Tracking Growth with Google Analytics: A Beginner’s Implementation Guide

When I launched my portfolio, I wanted to know:
Who’s visiting it? Where from? What pages?
That’s when I turned to Google Analytics.

🔍 Why Google Analytics?

It helps you track:

• Page views & unique users
• Bounce rate
• Traffic sources (referrals, search, direct)
• Device and location stats

🚀 How I Integrated It

1. Created a GA4 property on Google Analytics
2. Grabbed the measurement ID (e.g., G-XXXXXXXX)
3. Added this tracking script to my Astro site:

<script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-XXXXXXXX"></script>
<script>
  window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || [];
  function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);}
  gtag('js', new Date());
  gtag('config', 'G-XXXXXXXX');
</script>