Demystifying Universal Analytics – Upgrading Your Account

Google has recently unveiled Universal Analytics, which I have outlined in another post. If you’re ready to check it out, here’s a quick walk-through of the  upgrade process:

Step 1: Upgrade Your Account

Log into your Google Analytics account and click on the Admin link in the header. Then, select the Property that you’d like to upgrade. If you have Edit privileges and Universal Analytics has been rolled out to your account, you’ll see “Universal Analytics Upgrade” as the top option in the Property column.

By clicking that option, you’ll be directed to a confirmation screen. Press the blue Transfer button to initiate the upgrade. Note: the transfer will take 24-48 hrs.

Once the transfer is complete, you’ll need to insert the new tracking code snippet onto your web site.

Step 2: Insert the Tracking Code

Although this step is technically optional, Google recommends that you insert the new tracking code snippet on your web site. The older tracking code snippet will continue to work for now, but you’ll get the best results with the new code.

Once, the transfer is complete, you will be able to get the new tracking code from the confirmation page or on the Tracking Code page as usual.

Where does the code go?

The tracking code snippet needs to be present on every page of your web site, but implementing that will depend on your setup.

• If you have access to your web site’s code, you can simply replace your existing tracking code snippet with the new one in the appropriate file(s).
• If your site runs on a content management system, it may provide an interface where you can apply the new code. For example, if you have a hosted WordPress site, then you may have a plugin installed that  will allow you to paste in the new code.
• Otherwise, you may need to contact your web site vendor to have it updated.

Attention QuantumCMS Admins:

You can update your Google Analytics tracking code on your own with a few easy steps.

1. Log into QuantumCMS.
2. Click the Settings option in the header and choose Site Configuration from the menu.
3. On the following screen, click the Marketing tab. Clear out the Tracking Code field.
4. Click on the Head HTML tab and paste the new tracking code into the text box.
5. Press the Save button.

Step 3: Verification

Once you’ve inserted the new code, I highly recommend that you log into Google Analytics and verify that the site is still being tracked.

The easiest way to do that is to access any of the Real-Time reports and then pull up the site in another browser tab. The report should show that at least one visitor is currently viewing the site.

You can also view the status of your property in the Admin section. Click on the Admin link in the header. On the following page, select the appropriate Account and Property. Then, click on Tracking Info in the Property column, followed by Tracking Code.

That’s it! Happy analyzing!