If you’re not super tech-savvy, Squarespace can be your best friend when it comes to SEO. So if you’re trying to figure out which platform is going to be simple enough to set up and manage while also giving you those SEO-friendly performance practices, you’re on the right track with Squarespace.
But, one question I get a lot is, “If I’m on Squarespace, do I still need Google Analytics? Or, are Squarespace analytics enough?”
well, it depends what your goal is
If everything is going to live on Squarespace – meaning you’re getting people to fill out your contact form on Squarespace, or all of your products you’re selling are on Squarespace, and all of your marketing happens on Squarespace – then Squarespace Analytics is enough.
However, if you’re doing any sort of marketing efforts that aren’t happening on Squarespace – if you’re running a virtual summit, if you’re going on podcast episodes, if you’re selling products on another site, if you want to track anything that’s happening from your email marketing – then it’s a really good idea to also have Google Analytics installed.
google analytics vs. squarespace analytics
There are things that you can do on Google Analytics that you just can’t do on Squarespace – like track off-page marketing, for example. So even if you like the dashboard and interface of Squarespace Analytics a little bit more, I do recommend that you have a Google Analytics account installed on your Squarespace website.
it’s not an apples-to-apples comparison
I do have a disclaimer though, so that you don’t freak out when you see that some numbers on Google Analytics don’t match up to the numbers on Squarespace Analytics: The numbers won’t line up exactly because Squarespace and Google are looking at slightly different things, and counting things in different ways.
So let’s say you’re looking at the analytics for a certain aspect of your website from April to May. Just know that it’s okay for the numbers to be slightly off.
This is totally normal.
Make sure to look at only one or the other, because it’s more of an apples to oranges comparison.
So figure out what your goal is:
Are you planning on having all of your content on your Squarespace site? If so, you should be good with Squarespace Analytics.
Are you planning on doing any sort of marketing elsewhere? If so, Google Analytics is a must.
how to install google analytics on squarespace
Now if you don’t already have it, it’s time to install Google Analytics for your Squarespace site!
But, just installing it does you no good if you don’t understand your website metrics.