Best Google Analytics Courses for Beginners (Free & Paid)

If you’re going to succeed in the competitive world of online marketing and SEO, you’ll find a lot of value in a Google Analytics training course.

Google Analytics is often the key to ensuring a marketing campaign is successful, particularly if you want to thrive in the search engines.

Google Analytics is kind of like great art. It’s complex and mature. The more you learn about it, the more you can appreciate it.

Unfortunately, a lot of website owners simply don’t know how to harness the full potential of Google Analytics. There’s more to it than just checking real-time metrics.

Today, we’re going to explore some of the best Google Analytics courses for beginners, marketers, and even experts looking to hone their skills.

Who should take a Google Analytics course?

There are plenty of people who can benefit from a Google Analytics course. The most obvious individual is usually a digital marketing specialist – someone who’s going to be spending a lot of time and effort making a company’s advertising efforts more successful.

However, you can also benefit from a Google Analytics course if you’re an SEO expert, brand manager, or just a business owner trying to boost your position online.

Here are some of the best reasons to take a Google Analytics course:

Enhance your competency: The biggest benefit of a Google Analytics certification is you can improve your competency in using the tool. In one of these courses, you’ll learn about the intricacies of Analytics, and how to make the most of the various tools and features provided.

Gain an edge on the competition: Though many people might fail to see the benefits of a Google certification at first, there are some serious benefits in outshining the competition. When you complete the program, you can show you’re certified on your resume. This will make it more likely people might want to hire you.

Improve your prospects: With a behind-the-scenes knowledge of Analytics, you can use it like a real pro. There are many marketers who have a solid knowledge of Analytics, and these can significantly improve their chances of connecting with their target audience.

Stay ahead of the curve: Becoming Google analytics certified ensures you know everything there is to know about the platform, even as Google’s algorithms continue to evolve. You can always update your certification over time.

Become a digital marketer: Once you become an expert on Google Analytics, you can pursue a digital marketing course, obtain a digital marketing certification and start a successful career in digital marketing.

Top Google Analytics Courses

1. Google Analytics for Beginners (Analytics Academy)
2. Google Analytics Course (Reliablesoft Academy)
3. Google Analytics Essential Training (Udemy)
4. Google Analytics Training Course (SimpliLearn)
5. Getting Started in Google Analytics (Coursera)
6. Become Great at Google Analytics (CXL)
7. Advanced Google Analytics (Analytics Academy)
8. Google Analytics 4 Essential Training (LinkedIn Learning)
9. Analytics Essentials (LovesData)
10. Fundamentals of Google Analytics (Skillshare)

1. Google Analytics For Beginners (Analytics Academy)

The Google Analytics for beginners course is ideal for newbies who want to get started with Google analytics.

You’ll learn everything from how to set up data filters and tracking codes, and develop an understanding of the Google Analytics interface.

This Google analytics tutorial is perfect for beginners. It shows you how to set up your Google Analytics environment, navigate Google Analytics, and understand various overview reports.

There’s also a range of basic reports to cover too. Basic campaign and conversion tracking insights are also included, so you can dive into your Google experience in no time. Points covered include:

• Introduction to Google analytics
• The Google Analytics interface
• Basic reports
• Basic campaign and conversion tracking

2. Google Analytics Course (Reliablesoft Academy)

One of the best alternatives to the Google Analytics official course is the Google Analytics Course delivered by Reliablesoft Digital Marketing Academy.

This course was created with beginners in mind and will teach you step-by-step how to use Google Analytics to monitor the performance of your website and make data-driven decisions to get more traffic and sales.

The course includes 3 lessons covering the following topics:

• Google Analytics Basics: including how to install Google Analytics on your website.
• Google Analytics and SEO: explains in detail how to use Google Analytics for SEO purposes.
• Advanced Google Analytics: shows you how to use Google Analytics to create goals, sales funnels and track click events.

When you enroll in this course, you have the opportunity to pursue two certifications. An SEO certification and a Digital Marketing Certification.

Course material is updated regularly to take into account new developments in Google Analytics.

3. Google Analytics Essential Training (Udemy)

Offered by the Udemy team, Google Analytics Essential Training promises to give you the ultimate introduction to the reporting landscape.

You’ll get hands-on training with Google Analytics via an eCommerce demo account. There are also insights into account hierarchy and structure in Google analytics too.

You’ll be able to track non-page view actions, like downloads and videos, within Google Analytics when you’re done learning.

Plus, the course covers various common digital Analytics terms. You’ll have no trouble learning how to step up your performance and become a Google analytics professional. Learning tracks include:

• Hands-on training with Google Analytics demo accounts
• Google Analytics 101 reporting mastery
• Setting up goals in Google analytics
• Setting up marketing tracking

4. Google Analytics Training Course (SimpliLearn)

Provided by the SimpliLearn “SkillUp” team, Google Analytics is a free course for beginners and an excellent stepping stone for people who are just encountering Google Analytics for the first time.

With this course, you’ll learn how to set up a Google Analytics account and understand the various metrics that assist with boosting your sales and traffic.

The course is relatively straightforward, providing a basic insight into everything from segmentation and analytics intelligence to campaign tracking and website tracking.

All the lessons are wonderfully bite-sized too, so you can fit them into your schedule. Lessons include:

• Tracking people and goals
• Analyzing marketing effectiveness
• Creating segments
• Advanced table filtering
• Introduction to Google Analytics

5. Getting Started in Google Analytics (Coursera)

The Getting Started in Google Analytics course from Coursera gives you exactly what you might expect. You’ll learn how to use Google Analytics to understand what’s going on behind the scenes in your website performance, and you’ll become familiar with the Google analytics interface too.

The full course covers everything from website performance, to search engine optimization.

The videos on this course follow a fantastic split-screen step-by-step structure. They show you how to create a Google Analytics account and link it to your website, and how to interpret the data taken from a range of reports too.

There’s also a series of handy “guided projects”, where you discover how to do things while your instructor guides you step-by-step. Lessons include:

• How to create a Google Analytics account
• The Funnel and how it works with Google analytics
• Data interpretation from various audience reports
• Various user-defined audience parameters

6. Become Great at Google Analytics (CXL)

CXL promises to make you great at Google Analytics, with a step-by-step program. Well-suited to beginners, this solution ensures you can make a better product, marketing, and strategy decisions.

With CXL, you can learn how to transform your knowledge of Google analytics with a mini learning curve. It’s a great way to become a Google Analytics expert.

When you enroll in this training program, you’ll learn how to navigate the Google Analytics interface, read data with confidence, and produce more meaningful reports.

You’ll also discover more about who your visitors are and where they come from through Google. Lesson points include:

• How to analyze data, understand insights and develop strategies
• What actions do your visitors take on your site
• How to track and understand your audience
• How to navigate the Google interface

7. Advanced Google Analytics (Analytics Academy)

If you’re looking for the best web analytics course, this is it. Offered by Google itself, the Advanced Google Analytics course is designed for those with a deeper knowledge of Google’s data and account tracking services.

The Advanced course promises to prepare students for Google Analytics certification – something which can be extremely compelling on the resume or portfolio of any marketing professional.

The course doesn’t take very long to complete, but it will give you a helpful behind-the-scenes look at how Google Analytics works.

After you’re done with this course, you’ll be able to take the Google Analytics Individual Qualification exam via Skillshop. You’ll learn:

• How to manage your analytics and reports with tagging
• How Google Analytics works, and the kind of reports you can access
• Advanced analytics tools, marketing tools, and techniques
• How to collect data and process it for insights
• Setting up data collection and configuration strategies

8. Google Analytics 4 Essential Training (LinkedIn Learning)

LinkedIn Learning is one of the best online learning platforms used by many marketing professionals in recent years. The ecosystem is home to a number of excellent courses from great professors, including the Google Analytics 4 Essential Training course from Corey Koberg, a certified AdWords trainer.

Corey walks students through the techniques they need to track, analyze, and report on the visitors to their site and application. If you want to learn Google analytics from a professional, this is the course for you.

You’ll learn about how customers engage with your online assets, and what you can do to improve your presence online. Aspects of the course include:

• Insights into Google analytics features and capabilities
• How to use leading AI and analytics tools to understand your audience
• How to use the out-of-the-box functionality of Google analytics
• What it takes to convert and retain customers
• How to manage user accounts via Google Analytics

9. Analytics Essentials (LovesData)

The fantastic Analytics Essentials Course from Loves Data is a free-to-use resource for Google Analytics training. After just over an hour of learning, you’ll know how to confidently access and use Google Analytics and its diverse features to manage and evaluate the outcomes of your marketing campaigns.

Benjamin Mangold, the Co-Founder of the Loves Data brand is the instructor for this course. He’s been working with Google Analytics for more than 12 years and has extensive experience consulting for companies ranging from 3M to Google.

As your instructor, Mangold will show you how to develop practical techniques for using Google Analytics, so you can get the most from your data. The training experience includes:

• Guidance on Google analytics terminology and how the features work
• Tips for how to measure all kinds of online marketing strategies
• How to identify opportunities for optimizing your marketing campaigns
• How to use the acquisition reports in Google Analytics
• What it takes to measure and improve conversions in Google Analytics

10. Fundamentals of Google Analytics (Skillshare)

Delivered by the impressive Jeff Sauer, a Google Analytics Strategist, the Fundamentals of Google Analytics course walks you through getting the most out of your website data.

The simple and straightforward class discusses everything from how to understand your user demographics, to how you can build a dashboard for better Google Analytics access.

The Fundamentals of Google Analytics course leverages the experience of Jeff as both a Strategist for Google Analytics and the founder of Jeffalytics – a data-focused company.

During this course, which lasts a little over 1 hour, you’ll learn:

• How to set custom goals based on visitor behavior
• Tips for using segments and content groups to better understand users
• How to track search terms and campaigns for more insights on traffic sources
• What you can do to better understand your data and turn it into actionable insights
• Where most companies can improve website effectiveness

Which Is The Best Google Analytics Certification?

While the ideal Google Analytics certification for your needs will depend on a number of things, including what you want to learn, and how much experience you already have with the software.

In my opinion, the best Google analytics course online will always be the Google Analytics Individual Qualification, otherwise known as GAIQ. It’s free, and it’s the official “Google-approved” educational track for your analytics knowledge.

All you need to do is start by gathering as much information as you can about Google Analytics through Google, then use the Skillshop examination to test your knowledge. You can find the study options for Google Analytics and the exam itself here. 

The table below shows the cost of the most popular Google Analytics certifications.

Getting Certified with Google Analytics

Even as the online sales and marketing landscape continues to evolve, Google Analytics perseveres as one of the most valuable tools for boosting your presence and potential online.

Every day, countless business owners, analysts, consultants, and marketing professionals use Google Analytics to develop a deeper understanding of their target audience and the journey they take to purchase.

Through Google Analytics certification, you can develop a deeper knowledge of the various features and functionalities available from Google’s dedicated Analytics software.

At the same time, you’ll be able to build your reputation as a Google Analytics expert. This is ideal if you’re hoping to attract more clients for your advertising agency or improve your position as a thought leader.