Google Analytics Prerequisites

While there are no definite prerequisites for learning Google Analytics, some personality traits and tendencies can make it easier. If you like working with numbers and data, enjoy technology, and are not easily discouraged, you are more likely to be successful when it comes to learning Google Analytics. This guide will help you understand the best methods for learning Google Analytics and what you should study first to make the learning process easier. This way, you’ll be successful however you choose to apply your new skills.

What is Google Analytics?

Google Analytics (or GA) is a tool within the Google Marketing Platform that collects and tracks user data, compiles it into reports, and helps you develop strategies to improve your website or app’s performance. To use GA, you will install a tracking code onto each page of your website. Google collects information about the visitors to your website and what they do there. Google Analytics can help you understand what’s working and what isn’t when it comes to digital marketing strategy, and the best part is that it is free to use.

Google Analytics can be useful simply for yourself if you’re a business owner, or you can use it as part of a marketing team within a larger company. Google Analytics allows you to tailor the data you choose to track depending on your goals. Because digital marketing depends upon identifying a highly targeted audience, GA is the foundation of a successful digital marketing campaign.

Read more about what Google Analytics is and why you should learn it.

What Can You Do with Google Analytics?

Google Analytics is a highly customizable, in-depth tool that offers insights to help your business thrive, and you can use it for free. Although it can initially feel overwhelming and complicated, the information GA provides is worth the effort.

The data that GA collects, stores, and reports on can help marketers learn what strategies are working and what aren’t. It can measure marketing efforts, both on and offline. It can help you make better, more savvy business decisions. The information Google Analytics provides can also identify specific problems or shortcomings on your website. The data you’ll get is specific, targeted information.

You can use Google Analytics to measure the customer experience from when they enter your website or app to when they leave. You can track valuable information such as how they found your site, who purchased something, what pages your visitors looked at, how they moved through the site, and so much more. And while it’s important to know where your website and business are thriving, it’s also critical to understand where you’re falling short and losing customers. Using Google Analytics can help with that, too.

Is Google Analytics Easy to Learn?

For most people, Google Analytics is not particularly easy to learn. However, if you enjoy working with numbers and are comfortable with technology, you shouldn’t have too much trouble. You can watch some free tutorials, listen to podcasts, or read books, but most people find it easier to take a class when they learn something new.

Noble Desktop offers a couple of courses in Google Analytics. These classes are available in-person at Noble’s NYC location, or students can attend live online Google Analytics classes from anywhere in the world. Not interested in taking a more comprehensive course but still want to learn? Get a general overview of GA with Noble’s free Google Analytics seminar. Another free resource available from Noble Desktop is their digital marketing blog, which has a wealth of informative articles about web analytics and other topics. You can also take free classes at Google Academy.

What to Know Before Learning Google Analytics

Having some skills makes learning GA easier. Logical reasoning, curiosity, a love of learning, and perseverance are personality traits that can make learning GA easier. Some technical skills that will help you get a job in Data Analytics are knowing what data to collect, how to set it up, which reports to choose, and how to interpret them. Some soft skills that will help are critical thinking, logic, curiosity, and perseverance.

Critical Thinking, Logic, and Problem-Solving

Critical thinking, logic, and problem-solving are related skills that underlie a career in Data Analytics. You need to be able to interpret data and decide if a website is performing well and how to improve performance. What do you do with the information you get from Google Analytics? How do you set goals and access data to measure them?

Curiosity, Perseverance, and Life-Long Learning

Curiosity about how data works and why is another important skill that will make you a good Data Analyst. Digging into the topic and reading everything you can find, listening to podcasts, and attending conferences can help you stay on top of the fast-changing field of web analytics.

Sticking with a problem until you solve it is also essential with something like Google Analytics. GA can be complicated to use, and it is essential not to give up.

Key Insights

• Google Analytics (GA) is a powerful free tool that collects data and offers insights into how to improve your online business. It can also help you see what your competition is doing right and wrong so that you can alter your strategy.
• You can learn GA to improve your online business or switch to a career as a Data Analyst.
• Learning GA can be easier with soft skills like communication, critical thinking, problem-solving, and persistence.
• You can receive comprehensive Google Analytics training through an in-person or live online course with Noble Desktop.

Learn Google Analytics with Hands-on Training at Noble Desktop

If you want to change careers and become a Digital Marketing Data Analyst, you can sign up for Google Analytics Bootcamp. This two-part class will teach you how to set up an account, know which metrics to track, and understand the Google Analytics reports. The classes also cover upcoming changes to Google Analytics when GA4 replaces GA Universal in July 2024.

Another way to prepare for a career as a Data Analyst is a digital marketing certificate course. Noble’s Digital Marketing Certificate includes the digital marketing, SEO, and Google Analytics bootcamps, plus Google Ads and classes on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok, and Twitter marketing, as well as content marketing with blogs.