Search and Analytics

Govstack CMS has its own Out-of-the-box (OOTB) search, yet many users may choose to set up Google Search with their website. This page will act as a guide for setting up Google programmable search and analytics.

Programmable Search

Google Programmable Search is a tool to help feature specialized content in search, and create customized search engines.

1. Go to Google Programmable Search and click 'Get Started' in the top right hand corner
   1. Login with your team's Google account
2. Click 'Add' to create a new Search Engine

Create a new search engine

To create the new search engine:

1. Name the search engine
2. Define the website URLs (the entire domain is recommended)
3. Set the search settings
4. Check the reCAPTCHA box and click 'Create'
   1. You should receive a success message
   2. From that success message, select 'Customize'
5. In the following Overview Screen, set the following
   1. Set the 'Search Region' for the site search engine to Canada or United States
   2. Toggle 'Region Restricted' to On
   3. In the 'Look and Feel' area, click on the 'All Look and Feel' settings button in the top right hand corner
   4. In the 'Layout Panel', select the two page layout. This will be used to set the search form and a separate search results page
6. In the 'Layout Panel' click on the 'Get code' button. This will display codes that need to be sent to GHD Digital
7. Copy either of these codes and send to your Implementation Specialist for your project
8. Enter the Result page URL to the Result site URL input field by:
   1. Type in your website URL followed by /search into the Results Page URL (ex: www.website.com/search/)

Analytics

Google Analytics can be used to provide statistics on your website's performance and help with analyzing search engine optimization (SEO). You can follow the succeeding steps to set up your Google Analytics account:

1. Go to Google Analytics and log in
   1. You can create an account under Welcome to Google Analytics, then click 'Start measuring'
2. Provide an account name. Configure the data-sharing settings to control what data you would like to share with Google
3. Click 'Next" to add the first property to the account

Create a new Google Analytics 4 property

To create a new property:

1. Make sure you are signed in to the correct account
2. Enter a name for the property (e.g. "My Business website") and select the reporting time zone and currency
3. Click 'Next'. Select your industry category and business size
4. Click 'Next'. Select how you intend to use Google Analytics
5. Click 'Create' 
6. Continue to add a data stream to start collecting data

Google Analytics will tailor the set of default reports based on the information you provided about how you intend to use Analytics. For example, if you choose "generate more leads" the reports provided will help you measure lead generation.

Add a data stream

To add a data stream:

1. Click 'Web' 
2. Enter the URL of your primary website and a Stream name
   1. You have the option to enable or disable enhanced measurements. We recommend that you enable enhanced measurements to automatically collect page views and other events.
3. Click 'Create stream'. Two slide out windows will open
4. Copy the script, being sure to include the code that starts with 'G-'. This is the code we will add to your site to start tracking
5. Send this code to the Implementation Specialist on your project