Can Google Analytics Track Any Website?
Curious if Google Analytics can work its magic on any and all websites you come across? The short answer is yes, theoretically, but with one massive catch: you must have permission to add a small piece of code to the site first. This article breaks down how Google Analytics tracking works, what you absolutely need to have in place, its limitations, and why you can't just start tracking your competitor’s website.
So, Can You Track 'Any' Website with Google Analytics?
Technically speaking, Google Analytics can collect data from almost any website that can run JavaScript. This covers the vast majority of sites on the internet today, from small personal blogs built on WordPress to massive e-commerce stores on Shopify and custom-built corporate sites.
However, the most important requirement isn’t technical - it's about access and ownership. To track a website, you must be able to add the Google Analytics tracking code to its source files. This means you either own the website or have been given administrative permissions to modify it.
So, if you’re hoping to peek at the internal analytics of a competitor or a site you admire, unfortunately, you’re out of luck. Google Analytics is a first-party analytics tool, meaning it’s designed for website owners to analyze their own traffic, not for spying on others.
How Google Analytics Tracking Actually Works
Understanding the "how" clarifies the "why" behind the permission requirement. The entire system hinges on a unique piece of JavaScript code, often referred to as the GA tag or Gtag.
Here’s a simplified breakdown of the process:
- You add the tracking code: You copy your unique Gtag from your Google Analytics account and then paste it into the HTML of every page you want to track.
- A user visits your website: When someone lands on a page, their browser executes this JavaScript code.
- Data is collected and sent: The script gathers anonymous information about the visit, bundles it into a "hit" (like a pageview or an event), and sends it off to Google’s servers.
- Google processes the data: Google's servers receive this information, process it, and organize it into the familiar reports you see in your Analytics dashboard.
Without that piece of code acting as a data collector on the website, Google has no way of knowing who visited, what pages they looked at, or how long they stayed. The script is the essential link between the website and your Analytics account.
Key Requirements for Google Analytics Tracking
Getting Google Analytics up and running is straightforward, but you need to check a few boxes. Missing any of these will prevent data from being collected correctly.
1. You Must Own or Have Access to the Website's Code
This is the non-negotiable step. You can't get around it. How you implement the code depends on the platform your website is built on.
- For WordPress Sites: The simplest way is to use a plugin that handles the integration for you. Google’s own Site Kit plugin is a great option. Alternatively, many WordPress themes have a dedicated section in their settings (often labeled "Header/Footer Scripts" or "Integrations") where you can paste the Gtag.
- For Platform-Based Sites (Shopify, Squarespace, Wix): These platforms are built to make things easy. They almost always have a specific field in their settings dedicated to your Google Analytics Measurement ID. You simply copy your ID (which looks like
G-XXXXXXXXXX) from your GA account and paste it into the right spot. They handle placing the code on every page for you. - For Custom-Coded Websites: If your site was built from scratch, you'll need to edit the source code directly. You copy the entire JavaScript Gtag and paste it into the
<head>section of your HTML file(s). It should appear on every page of your site to ensure consistent tracking.
2. The Website Must Be Able to Run JavaScript
For modern sites, this is almost never an issue. JavaScript is the language that powers most of the interactive elements on the web. However, in some rare cases, it might be a factor:
- Extremely restrictive environments: Some secure corporate intranets or internal networks may block external JavaScripts from running, which would prevent the GA tag from firing.
- Users who disable JavaScript: A very small fraction of web users disable JavaScript in their browsers for privacy or security reasons. For these few users, your GA script will not run, and their visit will not be tracked. The number is small enough that it generally doesn't skew your overall data, but it's good to know.
3. You Need to Consider Privacy and Consent
In today's privacy-focused world, you can't just track users without telling them. Regulations like GDPR in Europe and CCPA in California require website owners to be transparent about data collection.
This is where cookie consent banners come in. A proper setup means that your Google Analytics script won’t actually fire and collect data until a user has clicked "accept" or given their consent. If a user rejects cookies or ignores the banner, their visit won’t be tracked. Implementing a Consent Management Platform (CMP) is the best way to handle this legally and ethically.
What About Tracking Other People's Websites?
Let's be direct: You cannot use Google Analytics to track a website you don’t control. The entire security and privacy model of the web is designed to prevent this. To reiterate, without the ability to inject your tracking code onto their server, there's no way to collect their data.
So, how do marketers get insights into competitor performance? They use third-party competitive intelligence tools, not Google Analytics. Platforms like Semrush, Ahrefs, or SimilarWeb provide estimated traffic data. These tools get their data from large panels of users, internet service providers, and public web data to model what a website's traffic might look like. It's an educated guess - not the precise, user-level data you get from your own Google Analytics account.
Types of Websites and Content Google Analytics Can't Easily Track
While GA is incredibly versatile, there are a few scenarios where standard tracking becomes challenging or doesn't work as expected.
Single Page Applications (SPAs)
Websites built with frameworks like React or Vue often operate as Single Page Applications. In an SPA, clicking a link doesn't trigger a full new page load. Instead, content is dynamically updated on the same page. A basic GA setup only records the initial pageview, missing all subsequent "pages" the user sees. To track SPAs correctly, you need to enable GA4’s Enhanced measurement, which automatically detects browser history changes, or implement custom event tracking to tell GA when a virtual pageview has occurred.
iFrames and Third-Party Embedded Content
If you embed content from another website into yours via an iframe (for example, a third-party booking widget), browser security policies will generally prevent your GA tag from tracking what a user does inside that iframe. Your GA can tell you that a user was on the page containing the iframe, but it can’t see the clicks happening within the embedded content unless the third-party service explicitly offers a way to pass that information back to your site.
Activity Across Multiple Domains or Subdomains
Out of the box, Google Analytics treats traffic on www.mybusiness.com and shop.mybusiness.com as coming from two separate users, which can mess up your customer journey reports. If your business operates across multiple subdomains (like a blog and a separately-hosted shop) or even entirely different domains (like a user journey that starts on one site and ends on another you control), you need to set up cross-domain tracking. This is a more advanced configuration in GA that allows it to recognize one user as they move between your owned properties.
Final Thoughts
Google Analytics is powerful enough to track almost any website, provided you control it and can add the necessary JavaScript code. The key takeaway is that access is everything - without it, you can’t collect any data. Proper setup involves installing a tracking code, respecting user privacy with consent banners, and configuring for specific cases like single-page apps or cross-domain journeys.
Once you have Google Analytics collecting data, the next challenge is turning those numbers into clear, actionable insights without spending hours digging through reports. That’s where we aim to help. With Graphed , you connect your Google Analytics account in seconds and can immediately start building custom dashboards and reports with simple, natural language. Instead of navigating confusing menus, you can just ask, "Show me my top 10 landing pages by conversions from organic search this month," and get an instant visualization.
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