Before we dive head-first into your Google Analytics reports, it’s useful to understand exactly why you’re using this tool in the first place.

It’s not just because some expert told you to!

Google Analytics lets you do two things

  1. You can observe how different elements of your website are performing.
  2. You can investigate why something is happening.

The second often leads from the first, but they’re two different processes.

The first is what you do when you quickly look at a dashboard or a report. You observe the Engagement Rate or the Bounce Rate or the number of Sessions, and you think “Gee, that’s going well!” or “Hmm… I think that needs improvement.”

The second is what you do next. After you ask “But how do I fix it?” or “How can I keep getting those results?”, you need start looking for the answer.

Your reports will not magically tell you what to do. The questions you ask them are KEY!

Throughout the rest of this course, you’ll learn:

  • How to recognize when what you’re seeing is “real”.
  • How to assess the importance and impact of a change, from the perspective of your business.
  • What kinds of observations and investigations you can make in each set of reports.