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How To Get Started With The Custom Dimensions Add-On

Custom Dimensions is an inbuilt add-on of Analytify Pro. It extends plugin functionality by tracking additional custom data in your Google Analytics reports. It can be used to track the author’s performance of your blog posts, the category or tags of your blog posts, Post types, campaign, or source that brought them to your website, and more. 

In this knowledge base article, we’ll walk you through Set Up Custom Dimensions with Analytify.

Table of Contents

Step 1: Activate Custom Dimensions Add-On

1.1: Login into Your WordPress Dashboard

1.2: Activate Custom Dimensions

Step 2: Create Custom Dimensions in Analytify

2.1: Add Custom Dimensions in Analytify

2:2 Add New Dimension

Step 3: Setup Custom Dimensions in Google Analytics

Why to set the scope in Custom Dimensions?

Step 4: Match Custom Dimension Values

Analytify Custom Dimensions in Universal Analytics

Custom Dimensions Dashboard in Analytify

Video Tutorial 

If you’d prefer written instructions, keep reading.

Step 1: Activate Custom Dimensions Add-On in Analytify

To set up custom dimensions on your site, you’ll need to Activate the Custom Dimensions add-on in Analytify.

Note: We assume that you have already installed the Analytify Pro.  If not, check out our detailed guide on How to Install And Activate Analytify Pro?

1.1: Login into Your WordPress Dashboard 

Go to your WordPress admin dashboard, and navigate to Analytify >> Add-ons. 

1.2: Activate Custom Dimensions 

Next, on the add-ons window, navigate to Custom Dimensions >> Activate add-on.

 On pressing Activate add-on, Custom Dimension in Analytify gets activated. 

Step 2: Create Custom Dimensions in Analytify 

Once the Custom Dimensions add-on is activated,  it’s time to create Custom Dimensions. 

2.1: Add Custom Dimensions in Analytify 

To add Custom Dimensions in Analytify, navigate to Analytify  >> Settings in your WordPress admin dashboard. 

Then, head toward Tracking >> Custom Dimensions to Add Dimension in a new window. 

2:2 Add New Dimension 

Once on this page, click Add Dimension to select the required Dimensions, such as Author, Post Type, Published at, Category, etc. 

Note: You can add more custom dimensions per your website’s tracking requirement. 

After that, it’s time to add Dimensions ID (values) against each selected Dimension. For that, we have to set them up in Google Analytics. 

Step 3: Setup Custom Dimensions in Google Analytics 

Note: This step is only for Universal Analytics users. If you’re using Google Analytics 4, you’re not required to set the custom dimensions in your Google Analytics account manually. 

Now that you’ve set up Custom Dimensions on your website using Analytify, the next step is to set them up in Google Analytics.

Go to the Admin section of your Google Analytics Account. Select the Property for which you want to enable custom dimensions. 

Then click on Custom Definitions  >> Custom Dimensions. It opens a new window with the option +NEW CUSTOM DIMENSION.

Clicking +NEW CUSTOM DIMENSION allows you to Add Custom Dimension. Simply enter the dimension name, and click Create. You don’t have to change any of the other settings.

 Scope in Custom Dimensions 

The scope of custom dimensions is defined as the characteristic/property of each dimension and metric, and each dimension or metric can only have one scope.

In Google Analytics, there are 4 types of scopes, but in our case, we are using 2 scopes only for custom dimensions (Hit & Session)

1. Hit: A hit is defined as a single action on your website/blog, like page view or an event is occurred/is triggered by downloading a file (pdf, word)
   
2. Session:  A session is defined as one or more hits/actions within a specific time.
3. Product: This scope value is applied to the product for which it has been set (Enhanced Ecommerce only).
4. User: This scope value is applied to all hits in current and future sessions until the value changes or the custom dimension is made inactive.

Note: We will select the scope according to the type of custom dimension we will create. For the author custom dimension, we will select the scope Hit because, in this custom dimension, we will track the performance of the author’s content performance that includes views, impressions, and clicks, and these metrics are counted as a Hit.

Step 4: Match Custom Dimension Values 

After creating Custom Dimensions in Google Analytics Account, the last step is to add those Index numbers retrieved from Google Analytics.

To do that, go back to Analytify >> Settings >> Tracking >> Custom Dimension. Add Index numbers (values) against each Custom Dimension and click Save Changes. 

Note: Custom Dimension ID should correspond to the index number in Google Analytics. 

Analytify Custom Dimensions in Universal Analytics 

In Analytify, you can get the following Custom Dimensions to set up in Universal Analytics. 

1. Author Tracking: It helps you track the Author’s performance of your blog posts and eventually to see which author’s posts drive most of the traffic, but it will also identify the average time a user spends on that post.
2. Post Type: It will help you track which WordPress post types are performing better in terms of engagement.
3. Category: It will help you track which sections of your website are performing well and are the most popular sections on your website.
4. Published Atat: The Published At will allow you to track the performance of content/blog posts according to the published date of content/blog post.
5. Logged in :This custom dimension will help you to track your website visitors/users’ status, whether they are logged in or not on your website.
6. User ID: With this dimension, you can easily track your website’s logged-in users’ activity on your website. 
7. Tags: Tags will help you get detailed performance insights/analytics of different posts, enabling you to understand which post performs well.
8. SEO Score: If you are using Yoast SEO plugin on your website or blog, you can use the SEO score custom dimension to analyze the SEO Score of your post or pages in Google Analytics.
9. Focus Keyword: If you use the Yoast SEO plugin on your website/blog, then you can use the Focus Keyword custom dimension to analyze the focus keyword of your posts or pages in Google Analytics.

Custom Dimensions Dashboard in Analytify  

Once you have added your custom dimension names and values, Analytify will automatically track this data in your Google Analytics reports and display it in your WordPress dashboard.

To see Custom Dimensions Analytics in Analytify, go to your WordPress dashboard.

Navigate to Analytify >>  Dashboards >> Engagement >> Dimensions. 

That’s all! You have successfully installed and set up Custom dimensions in Analytify. It can help you gain deeper insights into your website’s traffic and user behavior. If you want in-depth tracking of author-related metrics, see our guide on How to Get Started with Authors Add-on.

If you have any doubts or questions related to this matter, please don’t hesitate to contact our support team.