Google Analytics Foundations

Google Analytics (GA) is a web-based reporting tool that provides visualizations and tables of data relating to the traffic arriving at, and user-driven events occurring on, your website. In this course, students will learn how to navigate and customize GA reports and configure its settings in order to draw insights from web traffic data. GA is most commonly set up with a related tool, Google Tag Manager (GTM), and a portion of the course will be devoted to understanding how GTM interacts with GA.

Learning Objectives
- Configure the most important settings in the GA Admin area
- Differentiate between Overviews, Standard Reports and Explorations
- Configure a GA dashboard with customized Reports
- Create Explorations: freeform, funnels, and path explorations
- Integrate GTM with GA to track traffic and events

Topic Outline:

Introduction to GA and Setup
- Overview of GA
- Walkthrough of GA interface (Admin, Reports, Explore)
- Connecting a website (Measurement ID, Tag Installation)
- Overview of Home Dashboard
- Introduction to GA cards (dimensions, metrics)

Data Collection and Measurement
- Defining events in GA
- Key metrics and event parameters
- Key user engagement metrics (e.g., session, engagement time)
- Using engagement reports to analyze user behavior
- Demographics and interests reports

Google Analytics Reporting
- Overview of Life Cycle and Acquisition reports
- Drilling down into user behavior and engagement reports
- Step-by-step guide to creating custom dashboards
- Use of dimensions and metrics
- Building detailed explorations for deeper insights

Introduction to Google Tag Manager (GTM)
- Introduction to GTM interface and concepts
- Installing GTM on a website (sitewide JavaScript)
- Understanding Tags, Triggers and Variables
- Installing pageview-based pixels (e.g., GA, Facebook, LinkedIn)
- Setting up event tracking (form submits, element visibility)
- Using GTM's Preview Mode and GA's Debug View

Prerequisites
Ideally, attendees should have a website with GA already set up and collecting traffic data and should have at least "Editor" permissions to see and customize their GA reports. If not, the instructor will give them temporary access to a third-party website.