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How to setup author tracking in Google Analytics with MonsterInsights Software

You may want to setup author tracking in Google Analytics if you run a website on WordPress with multiple authors.

In this blog post we will show you how to setup author tracking Google Analytics so that you can track all of your sites authors posting content on your website.

You may need this kind of solution if you are running WPML for WordPress or any other multisite solution which facilitates the need for multiple WordPress websites on one installation.



Purchase MonsterInsights for author tracking google analytics

Monsterinsights is the all in one plugin for Google analytics and WordPress. It covers all areas of universal tracking, it provides enhanced eCommerce tracking (so you can track more then just goals), custom goals, real time statistics and even affiliate link tracking all from your WordPress Dashboard.

author tracking in Google Analytics wordpress plugin features
MonsterInsights Features

I personally have found that it is quite difficult to setup enhanced eCommerce tracking on any WooCommerce installation, MonsterInsights fixes this dilemma quite efficiently.



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Install Google Analytics to setup author tracking

If you you found this article you most likely already know what Google Analytics is and what it can do for your website.

If you have the right tools such as MonsterInsights you can take full advantage of Google Analytics and what is has to offer without having to take a course on how to actually use Google Analytics.



How To Set Up Author Tracking Google Analytics using MonsterInsights?

To get started on author tracking in Google Analytics you will need to put some things in place first.

Connect Google Analytics to your WordPress site using MonsterInsights

Once you have purchased the MonsterInsights plugin you will need to install and activate the plugin on your WordPress website.

install monster insights plugin for wordpress for author tracking in google analytics
Install the MonsterInsights plugin for Wordpres

Once you have activated the Monsterinsights plugin you will need to connect Google Analytics so we can get moving onto author tracking.



Time needed: 20 minutes

How to Connect MonsterInsights to your Google Analytics website property

  1. Go to Insights > settings on your WordPress admin and click on the general tab

  2. Click the “Connect MonsterInsights” button.

  3. Choose the correct Google account that you want to connect, make sure you have a tab open with Google analytics open so you can double check you selected the correct property.

  4. After you have confirmed the account, click on the “Complete authentication” button.


Now we have connected MonsterInsights to your Google analytics account. This is the first step to setting up author tracking in Google analytics.



How do I activate custom dimensions in MonsterInsights so we can segment data presentation?

Author tracking with Google Analytics
Install Author tracking with Google Analytics MonsterInsights dimension
  1. When you are in your WordPress dashboard, go to Insights > Addons
  2. Click the install button which you can see the plugin called “Custom dimensions add-on”.


Next create a custom dimension type in MonsterInsights

Select Author from the settings
  1. When you are in your WordPress dashboard proceed to Insights > Settings and click on the “Conversions tab”. From here scroll down and go to the custom dimensions section.
  2. Create a new dimension and select author as the setting, click save.


Setup author tracking with Google Analytics by following these steps

Author tracking with Google Analytics custom dimensions
Select custom dimension in Google Analytics > Property admin
  1. Login to Google Analytics and select the WordPress website you previously connected to MonsterInsights.
  2. Click on the Admin menu item with the cog next to it, then proceed to custom definitions and custom dimensions.
  3. Click the +new button and create a new custom dimensions
  4. Enter the name as “Author” in the name field and then click create.
  5. Click the “done” button and we are good to go.
Author tracking with Google Analytics add author setting
Add the author custom dimension


Match the custom dimensions ID’s for author tracking with Google Analytics

Just as a precaution procedure we need to match the index number in Google Analytics with the custom dimension ID in the MonsterInsights settings.

You should check the index number of the Author in your Google Analytics account.

Next, move back to your custom dimensions settings in your MonsterInsights. And make sure that the custom dimension ID here must match with the index number in your Google Analytics.

If the two numbers do not match, type in the correct number then click the save button.



Performance author tracking with Google Analytics with Monsterinsight

Now we can start tracking WordPress authors on our website from within WordPress itself instead of always having to log into Google Analytics to check the stats.



How do I view a report on author tracking with Monsterinsights?

To view a report on author tracking with Monsterinsights when you are logged into your WordPress dashboard click on “reports” then select dimensions.

With this new report view you can track the most popular authors on your single or multisite WordPress installation.

You may be interested in which authors bring in the most traffic, which have the most social shares and which product the most appealing content.



How do i setup a custom dashboard for author tracking with Google Analytics?

Author tracking with Google Analytics custom reports
Setup a custom report for author tracking with Google Analytics
  1. To get started click on Customization > Custom Reports
  2. Create a new report and give it a name such as “Author report”
  3. Create a metric such as Page / Sessions
  4. Select the dimension drill downs as “author” and “landing page”
  5. Click save
Author tracking with Google Analytics metrics
Select your main metric group the add author as a drilldown for author tracking with Google Analytics

Now when you click on custom reports you will see the “Author” report you created.

Your new custom view

If you want to add more dimensions to correspond with your author click on the “secondary dimensions” dropdown and add more dimensions to analyze your WordPress author.

 Author tracking with Google Analytics custom report
Author tracking with Google Analytics custom reports


Author tracking with Google Analytics with Monsterinsights Conclusion

MonsterInsights provides so much more value then just author tracking with Google Analytics, i personally use it to track advanced eCommerce conversions which can very difficult to setup without a plugin on WooCommerce.

This little trick for author tracking with Google Analytics with Monsterinsights is one that is well suited for any business running a WordPress multi-site installation or for people who have multiple authors on their website.

This is one of the essential WordPress plugins we recommend to our readers as it allows you to view all of your most important Google analytics stats straight from your WordPress dashboard.

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