Setting Up Google Analytics in Typepad

I've set up all my blogs with Google Analytics and it has been a great way to watch the traffic on the sites.  And best of all, it is free!

You'll need to create your account with Google Analytics but the good news is that you can run multiple website analytics off of one account so you can log in once and switch between the traffic reports.

Once logged in, click on the link to "Add Website Profile".  You'll select the radio button to add a profile for a new domain, and enter the URL in for the site.  Click the "Finish" button and you'll get a page with the code you'll need to add to your website to activate your Google Analytics.  You'll want to select that code sample and copy it (ctrl-c on a pc). 

Next you'll log into your typepad account.  Click on the tab for Typelists.  You'll want to create a new Typelist.  I create mine as a "Links" typelist, and the name of it is what will be displayed on your site.  I've never tried having the title blank; I usually give it some generic name though because there really won't be anything under it.  I named it "Thank You For Visiting" for my business blog and since it is the last thing that'll be displayed on the page I figured that works.

Once you've created your list, you'll want to create a new item on your list.  You can leave the title and URL fields blank.  Paste the code that you copied from the Google Analytics site into the Notes field and save.  Next, click the Configure tab for your Typelist.  You'll want to make sure your list is set to "Show Notes as Text".  This will allow the browser to process the code correctly.

The next step is to add the Typelist to your blog, and make sure it is correctly located.  It needs to be the last item on the right side of your blog.   So, go to the Weblogs tab, and click on the name of your blog.  Then click on the "Design" tab and scroll down and click on the "Select Content" option.  On the right side you'll see a box that shows the list off all of your typelists.  Make sure you check next to the name you gave your typelist with the google code added.  Click Save Changes at the bottom of the page.

Now, you'll click on the "Order Content" option on the design tab.  This page is pretty cool because it lets you drag and drop the elements of your page into different columns so the page lays out the way you want it to.  You'll want to find the block with your typelist and drag it to the bottom right side column.  It is only supposed to work in this location but I've not tested it elsewhere so if you only have a left side-bar and it works there let me know!

Now you can click the "Save Changes" button.  The last step in typepad is to click the "Republish Weblog" button at the bottom of the design page.   Now you can go back to your Google Analytics account where you should see your blog listed as a profile.  In the status column it may say "Tracking Not Installed" but next to it is a "Check Status" link.  You can click on that to have google check to make sure the code was installed correctly.

The fun part lies ahead!  Go back to check your Google Analytics page often to see how many visitors you've had, where they have come from, what search keywords they used to find you, and even a map of where they are coming from!!!

 

Updated to include links to other's with instructions for adding Google Analytics:

• Ed Batista has a brief version of these instructions but the blog comments are interesting as they point out some of the ethical questions regarding collecting data on users without their permission.
• Socklabs Blog has instructions for adding Google Analytics when using advance templates in Typepad.
• Seth Godin, an online mastermind, makes an interesting point about how Google Analytics can be misused.  Think about what your goals are for your website so you know if you are meeting them instead of becoming a slave to your stats.
• Andy Wibbels discribes an alternative to the method I described by using the Google Analytics Widget.

Comments

[Elma]

Okay I've added it! Looking forward to getting some results. TFS - ubber cool!

[Josh]

Nice writeup. It worked for me, and that was on a left side blog.

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks for this post. I know it's been up a while, but you're the first one who could explain to me how this works.

[carla]

Thanks. You got mine to finally work!

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[Kit]

Yep, me too - you explain it much better than TypePad do. Thanks very much!

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