How to Keep Track of Hits in Wordpress

WordPress is an open source blogging platform that also works well as a Content Management System for building websites. Users extend the functionality of their blogs by installing plugins. Installing a plugin to work with Google Analytics is one way to keep track of hits to your WordPress blog. You must first sign up for an account and get your tracking code, which you will copy and paste in to the settings screen of your plugin. Once you set up the plugin, you can log in to Google Analytics or use a widget on your dashboard to see how many hits your blog gets.

Instructions

1. Go to the Google Analytics website and sign up for the service. After signing up, click the "Select an account" drop-down and select "Create a new account." Follow the prompts and add the URL for your WordPress blog, an account name, territory and time zone. Continue through the prompts until Google gives you a tracking code.

2. Log in to your WordPress blog in a new browser window and navigate to "Add New" under "Plugins." Type "Google Analytics" in the search box and select a plugin to install from the list of results. Activate the plugin.

3. Find the settings link for the plugin you installed, in its own menu or in a sub-menu of "Settings" in the left sidebar. Navigate to the settings and fill out the form to set up the plugin to work with your Google Analytics account.

4. Go back to the window that contains your Google Analytics tracking code. Depending on your plugin, you need the entire code or just the UA code. Get the UA code from a line of the tracking code that looks like this:

   _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-xxxxxxxx-x']);

   In your real code, you will see numbers where the example above shows the letter "x." Copy and paste your entire tracking code or UA code as the plugin settings page instructs.

5. Click the "Save and Finish" button in Google Analytics. Google will take up to one day to verify the WordPress blog belongs to you and begin tracking visitors. When you want to look at your traffic statistics, log in to Google Analytics and click the name of the account you set up for your blog. Depending on your plugin, you can also get Google Analytics statistics inside your WordPress dashboard.