How To Use Google Analytics For Your Personal Trainer Website

Google Analytics can be notoriously complicated. There are several concepts to understand, metrics to track, and reports to run. Yet, it remains one of the most used website analysis tools worldwide.

That’s because the platform offers superior data tracking and collection features to help online business owners make accurate, data-driven decisions to grow their ventures.
 
If you’re confused by Google Analytics and unsure where to start, don’t worry. We’ve put together this guide to help you. 
 
You’ll learn everything you need to effectively use the platform for analyzing and improving the performance of your personal trainer website. This includes setting up your Google Analytics account, tracking the right metrics for your fitness business, analyzing reports, and more. 

​What Is Google Analytics?

Google Analytics is a website analysis tool offered by Google to help you track your website traffic and analyze your overall site performance. 
 
When you set it up correctly, the Google Analytics platform provides insight into what your personal trainer website traffic and corresponding user behavior mean. So you can make wise decisions to achieve your business goals.
 
Unlike most web traffic analysis tools, which are often limited in scope, Google Analytics aggregates data from almost all sources of web traffic. These include paid search, organic search mobile apps, referral, direct, email, and social media traffic sources.

The platform also integrates with other helpful tools like Google Search Console and Google Ads (used to be called Google AdWords). As a result, it’s a one-stop web traffic analysis tool that helps you track all the data you need to improve your business processes and succeed. 

​What Does It Track? 

The new Google Analytics version (Google Analytics 4 or GA4) is an upgrade of the former version – Universal Analytics. 
 
Unlike Universal Analytics, GA4 offers new data streams and more comprehensive event-based data on user interactions.

It can help you track the following: 
 

• Website visitor acquisition: You can track how much traffic you get from different traffic sources. 
• User demographics: Track how many users visit your site at different times, along with their age bracket, location, etc.
  
• User behavior: Track the specific actions your website visitors take while on your website. These include everything a visitor does during a session – from scrolling down the landing page and playing a video to clicking a link or completing a form.
• Traffic conversions: GA4 tracks how many visitors turn into customers and how it happens. 
• Site’s performance: Google Analytics can track how your website content is performing on search results. It can also track your site’s speed, among other metrics.

​Why Should Personal Trainers Use Google Analytics?

Personal trainers should use Google Analytics for various reasons, including:

1. ​Connecting With Your Target Audience 

The success of your business as a personal trainer depends on how well you connect with your target customers. Google Analytics provides all the insight you need to create and nurture a good relationship with your audience.

Specifically, data on your customer’s behavior reveals the site content your audience enjoys. This allows you to create more of what your audience enjoys to keep them engaged. You can also tell what search terms your audience uses when interacting with your site and use this info to serve them better.

2. ​Enhancing Your Marketing Efforts 

Google Analytics data lets you measure the ROI of your fitness marketing efforts. Precisely, data on customer acquisition reveals which traffic sources bring in the most or least number of visitors to your site. 

This information can help you modify your marketing strategy to focus on the most profitable marketing channels for your personal training business type.

3. ​Increasing Revenue

Data about your web traffic conversions can help you improve your conversion rates for maximum profit.

4. Identifying Areas For Improvement

Google Analytics is a powerful tool for identifying the areas you need to work on to achieve better results. For example, you can tell which web pages don’t do well on search engines and find ways to optimize them to rank better and increase the online visibility of your personal training services.

5. Monitoring KPIs For Ongoing Success 

GA4 allows you to customize the platform based on your fitness business’s goals. This means you can set and monitor various KPIs to see whether you’re in line with your short and long-term goals. Say your goal is to sign X new customers within a certain period. Google Analytics allows you to track any increase in traffic or new sign-ups from various traffic sources. You can then focus on the channels driving the most traffic or sign-ups to ensure you achieve your goals repeatedly and scale.

​Google Analytics Terms And Metrics

There are a few key terms and metrics whose meanings you should know to understand how to use Google Analytics. These terms include:

1. ​Metrics And Dimensions

All Google Analytics reports use metrics and dimensions to present information. Understanding what various dimensions and metrics mean helps you interpret data from different Google Analytics reports accurately.
 
On the whole, dimensions refer to various data elements, whereas metrics are the values of the elements. For example, the location of your users is one data element or dimension you can find in your Google Analytics account.

The metric for this data element is the specific number of users from different locations.
 
Some of the most essential dimensions and metrics you should focus on to use Google Analytics effectively as a personal trainer include:
 

• Traffic and traffic source: The number of visitors your website gets and where they’re coming from
• Session: The actions your website visitors perform when on your site
• Top pages: Your most popular web or landing pages
• Exit pages: The web or landing pages where most of your visitors leave the site
• Average time spent: The duration a user spends on your site. How long do they take from the time they land on your site to the time they leave?
• Average pages per visit: The average number of pages one user visits when on your site
• Bounce rate: The percentage of site users who visit different pages on your site and leave without taking any action
• User behavior flow: How your site visitors browse your site
• Unique vs. returning users: The number of users visiting your site for the first time Vs. the regular active users
• Location: Where are your users browsing from?
• Age: What’s the age bracket of your users?
• Site speed: How fast is your site?
• Mobile responsiveness: Is it accessible from devices with different screen sizes?

2. ​Segments

Google Analytics will show you all the data your fitness website receives. Segments are a way to filter the data the platform provides, making it easy to digest. For example, you can set up segments to analyze data from different social media channels to monitor your social traffic. 

3. ​Date Range

This feature, located on the right-hand corner of your Google Analytics account, lets you compare data on your site’s performance within a specific time range.

4. ​Property 

A property is the website or app you want to track. You can set up multiple properties if you're looking to track the performance of multiple websites. Or if you're looking to track your fitness website and mobile app in the same Google Analytics account. 

5. ​Measurement ID

The GA4 Measurement ID is a unique tracking code you’ll need to add to your fitness site to allow Google Analytics to track it.

​How To Set Up Google Analytics

Now that you understand the Google Analytics basics, let’s dive into setting up your account. We’ve summarized the entire process into three simple steps to make it easy for you to get started in minutes: ​

Step 1: Set Up Google Analytics And Add Your Website

To begin, sign into your Google Account. Ensure you choose the account you’d like to manage your site’s analytics with. Once logged in, look for the Google Analytics setup page and click Start Measuring. 
 
Follow the prompt to add your account name and hit next. Then, select the type of property you want to measure – a site, mobile app, or both. Choose a website and add the required details about your website and fitness business, including:

• Website name
• Website URL: Ensure you select http or https before adding your website URL
• Industry category: Select what best describes your website, business size, etc
• Reporting time zone: Choose your time zone
  
  

 
After filling in the required info, select your fitness business objectives, click Create, and accept the terms of service.
 
Next, set up your data stream to start collecting data. A data stream allows information to flow from your website to your Google Analytics for analysis and report generation. 
 
To set up your data stream, select the web option on your screen > add your domain > tick enhanced measurement box, and then click Create Stream. Ensure you tick the enhanced measurement option before creating your stream to access Google Analytics’ advanced data tracking features.

Once you’ve set up your stream, you’ll see your measurement ID and a button labeled View Tag Instructions.

​Step 2: Install Google Analytics Code  

You must install your Google tag across all site pages to effectively use Google Analytics on your website. There are two ways to do this – manually or using a plugin.

To manually install Google Analytics: 
 
Go to View Tag Instructions on your screen, click the button, and select the install manually option. Your Google tag will appear. Click the copy icon on the top right of the Google tag section to copy the entire tracking code on your clipboard.

 
Then, go to your site and paste the Google Analytics tracking ID to your site’s header.php file right before the closing </head> tag. Your Google tag will get installed across your site’s pages as required.
 
Alternatively, you can connect Google Analytics to your site using a plugin. It’s easier and safer. You only have to install a plugin, like WordPress's header & footer plugin, on your site and paste the Google tag to get going.

​Step 3: Test The Google Analytics Tracking Code

Once you’ve added your tracking code to your website, perform a test run to see whether your tracking code is installed correctly and is working well. In your Google Analytics account, go to real-time data – overview to see what’s happening on your site in real time. Then, open your website using a different tab and check if your visit gets tracked.

​How To Use Google Analytics For Your Personal Trainer Website

You can use Google Analytics to measure your site’s performance in various ways. Here are a few suggestions to get the most out of it. 

1. ​Create Custom Dashboards And Reports

Take advantage of Google Analytics’ custom dashboards and reports feature to create tailored reports that work for you. Find this customization option on the left-hand panel of your Google Analytics dashboard. Click the customization button, select the data you want to analyze, and move the widgets around to organize the data in an easy-to-understand manner.

2. Analyze Data Through Custom Segments

As mentioned earlier, segments allow you to narrow down large data sets to pinpoint specific information that can help you make informed business decisions. You may, for instance, create a segment on a city to analyze how many visitors come from the city and their behavior, so you can improve your local SEO efforts.

To create a custom segment, enter the Explorations feature on the left, create a new one and then find and click the + New Segment button on your dashboard and follow the prompt.

3. ​Find Your Highest And Lowest Performing Pages

Find and analyze your top-performing web pages to identify ways to improve your fitness site’s performance. You can find your highest-performing pages by going to the acquisition section > search console option > then landing pages.

Choose a time frame (say six months) and sort the results by a specific conversion goal. You’ll see the highest to lowest converting pages for the conversion goal chosen, e.g., form sign-ups. By doing so, you’ll get all the insight you need to optimize your well-performing pages further and boost the under-performing pages.

4. ​Monitor And Improve

Monitor your site’s performance consistently to ensure it’s working well. Frequent site monitoring helps you identify and fix issues like broken links or pages visitors don't engage with.

​Final Thoughts

Google Analytics is a powerful tool for growing your fitness business online. The data it provides can guide you to make the right moves to dominate search engines and ensure your business thrives.
 
We hope this guide has clarified how to use Google Analytics and made it simple for you to create a Google Analytics account and get started with the platform.
 
Remember to turn on Google Analytics integration with other Google tools, like Google Search Console, to access more helpful data. The more insight you get, the more guesswork you'll eliminate from how you run your business.