Having a website is great — knowing how it performs is even better. That's exactly what the statistics built into your Springly platform are for, along with the deeper insights you can unlock by connecting Google Analytics.
- Setting up Google Analytics for your Springly website
- Understanding the statistics displayed
- Tracking statistics directly in your Springly platform
In July 2023, Universal Analytics was replaced by Google Analytics 4. This has a minor impact on both performance tracking tools covered in this article.
Setting up Google Analytics for your Springly website
How it works
When you connect Google Analytics to your platform, your Google Analytics account starts collecting data about your website visitors.
This lets you see how many people visit your site and how they interact with it, directly from the Google Analytics interface.
Setting up Google Analytics for the first time
Start by creating an account on Google Analytics if you don't have one yet. Otherwise, sign in to your account and follow these steps:
At step 4, do not include "http://" — copy and paste starting from "www" only, as shown in the image above.
Check or uncheck the data-sharing settings according to your preferences, then click "Get Tracking ID." Make a note of this code (in the format G-XXXXXX-XX).
In your Springly platform, go to Website > Settings and themes, scroll down the page, and click on Google Analytics.
For nonprofits using Universal Analytics (before the switch to Google Analytics 4)
If you had set up Universal Analytics, that tracking code was deactivated on July 1, 2023. As a result, no new data appears in your Google Analytics account after that date.
To continue tracking your web traffic without interruption, you need to add your new Google Analytics 4 account to your website settings.
How to do it
From July 1, 2023 onward, you can add your new Google Analytics 4 code to replace the Universal Analytics code:
- Generate your Google Analytics 4 code from your Google Analytics interface. Google provides a tutorial here;
- In your Springly platform, go to Website > Settings and theme;
- At the bottom of the page, select the "Google Analytics" block;
- Copy and paste your Google Analytics 4 code into the dedicated field;
- Save!
Once saved, your old Universal Analytics code is replaced by the new one. That's it — your web traffic will start being tracked right away.
What happens if I add my Google Analytics 4 code late?
If you add your Google Analytics 4 code after July 1, there will simply be a gap in your web traffic data — nothing will be tracked between July 1 and the date you added the new code.
Understanding the statistics displayed
We use Google Analytics to display traffic statistics directly in your Springly platform. If your needs are fairly basic, you don't need to go through the Google Analytics interface at all.
The statistics shown in the General Stats and Website Stats tabs (in the Statistics module) are based on Google Analytics definitions. You can find those definitions here.
Number of visits per month
The number of visits per month reflects the number of unique IP addresses that visited your site during the month. In other words, if the same IP address (a person connecting from the same device, such as a PC) visits three times in a month on three different days, it counts as just one visit, not three.
Unique visits
The "Unique visits" metric counts the number of individual visitors (distinct IP addresses) who visited your website during a given period, regardless of how many pages they viewed.
Sessions
The "Sessions" metric represents the total number of visits initiated by all users on your site. A new session is triggered after 30 minutes of inactivity: if a visitor is inactive for at least 30 minutes, any subsequent activity (a new page visit, a page change, etc.) counts as a new session. However, if the same person leaves your site and returns within 30 minutes, it all counts as a single session.
Tracking your website statistics in Springly
General Stats — Visits & contacts
Go to Statistics > General Stats and click the "Visits" tab. You'll see visit data (sessions and contacts) for your entire website.
By definition, the number of sessions will always be higher than the number of contacts, since one contact can generate multiple sessions.
Website Stats — Sessions & Unique visits
From the Statistics > Website Stats page, you can view session and unique visit data for a custom date range. Scrolling down, you'll find a page-by-page breakdown showing visits, unique visits, and average time on page.
The switch from Universal Analytics to Google Analytics 4 has a minor impact on statistics. Depending on when the migration occurs, older data may not appear in the charts and tables mentioned above between late June and mid-July. Affected users will see a message explaining this expected, temporary behavior.
Note for platforms with advanced groups:
Monthly traffic statistics and page-type breakdowns are available to the main organization only. Advanced groups do not have access to these detailed statistics.
Going further: data differences between Universal Analytics and GA4
You may notice an increase in traffic after the switch in early July 2023.
This is expected, because:
- Any two separate tracking tools can produce different numbers;
- Google Analytics 4 starts collecting data (anonymized traffic only: page views) before the end-user accepts cookie settings.
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