This is a two-week Google Analytics Certification plan that covers all four GA4 skill areas. It works through property setup, data collection, reporting and the key measurement features, with hands-on practice in a real GA4 property along the way. The assessment is free with unlimited retakes, so the goal is to learn GA4 properly and pass on the first try. Confirm the current outline on the official Skillshop and Analytics Help pages.
Days 1-3 - GA4 foundations and property setup
Create a GA4 account, property and web data stream. Understand the event-based data model and how it differs from Universal Analytics: in GA4 everything is an event with parameters, with no separate pageview, session or transaction hit types. Set up a free property on a personal or demo site so the rest of the plan is hands-on.
Days 4-6 - Data collection
Learn the three kinds of events: automatically collected events, enhanced measurement (such as scrolls, outbound clicks and file downloads), and custom events with their parameters and user properties. Send a test event of your own so you can see it arrive in DebugView and the real-time report.
Days 7-9 - Reports and Explorations
Read the standard reports (acquisition, engagement, monetisation, retention), then move to the Explore workspace. Build a free-form exploration and a funnel exploration, and try a path and a cohort exploration. This is where GA4 analysis really happens, so give it real time.
Days 10-12 - Key measurement features
Mark an important event as a key event (GA4’s conversion) and find it in reports. Create an audience, and learn what a predictive audience is. Review attribution models and data-retention settings so you understand how GA4 credits conversions and how long it keeps user-level data.
Days 13-14 - Review and sit it
Run back through the four skill areas, re-do the concept checks on anything shaky, and confirm you can explain each event type, key events, and each exploration type. Then sit the free assessment on Skillshop. You need 80% to pass; if you fall short, wait 24 hours and retake it at no cost.
Tips
- Study GA4 only - Universal Analytics is retired, so old session/hit and goal concepts no longer apply.
- Practise in a real property; do not just read - GA4 makes sense once you have clicked through it.
- Do not memorise answers from third-party “answers” sites - it breaches Google’s policy and teaches you nothing usable.
- Remember it expires after a year, so plan to refresh and retake annually.