Digital Analytics Lab at the U

Our mission is to cultivate a collaborative community of marketing practitioners across the University of Minnesota dedicated to advancing our collective understanding and application of marketing analytics.

What is the purpose of the Digital Analytics Lab at the U?

Through knowledge sharing, professional development, and mutual support, our purpose is to:

  1. Empower practitioners at all levels, from beginners to experienced analysts, with the tools, insights, and skills needed to make data-informed decisions.
  2. Foster collaboration by sharing data, communal assets, and best practices across system, college, and unit-level teams.
  3. Encourage innovation by creating a space to exchange ideas, troubleshoot challenges, and gather feedback on projects and strategies.
  4. Build a shared foundation of analytics governance and resources to enhance consistency and effectiveness in marketing initiatives across the University.

Membership in the DAL-U Google Group includes:

  • invitations to monthly meetups,
  • emails containing tips and tricks,
  • email notifications about new digital analytics blog posts, and
  • access to the University Relations Measurement & Analytics office hours calendar.

 Join the DAL-U Google Group

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DAL-U Monthly Meetings

DAL-U monthly meetings will be an in-depth discussion around a current topic followed by a question and answer period. They are scheduled for the fourth Thursday at 1:00 p.m. We will do our best to record the meeting and provide a link to the slide deck on this page. 

Future Meetings

  • June 25, 2026
  • July 23, 2026
  • August 27, 2026
  • September 24, 2026
  • October 22, 2026

Past Meetings

  • May 8, 2026: Bot Spikes from China and Singapore in GA4, slide deck

Google Analytics Resources

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Set-up your Google Analytics tracking

External Google Analytics Training

Google Looker Studio Resources

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Google Looker Studio templates

Customizing the dashboard with your data
  1. Make an Editable Copy of the Dashboard
    1. In the top right corner of the dashboard, click the three-dot menu (⋮).
    2. Select "Make a copy" from the dropdown menu. A window will pop up for the next step.
  2. Connect Your GA4 Data Source
    1. Think of a "data source" as the pipe that connects your Google Analytics account to this dashboard. We need to tell your new report to get data from your pipe, not the sample one.
    2. In the "Copy this report" window that just appeared, you will see a column for "New Data Source."
    3. Click on the sample data source listed.
    4. A menu will appear. At the bpttom, click "Create data source".
    5. Select "Google Analytics" from the list of connectors.
    6. Find and select your Google Analytics 4 account and the specific property for your website.
    7. Click "Add" in the bottom right, and then "Copy Report".

Looker Studio will now create your copy of the dashboard, populated with your own data. It might take a moment to load.

Google Search Console Resources

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Common Use Cases for Google Search Console Data

Question-based queries

One of the most useful uses of Google Search Console (GSC) data is to understand how people phrase their questions, especially as we see more clicks coming from AI. To find these queries in GSC:

  1. On the left-hand side, click on "Search results".
  2. Change the date reange at the top to reflect a large enough sample.
  3. Click "Apply".
  4. Click "Add filter".
  5. Click "Query".
  6. Change the dropdown from "Queries containing" to "Custom (regex)". Enter the snippet below:
    1. ^(who|what|where|when|why|how|was|did|do|is|are|aren't|won't|does|if|can|could|should|would|won't|were|weren't|shouldn't|couldn't|cannot|can't|didn't|did not|does|doesn't|wouldn't)\b
  7. Ciick "Apply".

Keywords leading to a specific content type

As an example, if you write blogs for a specific audience you can see which keywords resonate the most with your audience. To find these queries:

  1. On the left-hand side, click on "Search results".
  2. Change the date reange at the top to reflect a large enough sample.
  3. Click "Apply".
  4. Click "Add filter".
  5. Click "Page".
  6. Paste in your URL and click "Apply". If your content has a distinct beginning URL, you can add that. i.e. "umarcomm.umn.edu/blog/".
  7. Scroll down to the "Queries" tab. These are the top queries people are using that result in your website page being shown and clicked.

Monitor major changes in your website identity

The Carlson School recently changed their preferred short name to "Minnesota Carlson". GSC was used to monitor the amount of time it took for the name to show up in queries. To compare searches:

  1. On the left-hand side, click on "Search results".
  2. Change the date range and click "Apply".
  3. Click on "Add filter".
  4. Click "Query".
  5. Click on the "Compare" tab.
  6. Enter your two queries to compare. In our case "Carlson School" and "Minnesota Carlson".
  7. Click "Apply".