In order to measure the success of a WordPress offer, it is advisable to integrate Google Analytics for this purpose. Even for the less experienced user, the implementation of Google Analytics in their own WordPress project is no big deal. But there are still some things to consider. These include legal requirements for data protection.
What is Google Analytics?
Google Analytics is a web analytics service that tracks the traffic of a website tracks and records. This makes it possible to analyze the behavior of visitors to the website. Since the origin of the visitors - via direct links or search engines - and the time they spend on the individual pages are reported, it can be used to evaluate how the content is received. In this way, the success of advertising campaigns can be monitored.
Google offers its service according to the Freemium model. The basic functionality of the web analysis service can thus be used free of charge, but a fee is required for the use of the premium functionality. With this pricing strategy, Google has succeeded in making Google Analytics the most widely used web analytics service on the Internet today. The market share is currently around 50 %.
Google , Google Analytics and data protection
Before using Google Analytics, it is essential to familiarise yourself with the relevant data protection issues. After all, Google Analytics is able to record the complete IP addresses, which are then transmitted in their entirety to Google's servers in the USA and stored there. Thus, Google has the potential to monitor large parts of the Internet simply by offering the free use of Google Analytics.
Therefore, it "could" obviously be possible that IP addresses are to be evaluated as personal data in the sense of § 3 BDSG. In this case, the storage would be inadmissible under data protection law.
The data protection implications of this are still under discussion. However, it should be kept in mind that legal risks for the user of Google Analytics do not seem to have been finally eliminated. In any case, it is essential to ensure that Google Analytics does not store the complete IP address in your own WordPress project. With the use of the optional code extension "anonymizeIp", with which the last 8 bits of an IP address are filtered out, at least the anonymisation (IP masking) required by data protection law is achieved.
In addition, it should not be forgotten that when equipping your own website with Google Analytics to provide an appropriate data protection declaration. For legally compliant use, the right of objection of the person concerned must be indicated here.
Strategies to integrate Google Analytics into your own WordPress project
There are basically two possible solutions for presenting your own project. The implementation by means of plug-ins or the implementation of code. Corresponding free plug-ins are available in abundance on the net, as a visit to the plug-in directory at WordPress.com shows. Manual input of the tracking code to Google Analytics is somewhat more time-consuming, but also feasible. This - albeit small - effort will hardly be worthwhile in the multitude of cases.
For the sake of completeness, it should be mentioned regarding a solution via plug-in that this - like all WordPress plug-ins - is only available for self-hosted WordPress pages. So if you have not already done so, you have to switch from WordPress.com to WordPress.org when using plug-ins.
How-to: Creating an account for Google Analytics and implementing the MonsterInsights plug-in
A) If not yet available, first create an account for Google Analytics:
1. call up: google.com/analytics
2. click top right: "Login
3. follow the on-screen instructions
B) If you do not already have one, first add an edit permission to your Google Analytics account:
1st call: google.com/analytics/web/#home/
2. select (Tab): Manage
3. use the menu in the "ACCOUNT" column to select the account that is to be assigned to the editing permission (property)
4. select via the menu in the column "PROPERTY": "Create new property
5. select: "Website
6. enter: "URL of the website We will accomplish this in the following with a plug-in and use "Google Analytics by MonsterInsights" for this purpose.
C) As an example for the integration of a plug-in for Google Analytics, we demonstrate with MonsterInsights.
1. log into the administration area of WordPress
2. select in the navigation bar on the left: "Plugins > Install
3. enter in the search field: Google Analytics by MonsterInsights
4. click: "Search plugins
5. click after the installation is complete: "Activate this plugin
6. select in the navigation bar on the left: "Insights > Settings
7. IMPORTANT! In the appearing selection window "General Settings" select: "Anonymize IPs
8. click: "Authenticate with your Google Account
9. enter logon data
10. click: "Allow
11th MonsterInsights uses this to retrieve the data for Google Analytics. This is to copy and paste: "Paste your Google code here".
Ready! Have fun!
