At the risk of repeating information I’d like to briefly discuss the value of taking an analytics course in-person. in November, when we were about to launch our new website, I was taking the advanced “GA 301: Technical Implementation” at the SUNY Global Center in NYC.
I was working to ensure
- that I completely understood not only the difference between Classic Analytics and the now standard Universal Analytics
- that my cross-domain tracking was implemented in the best possible way
- I knew the best way for me to remove self-referrals
In addition, although it’s an advanced course, we briefly reviewed some of the basics (which can change from time-to-time and be pretty confusing at first (like the sessions/users change) and, if I’m remembering correctly, a review of ‘exceptions’ to the basics, like when a New Visitor (someone who hasn’t visited your site in the last 2 years) isn’t a new visitor (when they user a different browser, different device, clear their cookies, or use ad-blocking, a Chromebox etc).
Anyways, while I’m a proponent of using free resources to learn (like I’ve done to review HTML/CSS, review Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, learn how to best track campaigns with a team, and keep on top of the ever-changing ways one needs to keep on top of to improve your content in search results and social streams, there’s sometimes no real replacement for talking to experts one-on-one.
Anyways, if you’re ready to get to the next step in understanding Google Analytics, I’d highly recommend LunaMetric’s GA 301 course.
