Google Analytics Part 1: Getting Started with Site Tracking ![[Registration never required for free content]](/images/free.gif)
By: Kim Cavanaugh on Monday, January 22, 2007
Reader Level: 
The two fundamental questions regarding web site design and functionality haven't changed since the days when the first commercial sites were published. Who is your target audience and what is it that you want them to do at your site? The answers to those two questions go a long way towards driving site design as they affect everything from the colors you choose, the kind of navigation you select, and the services that you offer.
But what do you after you launch your site? How do you know if you (or your clients) are accomplishing your goals? The more you can find out about your visitors the better off you'll be as you can make any number of inferences from those statistics.
While it used to be hard, or somewhat expensive to get your hands on that data, you now have access to a phenomenal wealth of information about your site and best of all, it's completely free and is being offered by one of the most trusted names on the web—Google.
In the first part of a two-part series you'll have a chance to see just how easy it is to get started with your own Google Analytics account and the steps you can take to begin tracking your site.
