Understanding Google Data Analytics: 8 Important Tools

Although Big Data is a small portion of data generated by companies across the globe, they widely use it for Integration, Marketing, and Analytics. According to Techjury, 97.2% of big organizations are already investing in Big Data and Artificial Intelligence (AI). 

According to a survey done by Deloitte, 49% of the respondents claim Data Analytics improves decision-making, 16% believe that it enhances vital strategic initiatives, and 10% say Data Analytics promotes better relationships with customers and business partners. But to take full advantage, companies must get the most value from their data, and Google Data Analytics tools help to do just that.

Google is transforming the Data Analytics industry by offering more affordable, usable, and reachable products like Google Data Analytics tools. Google Data Analytics tools are Data Analytical tools by Google Marketing Solutions. These tools help organizations gauge the success of their campaigns, determine user traffic sources, track the completion of multiple goals, and extract meaningful insights for intelligent decision-making.

What is Google Data Analytics?

Google Data Analytics refers to the process of using Google’s tools and technologies to collect, analyze, and interpret data to gain insights and make informed decisions. It encompasses a wide range of techniques and practices, including:

• Data Interpretation: Drawing conclusions and making predictions based on the analyzed data.
• Data Collection: Gathering data from various sources, such as Google Analytics, Google Search Console, Google Surveys, and other web-based platforms. Leveraging Google Analytics integration with Salesforce, businesses can streamline their data flow, ensuring that web analytics seamlessly aligns with customer relationship management insights.
• Data Cleaning and Preparation: Transforming raw data into a usable format by cleaning, organizing, and structuring it.
• Data Analysis: Applying statistical and analytical methods to extract meaningful insights from the data.
• Data Visualization: Creating charts, graphs, and other visual representations to communicate data effectively.

What are the Google Data Analytics Tools?

Google provides Data Analytics tools like Google Analytics, Google Data Studio, Google Tag Manager, and others. Google Data Analytics tools have unique abilities for Managing, Visualizing, Integrating, Storing, Sharing, and Presenting data. To know more about Google Data Analytics Tools, keep reading!

Listed below are the 8 most important Google Data Analytics tools:

1) Google Analytics

Google Analytics,  topping the Google Analytics tools list, is one of the widely used Google Data Analytics tools. It is a free Google Data Analytics tool by Google Marketing Platform that provides Statistics and Analytical tools for tracking Digital Marketing Campaigns.

It is available for free of cost to anyone with a Google account. Google Analytics helps organizations gauge the success of their campaigns, determine user traffic sources, track the completion of multiple goals, drive website traffic, discover patterns in user engagement, and catch visitor information such as demographics. 

Some Key Features of Google Analytics

• In its most basic form, Google Analytics reports traffic. The service can tell you how many people visit your website daily. Additionally, you can monitor patterns over time to inform your judgments about internet marketing.
• Once you’ve discovered conversion points on your website, you may set them up for monitoring in Google Analytics. You can view information on when someone converted, who suggested them, and more.
• You can see what keywords users used to reach you with Google Analytics, which may have a big impact on the SEO strategy for your website.
• You will be able to view which external websites brought you traffic. This is helpful since it will allow you to see which websites are more worthwhile and whether any new websites have begun to connect to yours.
• You may make semi-custom dashboards for your metrics with Google metrics. You may add web traffic, conversions, and keyword referrals to your dashboard if you find that these are the most significant metrics.

Pros of Google Analytics

• While Google Analytics 360 includes a monthly subscription option, Universal Analytics is a freemium version that is available for free.
• If your company has a blog or website you have successfully designed and set up, linking Google Analytics should be easy.
• In case you are too busy to dedicate hours to investigating and configuring personalized reports, Google Analytics offers pre-configured reports that offer a basic evaluation of your website.
• With Google Analytics, you can examine stats for several regions on a single dashboard and manage all properties under a single account.
• Google Analytics is always being updated and expanded upon. However, this could be seen negatively by individuals who aren’t very tech-savvy.

Cons of Google Analytics

• For first-time users, the abundance of information Google Analytics provides may be daunting. Acquiring a thorough understanding of all the reports and indicators is a laborious process.
• When you initially start using Google Analytics, you could find yourself searching for new phrases on Google all the time. Not everyone has an innate understanding of the distinction between an event and a conversion or a metric and a dimension.
• With millions of web pages, Google has a massive quantity of data to process. They could sample the data in order to decrease the amount of processing. They just examine a subset of the data on your website and use it for every visitor.

2) Google Search Console

Google Search Console (GSC) is a Google Data Analytics tool that aids maintenance and helps to monitor and troubleshoot your website’s presence in Google Search Engine Results.

It also assists in diagnosing technical Search Engine Optimization (SEO) issues, understanding your most popular pages, improving your ranking, and increasing organic traffic. Regardless of the website’s platform, everyone can use Google Search Console for free.

Google Search Console is like having a Performance Report for your website for tracking important Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) like Clicks, Impressions, Click-Through Rate, and Average Position on Google Search Engine Results.

Tracking KPIs helps businesses discover keywords with high or low Click-Through Rates and reveal site visitor’s intent for better Content Optimization. Google Search Console also features Period-Over-Period (POP) comparisons to determine changing trends.

Features of Google Search Console

• The detailed spectrum of important information regarding your website’s Google search performance may be found in Search Analytics reports from the Search Console.
• You may add structured data—data that tells Google what your content is and how it should be treated—to your website with the use of the incredibly user-friendly and straightforward data highlighter tool.
• Your website’s problems are easily identified by the HTML improvements tool, which also offers solutions.
• With Google’s Remove URLs tool, you may momentarily remove specific URLs from the search results.
• When you submit your sitemap to Google, it can aid in the faster indexing of your website, which may assist in generating valuable momentum for new site visitors.

Pros

• It provides correct details on the performance as of right now.
• It can identify and sample SEO problems to raise your ranking.
• It continuously monitors search engine results.

Cons

• Find it challenging to use the inspection tool to recrawl URLs.
• Reports give so much information that it is difficult to follow up on during analysis. 

3) Looker

Looker is a Google Data Analytics tool that provides you google Big Data Analytics platform. It helps you to easily analyze and share real-time Business Analytics.

Google completed the acquisition of Looker in 2020, and it’s now a part of Google Cloud. This powerful Business Intelligence (BI) tool is exceptional for developing insightful Data Visualizations.

Looker simplifies and expedites the data finding process within organizations by harnessing the power of SQL to find data rather than traditional Data Extraction methods.

It has a user-friendly, browser-based interface that facilitates Collaborative and Dynamic Dashboards, Customized Visuals, Scheduled and Automated Report Distribution, and Custom Parameters for alerts.

Features of Looker

• AB Testing
• AI/Machine Learning
• API
• Access Controls/Permissions
• Activity Dashboard
• Activity Tracking
• Ad hoc Analysis
• Ad hoc Query

Pros

• Looker’s explore view comes to the rescue—making ad-hoc reports really easy.
• It’s far simpler to slice, dice, and filter data depending on several factors than it is to write intricate SQL queries.
• It’s now easier than ever to add fields, remove fields, change layouts, make small adjustments, and link tables to obtain the needed data.
• Individuals can store their preferred views for later use; N views based on users and fields can be created from the same source data.

Cons

• Looker is less visually appealing since it is less pictorial or graphical.
• When there are many rows and columns, it uses a lot of memory and affects speed.
• Occasionally, when we download large amounts of raw data from Looker dashboards, it takes a very long time to prepare the file. This causes users to be confused about whether Looker has stopped or whether the data is being prepared for download in the background. Consequently, the user initiates several downloads.

4) Google Ads

Google Ads is a Google Data Analytics tool that provides you an Online Advertising platform. It lets businesses show their ads and pay whenever a visitor clicks the ad. With Google Ads, companies get to display relevant ads to the right audience.

You can target ads based on Keywords, Location, Audience Demographics, Duration and Frequency of the Day, and Devices.

Google Ads also lets you track the actions taken by the audience. Businesses can view and manage multiple campaigns from the same account and conveniently make changes to campaigns.

Another advantage of Google Ads is that users can put constraints on maximum bids and daily budgets, so they don’t spend more than they want to.

Features of Google Analytics

• Receive prompt responses to inquiries on your Analytics data, forecast user behavior, and make use of strong modeling tools.
• Quickly see how users engage with your websites and applications, and quickly access reports for more in-depth analysis.
• Gain a better understanding of the return on investment (ROI) of your advertising expenditure across all channels, allocate funds wisely, and assess attribution models.
• Adapt your data access, organization, and visualization to your business requirements. Without being constrained by pre-made reports, do a more in-depth, customized study of your data and share findings with other people.
• Easily gather, arrange, and handle your data using a range of integrated tools.
• Analytics is intended to integrate easily with partner products and other Google services, which will increase productivity and save you time.

Pros

• While Google Analytics 360 includes a monthly subscription option, Universal Analytics is a freemium version that is available for free.
• Linking Google Analytics ought to be rather simple. This benefit is particularly relevant to those who have used website builders such as WordPress or Wix.
• offers online analytics and reports that are not prepackaged.
• manages several properties—for most of us, websites—under a single account
• the option to go more into website statistics if you’re curious
• frequently updated with additional functionality

Cons

• Acquiring a thorough understanding of all the reports and indicators is a laborious process.
• When you initially start using Google Analytics, you could find yourself searching for new phrases on Google all the time.
• Google has millions of web pages, which means it needs to analyze a massive quantity of data. They could sample the data in order to decrease the amount of processing.
• provides a monthly cap on the amount of hits.
• Customer service is exclusively offered for Google Analytics 360, a premium edition.

5) Google Data Studio

Google Data Studio is a Google Data Analytics tool for Reporting Metrics and Data Visualization. It can pull data from 12 platforms, including Google Analytics, YouTube, CloudSQL, etc., and present them in easy-to-share, easy-to-modify, and easy-to-read reports.

There are various Charts, Maps, Widgets, and Graphs for efficient Data Visualization. The versatility of Google Data Studio makes it a popular choice. It helps businesses to make informed decisions and achieve their goals.

You have access to Unlimited Widgets, Dynamic Reporting and Sharing, Free Templates, and Tutorials for Training. Google Data Studio is absolutely free to use.

Features of Google Data Studio

• Ad hoc Reporting
• Collaboration Tools
• Customizable Branding
• Customizable Dashboard
• Customizable Reports
• Customizable Templates
• Dashboard
• Dashboard Creation

Pros

• It is totally free.
• The biggest advantage of Data Studio is that it can easily interface with Google applications.
• It’s not too difficult to use.
• It has access to the granular access control and sharing capabilities of the Google office suite because it is a member of the Google family.
• Unlike other BI tools, Data Studio is based on a live data connection.
• In contrast to other well-known business intelligence products like Tableau and Power BI, Google created Data Studio from the ground up as a cloud-based service. 

Cons

• It has a steep learning curve while being quite easy to use.
• When compared to other all-in-one BI systems, it is insignificant. In spite of Google’s advertising
• There are very few data sources.
• Visualizations and updates are often difficult.

6) Google Optimize

Google Optimize is a Google Data Analytics tool that allows businesses to test and analyze the parts of their website that require improvement. It takes data from Google Analytics to identify improvement areas and turns them into insights so you can deliver significant results. Testing variations of your website allows you to focus on areas that give better results and work best for your audience. Some features include A/B or A/B/n Testing, Split Testing, Multivariate Testing, and Server-Side Experiments.

For more information on Google Optimize, click here.

Features of Google Optimize

• AB Testing
• Access Controls/Permissions
• Activity Dashboard
• Audience Targeting
• Conversion Rate Optimization
• Conversion Tracking
• Data Visualization
• Engagement Tracking

Pros

• Simple test setup.
• Ability to specify the audience segment.
• Fast data connection for tracking using Google Analytics.

Cons

• Works just with browsers; it does not test applications
• Lack of ability to test complex features
• Group audience categorization is not always precise. 

7) Google Surveys

Google Surveys is a Google Data Analytics tool that provides you a Cost-Effective Platform. It helps Marketers to evaluate trends and predict customer behavior. It makes consumer research easy and offers fast and reliable insights from genuine audiences. The tool is priced at a per completed response basis and on your target audience. The price will also vary if you have Screening Questions, Length of the Survey, Target Audience, and Incidence Rate.

Features of Google Survey

• API
• Access Controls/Permissions
• Collaboration Tools
• Customizable Branding
• Customizable Fields
• Customizable Forms
• Customizable Questions
• Customizable Templates

Pros

• Convenience: Google Forms are currently available to everyone with a Google Account.
• really simple to use
• Completely free
• Creating forms along with coworkers is simple when using Google Accounts.
• Make an infinite number of shapes.
• robust attributes, such as the file upload component
• Several methods for distributing your forms
• Integrated with Google Sheets and other Google apps

Cons

• Not too flexible; just able to create surveys and questions
• Excludes some of the features included in form builders that cost money.
• Basic analytics and reporting

8) Google Tag Manager

Google Tag Manager (GTM) is another free Google Data Analytics tool that allows you to install and track tags on your website with no code. Google Tag Manager makes it easy for non-programmers to add and edit tags, triggers, and variables.

Google Tag Manager saves time and makes it easier to troubleshoot tag errors. You can also export the tags, create your templates of commonly used triggers/tags, or use the built-in tags provided by Google Tag Manager.

Larger organizations can upgrade to Tag Manager 360, a premium version that gives access to commenting capabilities, approvals, and a flexible, fast, and secure way to tag.

Features of Google Tag Manager

• You may obtain all of your codes in one location with GTM.
• Without requiring modifications to the source code, GTM allows users to create, update, and test tags.
• The Preview mode in GTM allows you to see ahead of time which tags are active and which are not.
• There is an auto-tracking capability in Google Tag Manager. Upon activating your triggers with this functionality, GTM will begin searching for certain website interactions on its own.
• It facilitates enhancing the client experience for you.

Pros

• Tag Management
• Monitoring Events
• Site Maintenance

Cons

• Integrations
• Instructional Materials
• GA4 Assistance

Google Data Analytics Courses and Certificates to Get

1. Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate- Coursera
2. Google Data Analytics Certificate- Google
3. Google Cloud Data Analytics Certificate- Google

Conclusion

In this article, you have gained knowledge of Google Data Analytics tools like Google Tag Manager, Google Search Console, Google Analytics, Google Ads, Google Data Studio, and Google Optimize.

Learn about leading data analytics companies and how their expertise can enhance your data-driven decision-making.

Google Data Analytics tools help companies reduce costs, data-informed decision making, and empower companies to understand their customers better. You can use these Google Data Analytics tools to integrate data and enhance the functionality of your website.

Your work with Google Data Analytics tools will involve regular data transfers for analytical purposes. 

Give Hevo a try by signing up for the 14-day free trial today!

Frequently Asked Questions