Reflection on Google Analytics Fundamentals Course and Google Analytics Platform Principles Course

The Google Analytics Fundamentals course and the Google Analytics Platform Principles course provided a good overview of Google Analytics. I am now better informed about different aspects of Google Analytics, such as metrics, KPIs, keywords, and how to generate different reports. I particularly found the section about separating employee clicks from user clicks helpful. We do not want to contaminate our reports by having employee clicks interfere, so learning how to generate filters that separate employee clicks was helpful. At my workplace, we do not have analytics software that separates employee clicks from other users, so our results are often skewed. We cannot accurately tell how many users click on different pages of our website. Using Google Analytics solves this problem. Both of these Google courses helped to further increase my knowledge about Google Analytics and I know feel more comfortable using its features.

BUS572 Week 4: Analysis of Search Engine Advertising

The most important concepts I learned during this past week in BUS572 were elements of search engine advertising and real-life examples of using Google Display Network. I really enjoyed the Anindya Ghose and Sha Yang reading titled An Empirical Analysis of Search Engine Advertising: Sponsored Search in Electronic Markets. This research focused on sponsored search metrics such as click-through rates, cost per click, conversion rates, and ranking of advertisements. I found the results of this research very interesting. Some of the results included an increase in click-through rates with the presence of retailer information and the presence of brand information in the keyword decreases conversion rates. I have a background in psychology, so reading this empirical research article was refreshing for me.

The second most important concept I learned during this past week is the real-world application of Google Display Network. We read an article about how the Jordan Brand used the Google Display Network to boost brand awareness and engagement. After Michael Jordan retired, his brand turned to its agency partner, Wieden + Kennedy, New York to help restart conversations about Michael Jordan. This team then utilized the Google Display Network to place a variety of display and text ads on blogs and fan sites. I thought this real-world example was beneficial because it shows the positive impact that Google's tools have on businesses. My team and I are looking forward to utilizing Google's tools to advertise for our client, The Thrifty Wargamer. What other real-world examples of companies using Google Display Network have readers found?

Jordan Brand logo. Image courtesy of Google Display Network case study.

The most important skill I learned over the past week is how to improve our Google Ad Words advertisements. My group and I initially created our ad groups, but after turning in assignment three, we realized that we wanted to edit the ad groups and keywords further. We were still unsure of how to use some features of Google Ad Words, so one of our classmates provided a tutorial after class and answered all of our questions. We are now more comfortable with using Google Ad Words and are looking forward to launching our ads during the next couple of weeks.