Understanding your Pitchero Club Website, with the help of Google Analytics, can be your secret weapon.
In this article, we’ll look at how to connect your Club Website to Google Analytics, explain some of key metrics to look for, what they mean and how to use what you find out.
Please note: Your club needs to be on the Elite or Ultimate package to use this feature.
What is Google Analytics?
It’s the most popular web analytics software, from search engine and tech giant Google. Web analytics is the measurement of your website traffic and how visitors use your site.
What can you measure?
Your sports club can find out all kinds of metrics from the number of visitors to where they live (city/country) and what parts of your website are most read.
This intelligence, reviewed regularly, can help you attract more members, players and sponsors and make the most of your time and what you choose to publish on your site.
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How to connect a GA4 property to your Club Website
With Google Analytics 4 (GA4), you need to connect your Club Website so that Google can start measuring all of the website data.
First, create a Google Analytics Account and a new GA4 Property then add a data stream. [See the link above for guidance].
Then, head over to your Club Control Panel in Pitchero, choose Settings, enter your Google Analytics ID in the field and save.
Your Google Analytics ID is a unique identifier that relates to your Pitchero Club Website and will be a long number starting with “G-”.
It may take 24-48 hours for Google to start tracking the data from your website - but it could be sooner.
Ok, once you’re set up - what next?
Login to your Google Analytics dashboard to start exploring. First up, test if it’s all working.
Google has a ‘Real-time’ feature with a map of the world and who’s visiting your website, where they’re based and what pages they’re reading.
So, you can click around some pages on your Pitchero website and then see in Google Analytics if those clicks are being logged, as they happen.
(Reporting is only since you connected GA4 to Pitchero but over time, you’ll be able to compare months or years).
Search bar - At the top is a fixed central search bar where you can ask anything you want, just like a Google search engine result.
In the left-hand menu, we’ll focus on two areas.
HOME - This snapshot is a useful overview of things like total page views or users across your Club Website. You can set any date range you like (it defaults to the last 28 days).
REPORTS - Here, the two most important headings are:
1. Acquisition - How you brought your audience to your website - i.e.) Google search results, social media, email or a referral.
2. Engagement - What each person does when they arrive at your website - i.e.) How long they stay on and what they read. Add in demographics about your website visitors and you begin to get a very comprehensive picture.
What actions can you take?
Statistics are only of value if they actually tell you something you need to know. You’ll find lots of technical tips from page load speeds to which browser each person used to read your website.
As a club using Pitchero, the huge benefit is that you don’t need to worry about that stuff. Our team of developers are constantly refining functionality, keeping everything updated and ensuring your website runs smoothly.
Instead, the focus of Google Analytics for your club is likely two-fold...
a.) Understand who your audience are
Find out how old they are, how many visit your site and where they live. This is useful to try and improve what you deliver and very important commercial information for potential sponsors).
- Do you have a very local audience or do you have an unexpected fanbase that could be an opportunity?
- Does your audience fit into a certain bracket in terms of age or gender?
This might mean you think about launching a new team or just producing more articles aimed towards those people.
b.) Learn what content is popular
Knowing this gives you the intelligence to sell to potential sponsors. You stand a better chance if you can accurately say how many visit the site in a year, what those demographics are and key areas of your site that are most popular.
You can factor this into how you structure your pricing too.
A homepage logo commands a premium in a way that a less visited area doesn't as much.
Predictably, your team pages will be popular and so if you don’t already, you could add extra detail from previews to lineups to live scores In the Manager App that show in the Club App and on the site.
Consider a mini-audit by searching for individual pages in Google Analytics - homepage, team pages, contact page, etc to search what the traffic is.
If you like geeking out a bit, Google Analytics will open up a whole new world. It will certainly surprise you and add extra insight.
For more tips on getting the best out of Pitchero, visit our Clubhouse resources with advice on growing membership, increasing revenue and managing your club on and off the field.