Module 0: Start Here
Analytics without a plan is just expensive decoration. This module sets the mindset the whole course runs on: every number you look at has to answer a question you actually have — and change something you actually do.
The question comes first
Most people open analytics backwards: they stare at the dashboard and ask, what is this telling me? That is how you end up with an hour gone and nothing decided. Flip it. Before you open a single report, write down one question you need answered this week. Did the new homepage headline change anything? Is the blog earning its keep? Where did last week's leads actually come from? One question, then open the reports.
This is the whole course in one habit: data serves decisions, not dashboards. A number that doesn't change a decision is entertainment. A report nobody acts on is a hobby. From here on, every metric you meet gets the three-question test: what does this number mean in plain English, what would I do differently if it doubled, and what would I do differently if it halved? If you can't answer all three, close the tab.
Build brief
What is the one marketing decision you most want data to help you make right now? Write it as a single question.
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Vanity metrics vs decision metrics
A vanity metric makes you feel good and changes nothing. A decision metric makes you uncomfortable and changes what you do tomorrow. Pageviews are vanity. Leads per channel is a decision metric. Social followers are vanity. Email subscribers who buy is a decision metric. Time on site is vanity. Conversion rate on your pricing page is a decision metric.
Here is the test that separates them: imagine the number doubles overnight. Would you do anything differently? If your pageviews double but your leads don't move, you do nothing — so pageviews were vanity. If your pricing-page conversion rate doubles, you send more traffic there immediately — that is a decision metric. Run every number you track through this test and be ruthless about deleting the ones that fail.
The doubling test
Would this number change what you do tomorrow?
Example for illustration — not real results.
Build brief
List three numbers you currently check (or would check) about your marketing. Run each through the doubling test: what would you do differently if it doubled? Which ones are vanity?
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The 15-Minute Review
Here is the rhythm this course installs. Weekly: the 15-Minute Review — three reports, one decision written down (Module 2 teaches you the exact clicks). Monthly: a slightly deeper pass — Search Console mining for your next content moves (Module 3). Quarterly: the full review — the Decision Dashboard and next quarter's plan (Module 5).
Fifteen minutes a week is enough because you are not exploring, you are checking. Exploring is what happens when you don't know what you're looking for. Checking is what happens when you do. By Module 2 you will know exactly which three reports to open and what a good week looks like, so the review becomes a habit instead of a project.
What you need before this course pays off: access to your own Google Analytics 4 property and Google Search Console for your site. If you don't have them yet, Module 1 walks you through setup from zero — including the events and key events that make the weekly review possible. No traffic minimum. Small data reviewed weekly beats big data reviewed never.
Build brief
Do you currently have Google Analytics and Search Console set up on your site? If yes, when did you last open them — and what did you do with what you saw? If no, what is stopping you?
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Maya's agency sends her a monthly report: pageviews up 40%, social followers up 200, average session duration up. Leads are flat. What should she tell the agency?
Your turn: Write your three-question test results: pick one metric you track, and answer — what does it mean in plain English, what would you do if it doubled, what would you do if it halved?
Saved.
Your next 24 hours
Write down your one question for this week's review — the single marketing decision you want data to help you make. Put it somewhere you'll see it when you open Module 2.
Steal this template
THE THREE-QUESTION METRIC TEST
Metric: ___
1. What does it mean in plain English? ___
2. What would I do differently if it doubled? ___
3. What would I do differently if it halved? ___
Vanity or decision metric? ___
Cheat sheet
- Data serves decisions, not dashboards — one question before you open any report.
- Vanity metric: feels good, changes nothing. Decision metric: changes what you do tomorrow.
- The doubling test: if it doubled and you'd do nothing differently, it's vanity.
- The 15-Minute Review: three reports, one decision written down.
- Rhythm: weekly review, monthly Search Console mining, quarterly full review.
- Small data reviewed weekly beats big data reviewed never.