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GAIQ Ultimate Guide
This guide is to help you prepare for the Google Analytics Individual Qualification (GAIQ) exam and it is broken down into the following four sections. About the GAIQ test GAIQ test resources GAIQ test strategy Conversion University Lessons review About the GAIQ test: The GAIQ exam is a ninety minutes open book online exam comprising of seventy multiple choice questions. It cost $50 US to sit the test which is non refundable if you fail the test. Google also provides free GAIQ voucher codes to agencies and some Adwords clients. Individuals who pass the GAIQ test with a pass mark of at least 80% are awarded a GAIQ certificate as proof of proficiency in Google Analytics. Your GAIQ qualification is an individual qualification that belongs to you; however, you can link your GAIQ qualification to a company's Google Analytics Authorised Consultant (GAAC) account. Linking your GAIQ qualification to a valid company GAAC account allows you to claim the status of Google Analytics Authorized Consultant. You can unlink your GAIQ qualification from a company's GAAC account at any time. GAIQ test resources: The following resources have been put together to help you prepare for the GAIQ test and act as a quick point of reference while completing the test. The Conversion University site is the official study resource for the GAIQ test and it is highly recommended that you go over each of the Conversion University lessons before taking the test. The Google Analytics help centre helps you get an even greater understanding of how Google Analytics actually works. The Google Analytics API provides information about the different functions and parameters available for Google Analytics. The Google Analytics Cookies API page provides a quick reference to the different Google Analytics cookie variables which are covered extensively in the exam. The IP Address Range Regex Tool can be used to save time writing a regular expression to filter out IP addresses even if you good with regular expressions. The Google Analytics URL tagging tool allows you to quickly tag URLs with paid search campaign data. The Conversion University lesson review section below provides a brief revision of the important bits to focus on and can be used as a cheat sheet during the exam. The Conversion University notes is a compilation of the entire text from the Conversion University lessons into a single location which can be quickly searched for answers by using CLT+F on a windows computers for example. Please do not rely completely on this resource as not everything is covered in this resource.
Continue reading...GAIQ Conversion University Lesson Notes
3 October 2010
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The text below is a compilation of the entire text from the Conversion University lessons notes which can be used to quickly search for answers to questions in the GAIQ exam by using CLT+F on a windows computers for example. Please do not rely completely on this resource as it does not cover everything in the GAIQ exam due to the use of video and images in the Lessons. For a comprehensive guide go to the GAIQ Ultimate Guide post. Extract starts here
Continue reading...Google analytics virtual page views and non standard event goals
16 May 2010
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With dynamic generated content, div overlays and Ajax generated pages, traditional page view count in Google analytics might not represent the true picture. For example when a user clicks a link to join a site and is presented with a div overlay membership submission form; should this count as a page view? Whether or not an event should count as a page view is up to the site administrator but Google Analytics allows you to register any event as a page view via the API method: _trackPageView(uri) Example: _gaq.push(['_trackPageview', '/membership/join']);
Continue reading...Why and how to set up Google Analytics event tracking
15 May 2010
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Google Analytics event tracking was introduced in mid 2009. It is a feature that allows you to track specific events or “actions” on your site. For example you can track when a video is played or paused, when a file is downloaded or when an Ajax response is received. Tracking events is different from setting “goals” in Google Analytics. Goals are based on three specific types of events: destination URL visited, number of pages viewed and time spent on site. But what about events that do not fall within these categories or those in which the event is simpy of interest but not an ultimate goal for the website? For such events, event tracking can be used instead. It is worth nothing that in some cases events that do not fall within the three event categories mentioned above might till be considered goals by the site owner. In such case, we might want to set up a virtual page view for such events and create a goals based on the virtual page views generated. For more details on virtual page views and goals, see my posts on virtual page views and event triggered goals.
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3 October 2010
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