Track your booking engine visits, conversion rate and collect other data by entering a Google Analytics Tracking ID into Cloudbeds PMS.
This article will walk you through the basics of adding a Google Analytics Tracking Code (Universal Analytics or Google Analytics 4 -GA4-) to your Cloudbeds Booking Engine page.
- Google Universal Analytics will be replaced by Google Analytics 4 (GA4), Google's next generation measurement solution. Universal Analytics which will stop on July 1, 2023 (July 1, 2024 for Analytics 360 properties). Learn more about this update here.
- Cloudbeds will continue supporting Google Universal Analytics, and will allow users to connect to new Google Analytics 4 as well. Reach out to our Support Team if you need any assistance with the connection process.
Ready to get started? Jump in directly to the connection process here:
Overview
In Google's words: Google Analytics is a platform that collects data from your websites and apps to create reports that provide insights into your business.
Check out the following useful articles from Google's Help portal to learn more:
Universal Analytics is going away, meaning that on July 1, 2023, standard Universal Analytics properties will stop processing data. Google strongly encourages users to switch to Google Analytics 4. Learn more about GA4 below.
- Start your account setup, provide your business details, and learn the basics - Welcome to Google Analytics (Setup portal)
- Google Analytics measure your website and connected apps, providing useful data for your business - Understand How Google Analytics works
- How important are Google Analytics' metrics and how can these be used for your business decisions? - Learn more here: The value of digital analytics
Google Analytics 4 (or GA4) is the new measurement tool that collects both website and app data to better understand the customer's journey throughout your business.
- Learn how Google Analytics 4 can be used for your business and how to get started - Introducing Google Analytics 4
- What is the difference between Google Universal Analytics and Google Analytics 4 (GA4)? Do they have the same concepts and functionalities? - Learn more here: Universal Analytics versus Google Analytics 4 data
- Important note: If you already have Google Universal Analytics, make the switch to Google Analytics 4, as per Google's advice - Learn How to migrate to Google Analytics 4
GA4 - How it works
Google Analytics 4 collects event-based data from both websites and apps. For each eligible Universal Analytics goal selected, the Goals Migration Tool automatically does the following in your connected Google Analytics 4 property:
- Creates a new event rule
- Marks the created event as a conversion
GA4 - Basic concepts
The following basic concepts are part of the Google Analytics' measurement system. Learning about these concepts offers a better understanding of how these work to track your business data:
Learn about other Google Analytics concepts here.
Connect Google Analytics with Cloudbeds PMS
- Create your account in the Google Analytics website: Welcome to Google Analytics
- Once your Google Analytics account has been successfully created, access Cloudbeds PMS and follow the steps below.
- Move forward to the Step 1 below to connect Google Analytics with your Cloudbeds PMS account. Access Google's Help portal if you need any assistance with your Google Analytics setup.
Things to note:
- Conversion tracking won’t work well when the booking engine is configured inside an iframe on a website. Additional codes and configuration will be needed with the assistance of a web developer or third party marketing company. For more details on such implementation, check this link. z
- However, if a Book Now button that redirects the guest to your Booking Engine is configured, having the cross-domain tracking setup from the steps below, conversions will be tracked properly.
- Click on the Account icon
- Go to Settings
- Click on Analytics, under the Booking Engine section
- Enter your Google Analytics Tracking ID
- For Google Universal Analytics: Where can I find my Tracking-ID?
- For Google Analytics 4 (GA4): Where can I find my Google Tag ID?
- Enter your website Primary Domain
- Your website domain is the highlighted part of this example: https://www.your-website.com as shown below
- Click Save
By adding your tracking code on Cloudbeds, your Google Analytics account will start tracking any visits your booking engine receives and also reservation details when a visitor finalizes a booking.
The information sent to Google Analytics are:
- Reservation Number
- Property Name
- Reservation Total
- Reservation Taxes
- Room Types
Cross-domain tracking is essential if you have a website for your property and have a way to redirect guests to the booking engine in a form of a Book Now button or a Date picker widget.
If you do not have a website and want to track the activity on the booking engine only, you may skip this section and go to the next step.
As the first point of contact to your guests, it is recommended to add Google Analytics tracking to your own website. We suggest using Google Tag Manager. Also, cross-domain tracking should be enabled since the Cloudbeds Booking Engine is hosted in a different domain as yours.
To do so, follow the instructions below:
As presented on the Google's Help Guide, the Google Tag Manager is a tag management system (TMS) that allows you to quickly and easily update measurement codes and related code fragments collectively known as tags on your website or mobile app.
If you already have a Google Tag Manager container, review the instructions below and update your settings accordingly.
- In the Google Workspace, click Tags from the navigation menu
- Click New to create a new Analytics Tag
- Name the tag (example: Universal Analytics)
- Under Tag Configuration, click the icon to begin setup.
- Choose Google Analytics: Universal Analytics from the list
- Select the Track Type as Page View
- Check the box Enable overriding settings in this tag
- Enter your Google Analytics Tracking ID
- Under More Settings > Fields to Set, add a field. Select the field name allowLinker and set its value to true.
- Under E-commerce, select True for Enable Enhanced E-commerce Features and check the Use Data Layer box
- Under Cross-Domain Tracking > Auto Link Domains enter cloudbeds.com and select True for Decorate Forms
- Google Analytics tag should trigger on all pages. Select All Pages in the Triggering.
If your website is built on WordPress, we recommend you use this plugin to add your tracking code. To install the plugin, follow these instructions:
- On your WordPress dashboard, click on Plugins on the menu
- Click Add New
- Search for Google Tag Manager For WordPress
- Click on Install and then Activate
After installing, click on the link that is displayed on the top of the page to enter your GTM ID.
Enter your GTM ID on this page and Save. You can find your GTM ID on your Workspace on Google Tag Manager website.
- Adding Your Google Tag Manager Account ID to Your Wix Site
- Using Google Tag Manager with Squarespace
For other services, refer to the respective website host Support Team.
If your website is not designed for WordPress or services like Wix and Squarespace, you may need to enter the code manually. Follow the instructions provided by Google in this article
To make sure everything is configured correctly, use the Google Tag Assistant extension for Chrome.
To learn how to test your Google Analytics setup, read this article from the Analytics Help Guide.
- By adding your Google Analytics tracking code in your Cloudbeds PMS configuration, you will only be tracking visitors and reservations from the moment the visitor arrives at the booking engine. To track visits to your own website you must add the tracking codes to it as well.
- If you don't see any E-commerce or Goals results in your Analytics report, check if you have received any Website reservations during that period. If you have not received any reservations, you could also make a test reservation to verify that its tracking properly.
- Check all information about reservation amount, user interaction, source, from within Google Analytics reports. The tracking information is not available in Cloudbeds reports.
- If you have configured Google Analytics in Cloudbeds PMS, but you can only see the bookings engine page as visited on your reports, you must configure Google Analytics in your website as well and it must include cross-domain instructions as explained on this article above.
To learn about Google Analytics (for Groups Booking Engine), see the following articles:
