Interested in getting a Google Analytics Certification (GAIQ) from Google Partners? Here’s a fast walkthrough on how to do it.
A little while ago, I studied for, took and passed the Google Analytics Certification test when I was applying for a job. I was able to pass after about 4 hours of studying.
With that said, I had been using Google Analytics for a few years. You need to get at least 56/70 questions correct for a passing grade of 80%. There are a ton of fantastic walkthroughs out there on how to pass this exam, but I felt that some of them were a little bit too wordy, and sort of trick you into over-preparing for it when you don’t really need to.
Ready? Here’s how I passed it after just an afternoon of studying:
Step 1
First, go to Google Partners and click “Join Google Partners”. This can be the same as your Google login.
Step 2
Next, go to Google Analytics Academy and take all the lessons.
As today there are 3 different courses that are free and really helpful. They are:
- Digital Analytics Fundamentals
- Google Analytics Platforms Principles
- Ecommerce Analytics: From Data to Decision
Each course is taught by Justin Cutroni and consists of a walk-through guide and video. I would highly suggest you take all 3 courses – really great content. If you want to study above and beyond Google Analytics Academy, check out Avinash Kaushik.
Step 3
Once you’re done watching the videos, and you’ve taken notes and read through the practice problems once, go back to the Google Partner center and fire up the test. It will open up a browser that doesn’t let you escape, so make sure to open up a second browser, and include the following 5 tabs: Analytics Help Center, Google Analytics Academy and your Actual Google Analytics Account.
Be careful because as soon as you start, you won’t be able to mark a question and/or to go back and check your answer. I also suggest getting familiar with the Analytics help center. Most of the answers can be found there.
Heads up! Once you start the test, you can’t pause, go back, or mark questions!
The test takes an hour and a half. I used up all the time. If you fail, you’ll have to wait 7 days before taking it again.
The certification is valid for 18 months, and you get a shiny new logo and another line on your resume.
Even More Resources
If you’re JUST getting started with digital marketing and analytics, use the digital marketing strategy guide or the website analytics guide to develop your own comprehensive tracking strategy.
Sample Exam Questions
- What does assigning a value to a google analytics goal enable?
- What would prevent data from appearing in a custom report?
- What report shows which types of mobile devices visited a website?
- Auto-tagging is used to collect data from what kind of traffic?
- What campaigns require manual tags on destination URLs for tracking?
