Google Analytics 4 (GA4) — Google’s latest version of its web analytics platform — has a steep learning curve that’s left even experienced digital marketers scratching their heads. Huge changes to the way it collects data, and a complete overhaul of its UI have left some users unhappy. So whether you’re a seasoned pro or a new digital marketer, GA4 probably has some features you’re unfamiliar with. Luckily, there are hundreds of great courses out there that you can learn from.
Sure, you could spend months learning how to use GA4 on your own. Trial and error, and learning on the job are great. But if you join one of the courses on this list, you’ll understand how to use GA4 and building new GA4 dashboards and reports in hours and not months.
In this article, you’ll learn about six of the most effective Google Analytics 4 courses online. If you are looking to skip the learning work and go straight to presenting beautiful looking dashboards then be sure to check out our best ga4 dashboards and templates here.
How we chose the best
Before we dive into the best courses, let’s talk about the criteria we used to evaluate them.
- Reputation of the creator: First up, we looked at who made the course. The credibility of the creator is a key consideration when deciding on a course.
- Cost of course: Next up, is the cost. We’ve looked for courses that have value for money. You’ll find courses for all budgets on this list.
- Course coverage: And last but not least is the content and coverage of the course. The courses on this list cover everything GA4 related for the suitable learners. For example, the courses for beginners have everything a new user needs. And the courses for experienced users have all the advanced features.
The 6 best GA4 courses available now
Let’s get into the best GA4 courses currently available.
Best for real-world examples
The Most In-Depth Google Analytics 4 (GA4) Course for 2023 | Udemy
This is an in-depth course with everything you need to get up and running or refine your analytics. You get a certificate of completion when you finish. And it’s great value for money.
Some reviewers say this course is hard to follow for beginner users.
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eCommerce store owners and small business owners.
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Ziga Berce — an experienced growth and marketing manager.
This course covers everything, from initial GA4 setup and account structure to advanced topics like custom reports and the explore section. Over three and a half hours of on-demand video you’ll learn about GA4 using real-world examples. You get a deep understanding of GA4 so you can make your own reports and dashboards confidently. And it does all this for a very reasonable price (or a super cheap price if you get it during one of Udemy’s frequent sales).
From 223 reviews (at the time of writing) this course has a 4.4 out of 5 star rating on Udemy.
Best for learning the basics
Get started using Google Analytics
It’s free. It only takes an hour. And it’s a great intro to using Google Analytics.
This is only for beginners. If you have any analytics experience, this will be too simple for you. It’s also super short and only covers the basics.
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Beginners!
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Google Skillshop (they know a thing or two about Google Analytics)
This GA4 course by Google Skillshop gives a basic overview of the analytics platform and data that is perfect for beginners. You’ll learn how analytics can help grow your business, how analytics data works, and how to set up your account. There’s nothing fancy or complicated in this course. It’s a simple, one-hour course that’s perfect for people totally new to web analytics.
Best for advanced features
Google Analytics 4 (GA4) Advanced
You get to learn with one of the UK’s most experienced marketing education providers.
It’s the most expensive and time-consuming course on the list. And the course is run on set dates so it isn’t as flexible as other courses on the list.
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Advanced users of Google Analytics 4
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The Chartered Institute of Marketing — they’ve been teaching about marketing for over 100 years now. And they provide courses up to post-graduate level.
It takes a full day and costs a lot of money, but the Chartered Institute of Marketing has been teaching about marketing for over 100 years — no other course on this list can give you as much marketing education experience. This is an in-depth course perfect for experienced web analysts. That means it covers topics like setting up cross-domain and subdomain tracking, getting insights through advanced reports, and exporting to BigQuery among others. Rather than focusing on day-to-day, basic analytics, this course helps you build a strategic approach for your analytics, so you get the best customer insights from the data.
Best for hands-on training
Google Analytics 4 Course: Master GA4 With This Training – CXL
CXL is a marketing agency with a great reputation — they know what they’re talking about so you can be sure this course will be packed with value.
If you’re already an advanced user you don’t need this course.
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People with some experience (but not advanced) with analytics who want to try out all the new features of GA4.
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Charles Farina is an experienced marketer and Google Analytics trainer.
This course is for digital marketers who are excited about GA4 and its possibilities. You can future-proof yourself and your business by learning how to use all the powerful new features. With a hands-on approach, this course will teach you the new features available in GA4: How to integrate BigQuery, how to set up funnels, how to do pathing reports, and more. The course will give you the frameworks you need to implement this knowledge on your own sites.
Best for a community of learners
Get to Know (& Use the Sh*t Out of) GA4
The price includes on-demand video lessons, worksheets, and a community of course members and the course creator.
The videos are short. If you want longer tutorials, this isn’t the course for you.
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New users of GA4 who want to learn the basics and some advanced features.
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Brie E Anderson, owner @Beast Analytics — an experienced SEO agency.
This course is great for all but the most advanced users of GA4. You get the basics. And you get some more advanced features in on-demand lessons and worksheets. After completing the course, you’ll be a confident user of GA4. You’ll be able to use GA4’s tools to understand and gain insight from your data. The first modules give you the basic rundown of GA4 — how to set up, and how to navigate the platform. Further on in the course, you’ll learn how to create reports, and how to do more advanced things like the Audience Builder, Looker Studio and BigQuery integrations, and Search Console data in GA4.
Google Analytics 4 Courses FAQs
There is no one best course. There are many great courses available. The best one will depend on your circumstances. When choosing a course you need to consider your level of experience, your budget, and how much time you commit.
Yes, Google has a GA4 certificate. If you pass their Google Analytics Individual Qualification exam, you can get a certificate. Some of the courses above also give you one when you complete the course. Certificates can be great to show your credibility. If you think that would help your business or work, consider joining a course that offers certificates or taking Google’s exam.
GA4 isn’t easy. It takes a lot of practice to use it well. But it isn’t impossible. Finishing one of the courses from this article or using some of our range of Google Analytics 4 resources can give you a headstart too.
It depends. One of the Google Analytics 4 courses we listed lasts just one hour. One takes a full day. Again, how long it takes depends on your prior experience with analytics and other Google platforms like Looker Studio. And how detailed the course you decide to do is.
Of course you can. But there’s a steep learning curve and a bunch of complex features. That means it’ll take a long time to really be able to use it well. Completing a course is the quickest way of getting your GA4 skills up to speed quickly.