Google Analytics IQ Lessons

Follow these lessons to prepare for the Google Analytics Individual Qualification (IQ) test or to simply become a more knowledgeable Google Analytics user. The presentations move quickly; use the Pause and Back buttons to make sure that you don’t miss anything. You can click the Notes tab in the presentation to read what is being said. Access to a Google Analytics account is strongly recommended so that you can experiment and apply what you learn.

First Steps

• Introduction to Google Analytics: Watch presentation

Introduction (6:29 minutes)

In this lesson, you will learn:

• what Google Analytics can do for your business or website
• how Google Analytics works
• how often your data is updated and how Google stores it
• how to set your Data Sharing preferences




• Interface Navigation: Watch presentation

Interface Navigation (7:39 minutes)

In this lesson, you will learn:

• how to set date ranges and comparison date ranges
• how to graph data by day, week, and month
• how to compare multiple metrics on graphs
• about the user interface options for exporting data
• how to email reports to others
• how to navigate between report detail levels
• how to use the report views
• how to quickly segment and sort data in reports




• Installing the Google Analytics Tracking Code: Watch presentation

Installing the Google Analytics Tracking Code (7:37 minutes)

In this lesson, you will learn:

• how to create a new account
• where to place the Google Analytics Tracking Code
• about website setups that require customization
• how to verify installation

Interpreting Reports

• Guidelines: Watch presentation

Guidelines (4:25 minutes)

In this lesson, you will learn:

• best practices for analyzing data
• how to analyze data trends
• how to use the data visualizations in Google Analytics




• Pageviews, Visits, and Visitors: Watch presentation

Pageviews, Visits, and Visitors (3:27 minutes)

In this lesson, you will learn:

• where to find Pageviews, Visits, and Visitors metrics
• how Pageviews, Visits, and Visitors are calculated
• the difference between Pageviews and Unique Pageviews
• the difference between Absolute Unique Visitors and New vs. Returning Visitors




• Time Metrics: Watch presentation

Time Metrics (2:11 minutes)

In this lesson, you will learn:

• how Time on Page and Time on Site are calculated
• how Avg. Time on Page and Avg. Time on Site are calculated
• about the Length of Visit report




• Traffic Sources: Watch presentation

Traffic Sources (6:09 minutes)

In this lesson, you will learn:

• about the different kinds of traffic sources
• how to identify quality traffic
• how to identify revenue and conversion drivers
• what kinds of information to look for in keyword reports
• how campaign attribution works in Google Analytics




• Content Reports: Watch presentation

Content Reports (3:53 minutes)

In this lesson, you will learn:

• how to use and interpret the Top Content, Content by Title, and Content Drilldown reports
• how to use the Top Landing Pages report
• how to use and interpret the Navigation Summary report
• how to use and interpret the Entrance Paths report

Fundamentals

• Profiles in Google Analytics: Watch presentation

Accounts and Profiles (7:09 minutes)

In this lesson, you will learn:

• how to create, manage, and delete accounts
• best practices for managing accounts
• when to create profiles
• how to create, manage, and delete profiles




• Campaign Tracking and AdWords Integration: Watch presentation

Campaign Tracking and AdWords Integration (13:47 minutes)

In this lesson, you will learn:

• how to track campaigns using tagged links
• how to track AdWords campaigns
• when to use autotagging and how it works
• how to enable autotagging
• where to find AdWords data in your reports
• the expected kinds of data discrepancies between AdWords and Analytics data
• when and how to manually tag URLs
• how to use the URL Builder
• best practices for tagging links




• Analysis Focus – AdWords: Watch presentation

Understanding AdWords Reports (7:03 minutes)

In this lesson, you will learn:

• how to use the Clicks tab metrics in AdWords reports
• how to analyze the effect of search result position on performance
• how to track audio and TV campaigns in AdWords
• how to track ad performance




• Goals in Google Analytics: Watch presentation

Goals and Funnels (8:13 minutes)

In this lesson, you will learn:

• the purpose of using goals, goal values, and funnels
• when to use each Goal URL Match Type
• how to assign meaningful values to goals
• how goal conversions differ from transactions
• how filters can affect goals
• where to find goal and funnel information in reports




• Analysis Focus – Funnel Visualization: Watch presentation

Funnel Visualization (2:48 minutes)

In this lesson, you will learn:

• how to use and interpret the Funnel Visualization report




• Filters in Google Analytics: Watch presentation

Google Analytics Filters (10:31 minutes)

In this lesson, you will learn:

• when to apply filters in Google Analytics
• how filters act on data
• how to create custom filters
• the differences between the different kinds of filters (i.e. exclude, include, etc)
• how to filter Google AdWords traffic
• how to use filters and profiles together to track certain kinds of traffic
• best practices for using filters




• Regex and Google Analytics: Watch presentation

Regex (8:59 minutes)

In this lesson, you will learn:

• when to use regular expressions in Google Analytics
• how to use the most common metacharacters: dot, backslash, etc.
• some examples of common regular expressions in Google Analytics




• Cookies and Google Analytics: Watch presentation

Cookies and Google Analytics (11:25 minutes)

In this lesson, you will learn:

• how Google Analytics uses cookies
• the differences between persistent and temporary cookies
• the differences between first party and third party cookies
• the names of the Google Analytics cookies and the information they track




• E-commerce Tracking: Watch presentation

Ecommerce Tracking (5:21 minutes)

In this lesson, you will learn:

• where to find ecommerce metrics in reports
• how to enable and track ecommerce




• Analysis Focus – Revenue Metrics: Watch presentation

Revenue Metrics (3:30 minutes)

In this lesson, you will learn:

• the differences between goal value and e-commerce revenue
• how $Index is calculated and how to use it




• Domains and Subdomains: Watch presentation

Tracking Domains and Subdomains (7:14 minutes)

In this lesson, you will learn:

• when to track across domains using the _link() method
• when to track across domains using the _linkByPost() method
• how to track across subdomains
• best practices for tracking across subdomains
• how to track across multiple domains with subdomains

In-Depth Analysis

• Custom Reporting: Watch presentation

Custom Reporting (4 minutes)

In this lesson, you will learn:

• how to create, save, and edit a custom report




• Advanced Segmentation: Watch presentation

Advanced Segments (6 minutes)

In this lesson, you will learn:

• how Advanced Segments differ from filtered profiles
• to apply an Advanced Segment to your reports
• how to create and modify an Advanced Segment




• Motion Charts: Watch presentation

Motion Charts (4 minutes)

In this lesson, you will learn:

• how to read Motion Charts
• how to create and save a Motion Chart




• Internal Site Search: Watch presentation

Internal Site Search (9:40 minutes)

In this lesson, you will learn:

• how to set up internal site search
• why internal site search is important
• how to find site search information in your reports
• how to interpret the Site Search Usage, Terms, Start Pages, and Destination Pages reports
• how to use Search Refinement and Search Navigation options with the Search Terms report
• how to set up and analyze Site Search Categories
• how to find Site Search Trending
• how Site Search metrics differ from the metrics in other reports




• Event Tracking and Virtual Pageviews: Watch presentation

Event Tracking and Virtual Pageviews (7 minutes)

In this lesson, you will learn:

• when to use virtual pageviews versus event tracking
• how to generate a virtual pageview
• how to track an event using _trackEvent()
• the relationship between Categories, Actions, Labels, and Values
• the difference between Total Events and Unique Events
• best practices for setting up Event Tracking




• The Custom Visitor Segment Variable: Watch presentation

Custom Visitor Segmentation Variable (4:08 minutes)

In this lesson, you will learn:

• how to use and set the User Defined variable
• the best practices for using User Defined
• how to view User Defined values in reports




• Additional Customizations: Watch presentation

Additional Customizations (2:48 minutes)

In this lesson, you will learn:

• how to change session timeout value
• how to change campaign expiration
• how to change campaign precedence
• how to add a search engine
• how to treat certain keywords as direct
• how to treat certain referring sites as direct