code a small, harmless label so it looks different from the website's own working code. The program that builds the pages can then no longer mistake one for the other. After that we check the menu and pop-ups on a phone, not only the numbers.
What do you need from me to set up Google Analytics and Search Console?
Access through your own Google account. Creating the Google Analytics property and proving to Google Search Console that the website is yours both have to be done while signed in as the account that will own them. Search Console can also be confirmed through your domain settings. Either way, the accounts stay in your name.
Key Takeaways
- On most websites, adding Google Analytics is harmless.
- On custom websites built from one master page, the tracking code can be copied in place of the working code and switch off the phone menu and pop-ups on every page.
- A small, harmless label on the tracking code prevents the mix-up.
- Google Analytics and Search Console are set up under your own Google account, so the data stays yours.
- Always check the website on a phone after adding any new code.