What do you think?
Rate this book
Google Analytics Demystified: A Hands-On Approach
The Second Edition has been completely revised and updated to reflect the current state of Google Analytics. In addition to these changes, the book has been expanded with new chapters that help you understand how to: - ensure data integrity by removing referral spam,
- use cohort analysis, benchmarking and treemaps to improve insights into site performance,
- use custom tables to reduce data overload, and
- increase site traffic through search engine optimization.
Discussion has also been expanded and refocused throughout the book to make content more actionable and responsive to your own strategic information needs. The Second Edition shows you how you can use Google Analytics to immediately make better informed and therefore more successful decisions.
Simply put, "Google Analytics Demystified "helps you work smarter (not harder), so that you can increase the success of your digital property. We show you how to use and apply Google Analytics to answer questions such as: How are visitors finding my site? What do they do when they arrive? Which content do my visitors find most interesting and motivating? How much of my content is actually being consumed? How do I set site goals and measure how well they are being achieved? What are the strengths and weaknesses of site interactions? What can I do to improve visitors' experience and engagement? How well are my campaigns working? How can I make my campaigns more effective? How can I conduct tests to optimize site characteristics? How do I manage data flow and analysis? How do I choose the most appropriate and useful reports and data?
The book's approach is unique.
Beyond detailed yet easy to understand explanations of key concepts, the book provides you with a free website.
This approach advances your learning in three important ways. First, you will be an active rather than a passive participant in the learning process. You will be able not only to read about what Google Analytics can do, but you can immediately apply and explore key concepts on a working website. Second, you can explore Google Analytics without risk to existing data. Since mistakes are an important part of the learning process, you can make and correct errors without any harm to your existing website. Finally, because you will have an active site and real data, you can explore on your own, thereby increasing your depth of understanding. We walk you through all the steps to obtain and get the free site up and running.
There are also self-assessment questions, application exercises, and case studies (all with answers provided) to ensure your full understanding of Google Analytics.
- use cohort analysis, benchmarking and treemaps to improve insights into site performance,
- use custom tables to reduce data overload, and
- increase site traffic through search engine optimization.
Discussion has also been expanded and refocused throughout the book to make content more actionable and responsive to your own strategic information needs. The Second Edition shows you how you can use Google Analytics to immediately make better informed and therefore more successful decisions.
Simply put, "Google Analytics Demystified "helps you work smarter (not harder), so that you can increase the success of your digital property. We show you how to use and apply Google Analytics to answer questions such as: How are visitors finding my site? What do they do when they arrive? Which content do my visitors find most interesting and motivating? How much of my content is actually being consumed? How do I set site goals and measure how well they are being achieved? What are the strengths and weaknesses of site interactions? What can I do to improve visitors' experience and engagement? How well are my campaigns working? How can I make my campaigns more effective? How can I conduct tests to optimize site characteristics? How do I manage data flow and analysis? How do I choose the most appropriate and useful reports and data?
The book's approach is unique.
Beyond detailed yet easy to understand explanations of key concepts, the book provides you with a free website.
This approach advances your learning in three important ways. First, you will be an active rather than a passive participant in the learning process. You will be able not only to read about what Google Analytics can do, but you can immediately apply and explore key concepts on a working website. Second, you can explore Google Analytics without risk to existing data. Since mistakes are an important part of the learning process, you can make and correct errors without any harm to your existing website. Finally, because you will have an active site and real data, you can explore on your own, thereby increasing your depth of understanding. We walk you through all the steps to obtain and get the free site up and running.
There are also self-assessment questions, application exercises, and case studies (all with answers provided) to ensure your full understanding of Google Analytics.
738 pages, Paperback
First published November 18, 2014
2 people are currently reading
53 people want to read
About the author
Joel J. Davis
9 books1 followerJoel Davis is Emeritus Professor at San Diego State University where he teaches research methods, advertising strategy, and analytics. He is the author of Advertising Research: Theory and Practice, Pass the Google Certification Exam, and Google Optimize Demystified. He is also the co-author of Google Analytics Demystified (4e). Prior to his position at San Diego State, Joel was Vice President, Strategic Planning and Research, at D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 24, 2018
It took me a long time to read this book because I needed to read it with Google Analytics open in front of me. It is intended to serve as a text to help readers pass the Google Analytics Individual Qualification exam, a certification offered by Google. My goal was not to take the GAIQ, simply to become more familiar with what Google Analytics has to offer.
While there are certain areas that are still unclear to me, I learned a lot. As of January 2018, there are very few sections in the 2017 printing that are out of sync with what is currently offered on Google Analytics. I will definitely keep this book on-hand as a reference.
While there are certain areas that are still unclear to me, I learned a lot. As of January 2018, there are very few sections in the 2017 printing that are out of sync with what is currently offered on Google Analytics. I will definitely keep this book on-hand as a reference.
Displaying 1 of 1 review