Connecting Google Analytics to AdWords

Once you’ve set up Google Analytics on your site to track visits and visitors, what’s next? One of the primary ways to build awareness for products and services, not to mention content, is through Google AdWords™ advertising. Connecting Analytics to AdWords lets you know what happens after an ad is clicked and a visitor comes to your site.

“As people search for things on Google, advertisers target those searches, or queries, using keywords. The relationship between queries and keywords is at the heart of search advertising with AdWords.” ~ Matt Lawson, director of Performance Ads Marketing for Google

Google says there are four core things that you’ll be able to do after linking Analytics and AdWords:

• Import Google Analytics goals and transactions into AdWords as conversions
• View Google Analytics site engagement data in AdWords
• Create remarketing lists in Analytics to use in AdWords for targeting specific audiences
• Automatically view your AdWords click and cost data alongside your Analytics site engagement data

Linking the two is pretty straightforward. (Historically, you needed to have the same account (email address) for both accounts, but this policy has evolved in recent months.) Thom Craver (@thomcraver) over at Search Engine Watch has a solid overview of how to deal with bulk connection of Analytics and Adwords accounts.

For connecting a single account, follow these steps. After a few cups of coffee, your accounts should now be linked. This will enable you to see the end-to-end flow from awareness, to ad click, to funnel conversion.

Image by: Marvin Kuo via Compfight cc