Making sense of digital marketing data can be a complex challenge.

Valuable information often sits scattered across different platforms, potentially obscuring the complete picture of a customer’s journey.

This fragmentation might lead to uncertainty when making decisions about marketing strategies.

For example, you might use HubSpot to track email campaigns and lead generation. At the same time, you rely on Google Analytics for website traffic and user behaviour data.

This separation can create gaps. You might see high email open rates in HubSpot, but struggle to connect this to actual website conversions in Google Analytics.

Or you might notice increased traffic from a specific source in Google Analytics but can’t easily tie it to new leads in HubSpot.

These disconnects can make it challenging to get a clear picture of your marketing effectiveness.

The integration between those two software is one way to address these issues. It can help with data analysis and marketing insights.

But is it true that integration is the answer to that kind of problem?

Today, this article will explore more of the integration. We’ll talk dig deeper about the difference between HubSpot analytics and Google analytics and the benefits it brings to your data analytics effort.

And of course, we’ll explore more about the feature and steps needed to integrate it.

Without further ado, let’s get to it.

What is the difference between HubSpot website analytics and Google Analytics?

HubSpot website analytics focuses on marketing and sales metrics.

It tracks visitor interactions, lead generation, and customer lifecycle stages. HubSpot excels at connecting website activity to specific contacts in your database. This helps you see how individual leads engage with your content over time.

Google Analytics, on the other hand, provides broader website performance data.

It offers detailed insights into user behaviour, traffic sources, and page performance. Google Analytics is strong in areas like event tracking, user flow analysis, and custom reporting.

Some of the key differences include:

1. Data granularity: Google Analytics often provides more detailed data about user behaviour on your website.
2. User identification: HubSpot can track known contacts, while Google Analytics typically deals with anonymous users.
3. Reporting flexibility: Google Analytics offers more customisation options for reports and dashboards.
4. Marketing focus: HubSpot’s analytics are tailored to inbound marketing strategies, while Google Analytics covers broader web analytics.
5. Integration with other tools: HubSpot integrates seamlessly with its own CRM and marketing tools, while Google Analytics works well with other Google products.

Another example of this difference is how HubSpot and Google Analytics define and measure sessions differently.

HubSpot mentions in their knowledge base that their session measurements include various visitor activities on your website, such as page views, CTA clicks, and events.

These sessions expire after 30 minutes of inactivity and restart at midnight in the account’s timezone. New sessions also begin when a visitor returns from a different traffic source.

Google Analytics, however, counts a session when someone reaches your site from any referring source within a set timeframe.

Sessions end after a period of inactivity (typically 30 minutes) but don’t restart at midnight or with new campaign parameters. A new session begins only after this timeout or when a user returns.

So, for more accurate measurements, it’s important to decide on what metrics you want to measure your website performance: HubSpot or Google Analytics.

It is important to note that the purpose of this integration is to optimise the capabilities of both software, not to create HubSpot website analytics with Google-style measurements.

How does HubSpot’s integration with Google Analytics help your data analysis?

HubSpot’s integration with Google Analytics combines the strengths of both platforms, offering several advantages:

1. Unified data view: The integration allows you to see HubSpot and Google Analytics data in one place. This provides a more comprehensive picture of your marketing performance.
2. Better lead tracking: Connecting Google Analytics data with HubSpot’s contact database enables you to track a lead’s journey from their first website visit to becoming a customer.
3. Improved attribution: The integration helps you better understand which marketing efforts are driving results. You can see how different channels contribute to lead generation and conversions.
4. More accurate reporting: Combining data from both platforms allows you to create more detailed and accurate reports. This helps in making informed decisions about your marketing strategies.
5. Better segmentation: The integration allows for more sophisticated audience segmentation. You can use Google Analytics data to create more targeted HubSpot lists and campaigns.

Making the most of both platforms gives you a better picture of your digital marketing efforts. It provides insights that neither platform could supply on its own, bridging the gap between anonymous website visitors and known leads.

Now we get a better understanding of the difference between HubSpot and Google Analytics tracking methods and the benefit.

Let’s explore more about the features it has to offer.

More in Nexalab’s blog: HubSpot & Slack Integration, All You Need to Know, From Features to Integration Methods

HubSpot-Google Analytics Integration Features

The integration of HubSpot and Google Analytics opens up new possibilities for your digital marketing efforts. Combining these platforms gives you a clearer picture of your website’s performance, visitor behaviour, and marketing effectiveness.

With this integration, you can track website traffic and user behaviour, analyse marketing campaigns, measure conversion rates, monitor website performance, and create custom reports.

These features provide valuable insights into how visitors interact with your site, which marketing channels are most effective, how well you’re converting visitors into leads or customers, and how your site is performing overall.

Let’s explore these key features in more detail:

1. Track Website Traffic and User Behavior

When you connect HubSpot and Google Analytics, you get a clear picture of how people use your website. You can see which pages they visit most, how long they stick around, and how they move from one page to another. This information is gold because it shows you:

• What content your audience really likes
• Where you might be losing visitors’ interest
• How people actually navigate your site
• Which pages are best at turning visitors into customers?

Using these insights, you can make your website better, create more of the content people want, and make the whole experience smoother for your visitors.

But there’s more. This combo also lets you keep tabs on individual visitors and add their info to your HubSpot CRM. This means you can build detailed profiles of your audience and really understand what makes them tick.

Plus, by adding your Google Analytics tracking to your HubSpot pages, you can see how well your landing pages, blog posts, and other content are doing. This helps you spot your top-performing content and tweak your marketing to do more of what works.

2. Analyse Marketing Campaigns

When you link up HubSpot and Google Analytics, you get a clear view of how your marketing efforts are paying off. This powerful combo shows you:

• Which channels are bringing in the most visitors?
• How good that traffic is (are they just passing by or actually interested?)
• How well your different campaigns are doing at grabbing attention and turning visitors into customers
• What you’re getting back for every dollar you spend on each marketing channel

This info is super helpful for figuring out where to put your marketing money and effort to get the best results.

Plus, you can add Google Analytics tracking to your website’s code, which is like putting a smart tracker on all your marketing channels.

This lets you see how well things like your social media posts, emails, and online ads are working. When you know which channels are bringing in the most visitors, leads, and sales, you can fine-tune your marketing strategy to do more of what works and less of what doesn’t.

3. Measure Conversion Rates

When you connect HubSpot and Google Analytics, you get a clear picture of how well you’re turning visitors into leads or customers. This powerful combo lets you:

• See how many people are taking action on different pages or offers
• Follow the journey from when someone first finds you to when they become a customer
• Spot where people might be getting stuck in your sales process
• Compare how well different groups of people or marketing campaigns are converting

Understanding these numbers helps you figure out where to make improvements and where to focus your efforts for the biggest impact.

But that’s not all. This integration also lets you track how well different groups of people, marketing campaigns, and pieces of content are converting. This helps you spot what’s working best and what needs a boost.

Also, you get detailed reports that show you exactly how people move through your sales process. It’s like having a map of your customers’ journey. This helps you see where people might be getting confused or losing interest, so you can make those parts better and smoother.

All of this information helps you make your marketing and sales processes work better, so you can turn more visitors into happy customers.

4. Monitor Website Performance

The integration of HubSpot and Google Analytics helps you keep an eye on important things like how fast your pages load and how many people leave your site quickly. This cool combo lets you:

• Spot pages that people tend to leave right away or that take forever to load
• See how your website’s speed affects how people use it and whether they become customers
• Watch what happens when you make changes to your site
• Make sure your site works smoothly on phones, tablets, and computers

Knowing all this helps you make your website better for visitors, which can keep them around longer and turn more of them into customers.

But there’s more! This integration gives you a whole bunch of ways to check how well your website is doing.

You can look at things like how fast pages load, how many people leave quickly, and how much people interact with your site. This information helps you figure out what parts of your site need some love.

Another thing is, you can see what happens when you make changes to your website. Comparing how people use your site before and after you make changes tells you if those changes are actually helping.

This way, you’re not just guessing—you’re using real information to make your website better and give visitors a great experience.

5. Create Custom Reports

This feature lets you combine data from both HubSpot and Google Analytics to create detailed, comprehensive reports. You can:

• Create custom dashboards that show the metrics most important to your business
• Combine website analytics with CRM data for a full-fun view
• Generate reports that show the impact of marketing efforts on sales outcomes
• Share insights across your organization with easy-to-understand visualizations

These reports provide a full picture of your marketing performance, helping you make informed decisions about your marketing strategy and demonstrate the value of your efforts to stakeholders.

How to Integrate HubSpot with Google Analytics

There are two main ways to do this: native integration and API integration. Let’s dive into both methods to help you choose the best fit for your business.

Native Integration

Native integration is the quickest and easiest way to connect HubSpot and Google Analytics. It’s perfect for most businesses, especially if you’re just starting out or don’t need super-customised tracking.

Here’s how to set it up:

1. Log into your HubSpot account
2. Go to Settings > Website > Pages
3. Select the domain you want to track
4. Click on the “Integrations” tab
5. Check the box for “Integrate with Google Analytics 4” and enter your Google Analytics Measurement ID

You don’t need any coding skills, and you can set it up in just a few minutes. It covers most basic tracking needs, making it ideal for small to medium-sized businesses or those just starting with analytics.

However, it’s worth noting that this simplicity comes at the cost of advanced customisation options. If you need highly specific tracking or custom reports, you might find the native integration a bit limiting.

Remember that the steps above are the basic steps to integrate Google Analytics 4 with your website. For more technical and in-depth step-by-step, it is advisable to check the official guides from the HubSpot Knowledge Base.

Custom API Integration

API integration is the more advanced option. It gives you more control and allows for deeper customisation of how data flows between HubSpot and Google Analytics.

However, there are some things to consider before you decide to do custom API integration:

• What specific data do you need to track?
• Do you need custom reports or dashboards?
• How will this integration fit into your existing systems?

API integration shines when it comes to flexibility and customisation.

You can create tailored reports, track specific user actions, and integrate data from multiple sources. This makes it ideal for larger businesses or those with complex tracking needs.

The downside? It requires technical expertise to set up and maintain. It can be time-consuming to implement, and you might need ongoing support to keep everything running smoothly.

If you’re interested in API integration but lack the technical expertise, it’s advisable to consult with integration experts like Nexalab. Expert help allows you to focus on using the data to grow your business rather than getting caught up in technical details.

More in Nexalab’s blog: HubSpot Email Marketing Automation, Overview, Set Up Guide, and Tips to Maximise It

Conclusion

Integrating HubSpot with Google Analytics is a powerful way to enhance your marketing strategy and gain deeper insights into your customer journey.

Whether you choose the straightforward native integration or the more customisable API approach, the combined power of these platforms can significantly boost your marketing effectiveness. As you consider your integration options, remember that the choice should align with your specific business needs and technical capabilities.

Looking for experts to help with your custom HubSpot integration?

Nexalab App Integration services is here to help with your integration needs. Our team takes care of the whole process, from getting everything set up to keeping it running smoothly. We understand that every business is different, so we customise our approach to fit what you need.

Contact Nexalab today to explore how we can help with your HubSpot integrations.