Keeping track of your website stats and performance is crucial. Those numbers help you understand which content resonates with your audience as well as how fast your site is loading which can tell you a lot about the quality of your hosting provider as well as about the themes and plugins you’re using on your site. 

It’s a well-known fact that Google offers a plethora of tools that can help you monitor your site traffic as well as performance. However, accessing those reports requires logging in and keeping a few extra tabs open which can quickly become tedious. 

Wouldn’t it be better if you could access those insights right in your WordPress dashboard? It turns out there is and this time the plugin comes straight from Google. 

What Is Google SiteKit for WordPress?

Google SiteKit for WordPress is a free plugin by Google. It currently integrates four of their tools and products that will help you grow, optimize, and monetize your WordPress site. 

The plugin is also open-source and aimed for website owners that want easy access to audience insights and performance reports from one place. The plugin is still in beta, however, you can download it and use it on your site without any major issues.

Google SiteKit for WordPress Plugin Features 

Now that we’ve covered what the Google SiteKit for WordPress is, let’s take a look at the features it comes with. 

Google Search Console 

Google Search Console will be the first service that’s enabled once you install and configure the Google SiteKit for WordPress plugin. This integration will allow you to see how Google discovers your content and how they index it. 

You will also be able to see which search terms people used to come to your website. This can help you understand how your site appears to visitors in the search engines and it can guide your content creation process.

Google PageSpeed Insights

Google PageSpeed Insights allows you to test how fast or how slow your website is. Once you enable it within the GoogleSiteKit for WordPress plugin, you’ll be able to easily see the page speed load times for your homepage. 

You can then click the link to see a more detailed report in Google PageSpeed Insights page. There, you will find a list of all issues that are causing your site to load slow as well as find recommendations for improving your site speed. 

Google AdSense

By now, you probably know that your can monetize your site with Google AdSense. Once you install Google SiteKit for WordPress, you will be able to easily see how much money your site is making. 

The plugin will display which ads are performing best and you can get even more data from the Google AdSense dashboard which is only a link away. 

Google Analytics

The Google SiteKit for WordPres plugin makes accessing your Google Analytics data easy. Once you connect your Analytics account, you can easily see how much traffic your website is getting on a regular basis, a snapshot of where your audience is coming from, and which pages or posts are getting the most views. 

As with other Google’s tools and products on this list, you can easily get more details about your website traffic by clicking a link that takes you straight to your Google Analytics dashboard. 

Google Tag Manager and Optimize

Lastly, once you connect Google Analytics, you will gain access to two additional tools from Google: the Tag Manager and Optimize. 

Tag Manager will allow you to create custom tags so you can track various events on your website such as PDF downloads, cart abandonment, offsite links, and more. 

Optimize will help you run A/B tests on your site so you can see which version of a page on your site performs better. You can create test versions of your checkout page, homepage, or any other page on your site with Optimize and the data will show up in your WordPress dashboard. 

Google SiteKit for WordPress Plugin Installation and Configuration Process

With that out of the way, let’s briefly go through the installation and setup process for Google SiteKit for WordPress plugin. I’ll also share my video below so you can see this process in action if you’re more of a visual learner or want to follow along. 

Step 1: Download the Plugin

The first step is to download the plugin. Since the plugin is still in public beta, it’s not yet available in the plugin repository. You’ll have to download it straight from Google.

Step 2: Install and Activate the Plugin

Once you have the zip folder with the plugin, log in to your WordPress dashboard and then navigate to Plugins > Add New. Click the Upload button, locate the zipped folder, select it, and then install the plugin. After the installation has finished, click the Activate button.

Step 3: Start the Setup

Now that the plugin has been installed, you will need to configure the plugin. You can click the Start the Setup button and you’ll be taken to screen that outlines the steps you’ll need to go through. 

Step 4: Authenticate and Verify URL

To start the authentication process, simply click the Get Started button and you’ll see a notice that you need to generate the OAuth credentials. While this may sound scary, it’s a lot easier than you might expect. 

All you have to do is follow the link and the plugin will pull all the necessary information from your site. You can then click the Get OAuth Credentials button to generate a snippet of code that needs to be pasted in your GoogleSiteKit dashboard on your site. 

Copy the generated code and paste it in the box that you see in Google SiteKit dashboard, then click the Proceed button. 

Google will now connect your site to the Search Console and you will need to grant it access so go ahead and do so. Once the process has been finished, you’ll see that the setup process is done. 

Step 5: Connect Additional Services

After the Search Console has been connected, you can now connect other services to your site. This includes Analytics, AdSense, and others. Keep in mind that each service will ask you to authorize access to your site and your account so be sure to grant all the necessary permissions. 

Video Walkthrough: Google SiteKit for WordPress

Now that I’ve covered the most important features of the Google SiteKit for WordPress plugin, let’s go behind the scenes so you can see how to install and configure the plugin.