Signing Up for Google Analytics

When you’re ready to get started with Google Analytics, the first thing you
need is a Google account. If you’re a Gmail or AdWords user, or if you followed
the instructions mentioned previously for creating a Google account, you
have everything you need.
All you need to do is sign in, using the account information that you already
have. Google Analytics is not in beta anymore. It’s open to the public. Just
enter your Google Account name and password as shown in Figure 4-2 and
click Sign in. If you prefer for Google Analytics to be in another language, the
program supports 17 languages including Queen’s English, Russian, French,
and Chinese. You can select your preferred encoding from a menu in the upper
right-hand corner before you sign in.
You’ll land on a splash page like the one in Figure 4-3. Click Sign Up to
continue.

Now, to the meat of the sign-up process. From the page shown in Figure 4-4,
choose http:// or https:// from the menu, depending on whether your site is
on a secure server or not. Then enter your site’s URL. In this case, we’ll be tracking
the web site for Mary’s mother’s rental house (Mary is already tracking
every other site she owns).

Give the site a name, although Google Analytics will automatically enter the
domain name for you. Choose the country where you’re located. This sets the
time zone menu to show only the correct time zones for your country, so don’t
choose France when you need Fiji. Next click Continue.