How To Track File Downloads In Google Analytics WordPress [MonsterInsights Track Downloads

Last Updated on 3 years by Go Review Rite

If you’re looking for the perfect way to track file downloads in Google Analytics WordPress, then you’re on the right page.

Tracking your file downloads is a simple way to identify which file types are getting the most engagement. However, it goes beyond just finding out how often people are downloading your files.

If you’re looking to expand your online business or website, you should focus on what draws users to your website. By tracking your file downloads, you should get an idea of the files that interest your readers the most and write more like them.

What Do You Need To Track File Downloads?

You can’t really track your file downloads and get accurate results off your WordPress dashboard. WordPress works best with plugins and to track your file downloads accurately, you would need to add the MonsterInsights plugin to your site.

Before you install the MonsterInsights plugin on your WordPress site, you should have Google Analytics connected. This should be pretty obvious but if you’re a newbie, you might have missed this step. Don’t worry, we will cover everything in this guide so you can set up the entire process from beginning to finish.

Why Should You Track File Downloads?

Your file downloads could offer a lot of information about the behavior of your readers and if you’re not already tracking your file downloads, you’re already missing out and probably lagging behind.

The benefits of tracking your file downloads should be pretty obvious to any website owner but we’re going to state them anyway.

With file download tracking, you get to know just how downloadable your files are. You could be giving out a free eBook just to get new subscribers or maybe you’ve got several lead magnets on your site to attract new readers. With file download tracking, you should be able to know how well they are performing.

Not only that, but you can also tell which content type has the best downloads and which is a waste of time. This should help you get more workable results and save precious time on releasing content your readers don’t care about.

Google Analytics won’t outrightly support file downloads tracking so you’ve got to use the MonsterInsights plugin to get the right details on your downloads.

Getting Started

To get started, you would have to set up Google Analytics on your WordPress site. This process is pretty straightforward and the images should help guide you in signing up properly.

Go straight to Google Search and type Google Analytics in the search box. It should be the first option that pops up. Avoid signing up for the business account except you’re ready to spend on your account. Since you just want to track your file downloads, going for the free version is best. ‘

You would have to sign in or sign up. If you own a Gmail account, then click to sign in and type in your Gmail address.

Once signed in, you will be directed to the Google Analytics signup page where you will have to set up your account. Enter your account name which could be your personal name or the name of your website (the name of your website is recommended).

On the next page, you will have to pick the service you want to measure. Since you’re looking to track file downloads on your WordPress site, you’ll have to choose Website.

Next, fill in the spaces with the details of your website including its name, site URL, country, and time zone. Once finished, click to agree to the Google Analytics terms and service.

After that step, you will be presented with your Google Analytics tracking code. You can copy this and save it somewhere, however, you can always come back to check if you need the code.

How to Setup MonsterInsights In Your WordPress Site

The next step is to install MonsterInsights on your WordPress site. Before downloading the plugin, you would have to create an account and purchase a subscription plan. MonsterInsights pricing plans are not the most affordable but they are worth the money.

With your MonsterInsights account created, you can go ahead install and activate the MonsterInsights plugin on your site. Once installed and activated, navigate to the plugin dashboard and click on “Insights“

The MonsterInsights setup wizard will pop up.

The first step here is to choose which category your website falls into. You can choose either business website are for sites owned by companies, publisher (blog) for sites owned by individuals, or ecommerce.

The next step would you require you to connect MonsterInsights to your Google Analytics account.

To do so, you would have to sign in with the Gmail address you used opening the account.

Next, click “Allow” to grant MonsterInsights access to your Google Analytics account.

After that, choose a profile for your account. This should be your website, then click “Complete
Connection“.
.

When done, you can customize your site’s settings. There is really not much to change here as the default settings would work well for most sites. You can actually find the file download tracking settings here but you shouldn’t make the edits here. Just read on.

If you’re a pro subscriber, you can install the Addons on this page. They would be rather helpful to site owners looking to cover bigger markets.

When done click “Finish Setup & Exit Wizard“

With that, you’re all set and you can start tracking your file downloads.

Steps To Tracking Files Downloads in WordPress

With the MonsterInsights plugin installed and connected to your Google Analytics account, the file download tracking features will be enabled automatically.

However, you should check to ensure that all file downloads on your site are properly tracked.

To do so, following the string – Settings >> Tracking >> File Downloads.

Here, you will see an option to track your downloads as Event or Pageview. Go ahead and tick Event. By default, MonsterInsights will track certain file types but you can add more to ensure that every file on your site is properly tracked. Every new file extension added should be separated by a comma.

When done, tap “Save Changes”.

How to View File Downloads in WordPress

MonsterInsights allows you to track file downloads and track your stats in your WordPress dashboard rather than having to log into your Google Analytics account.

To view your file download stats, navigate to Insights >> Report >> Publishers

Here, you will find a download table showing your Top Download links. The link label is the title of the download file while the clicks refer to how many times the file has been download. This table simply shows your top download links. To view more, click on the View All Download Links Report tab.

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How To Track File Downloads in Google Analytics

If you want to know more about your file downloads, you would have to move to Google Analytics. Integrating Google Analytics with MonsterInsights would allow you to track your file downloads even better.

To view your file downloads.

Log into your Google Analytics account.

In the menu area, select the website you wish to rack file downloads

There are several ways to enable download tracking on Google Analytics and the option you ticked will determine where you will find your download report. It should be either in All Pages report or Events report.

If you ticked to track your file downloads as pageviews, then go to Behaviour >> Site Content >> All Pages to check your download reports along with your blog posts and pages.

If you chose to track your file downloads as events, then navigate to Behaviour >> Events.

On the events report page, you will find the following options

Overview: This presents the overall events data of your site

Top Events: This will present a list of events that keep your visitor coming back or that creates higher engagement on your site

Pages: This will present the list of pages and posts where the events (downloads) occurred on your site.

Events Flow: The event flow shows you the path your readers take when reading content on your site. Here, you will be able to see users move from one event to the other and track their movements for better site performance.

To check your downloads in your event report, simply click on downloads. Unfortunately, this won’t offer much download information as you would find on your MonsterInsights dashboard or WordPress dashboard. In your Google Analytics account, you should be able to check how often files are being downloaded oo your site.

Tracking In MonsterInsights vs Google Analytics

Probably the reason why you can’t check each download file in your Google Analytics is due to the fact that you’re using the free version. However, MonsterInsights offers something even better. You should be able to track any and every file type using the MonsterInsights plugin.

While MonsterInsights pricing plans are not the most affordable, they are worth every penny giving you the best tracking stats in WordPress.