Squarespace Analytics vs Google Analytics
I hope the last two series on Google Analytics have been helpful to you. If you missed any of the earlier series, part 1 is a step by step guide to setting up Google Analytics. Part 2 looks at the reports and guides you how on to read them.
In part 3 - this blog, we are going to look at Squarespace Analytics. Yes, Squarespace does provide its own analytics. I would say it is a lot easier to read than Google Analytics, but I would also say don’t ignore Google Analytics either. Both compliment the other and are very useful. So let’s dive in!
What is Squarespace Analytics and where do I find it in Squarespace?
Squarespace offers its own analytics. However, depending on what plan you are on, more detail is available to you. So if you are on the Business plan, you will have a list of reports available to you, and some additional reports if you are on the Commerce plan.
Where can you find Squarespace Analytics?
If you login to Squarespace, on the Home menu on the left side, you will see Analytics. Click on it and bang, you will see a whole slew of reports (quick note, my list may differ from yours depending on your plan).
How do I read Squarespace Analytics?
The reports provided by Squarespace are pretty straight forward. I love them because they are easy to read and digest. Here are the reports I tend to look at a few times a week. Again, the goal is to understand your audience, what they are looking at and the content they are drawn to.
Geography - This report shows you the location of your audience broken down by country, city and region.
Popular Content - Oh how I love this one. This gives you true insight on the content on your website that resonates with your audience. It is great, because you can see what your audience interests are. Then you can tailor your offerings or content to be inline with what your audience is looking for.
Traffic Overview - This is an overview of your traffic engagement and audience growth over a period of time.
Traffic Sources - This shows you where your audience is coming from. Either via Search Engines, Social Media or by typing your URL into a browser.
Pro Tip
Devote a working day to reading and understanding your analytics. It will benefit you in more ways than one. I go over some benefits of reviewing your analytics, you can check it out here.
What’s the difference between Squarespace and Google Analytics
From what I can tell, one provides a gazillion more detail than the other. You probably guessed it. Yes! Google Analytics does provide a lot more than Squarespace. But that certainly does not mean Squarespace’s Analytics is not to be considered. I tend to check my Squarespace Analytics more often because it is right there when I sign in to Squarespace. The analytics on Squarespace are a lot easier to understand.
Whereas Google Analytics has a LOT more detailed insight on your website traffic. On my dedicated review days, I sign in to Google Analytics and digest what my reports show me. It does take some time, but you have to do this to grow your business or site engagement in the direction you want it to. If you have not yet installed Google Analytics, I show you exactly how to do that here.
You might be asking yourself if one is better than the other. No, I don't think so. I think you can benefit from looking at both sets of analytics because they give you useful details. One is at a very high level and the other, has more detail.
What do both have in common?
Here are a few commonalities both share...
- Have details on your audience demographics (region, country…)
- Show you the source of your traffic (social media, search engines ...)
- Show you your most popular content
- Show how many unique visitors came to your site
I’ve read and noticed some discrepancies in the traffic calculations on both platforms. For example, to exclude "your" personal traffic details, you have to log in to Squarespace. Doing so excludes your “traffic” from Squarespace analytic reports. If you accessed your website from outside of Squarespace, your activity will be counted. On the other hand, Google Analytics tracks EVERYTHING.
Here are some great resources to refer to should you need more insight to these two analytic tools:
I do hope you found this three part series informative.
Which of these analytics tools, Google or Squarespace, do you find yourself drawn to or find most useful? I would love to know.
If you enjoyed the series, don't keep it to yourself, share it with a friend!!!
