Don’t Forget About the Google Analytics Website!

MoreVisibility - August 19, 2011

As a Google Analytics Certified Partner, we obviously give a lot of love to the Google Analytics product suite. We constantly talk about new features, product updates, reporting sections, and share great insights into the ever-growing and ever-increasing-in-popularity world of web analytics.

Most of us that log-in to our Google Analytics accounts do so via their website – http://www.google.com/analytics. Others log-in through their AdWords accounts, and a few of you bypass the user-interfaces and log-in via the Google Analytics API. Regardless of how you access your account, one thing is for sure: most of us have forgotten about the actual Google Analytics website!

Why is this the case? Is that blue Access Analytics button on the right-hand side of the Google Analytics homepage too persuasive? Are we just not aware that there is a whole world of rich, shiny, resourceful objects right outside the window of our accounts? Whatever the reason is, we don’t know, but what we do know is that it’s time we put on our shoes and took a walk outside of our Google Analytics account homes to get some fresh air, smell the flowers, and get a taste of all of the great analytics resources Google has waiting for you.

Ready? Here we go:

1. The Google Analytics Blog.
URL: http://analytics.blogspot.com/
That “Recent Blog Posts” table on the right-hand side of your account’s home page comes from the Google Analytics blog, an outstanding resource to keep yourself updated of any changes, new features, and guest blog posts, like the one I wrote over 2 years ago on the now defunct User-Defined Report.

2. Research Study by Forrester Research.
URL: http://goo.gl/MyFj6
In Late 2009, Forrester Research was commissioned by Google to appraise the investment potential in enterprise-level analytics platforms, and how Google Analytics stacks up against that market segment. The link above opens a PDF file, and it’s accessible at the bottom of the Google Analytics homepage.

3. The Google Analytics App Gallery.
URL: http://www.google.com/analytics/apps/
Want to enhance your measurement experience? Try out some of the great Google Analytics apps in the App Gallery, including apps for mobile, call tracking, and offline spreadsheet data management.

4. Analytics Set-Up Checklist.
URL: http://www.google.com/analytics/discover_analytics.html
A great stand-alone reference checklist that helps ensure you get the most out of your Google Analytics account. Each checklist item has a link for more information.

5. Google Analytics Help Center.
URL: http://www.google.com/support/analytics/?hl=en
The full Google Analytics document library. Includes definitions, frequently asked questions, and metric / dimension overviews, as well as best practice guides for implementation and analysis.

6. Google Analytics User Forum.
URL: http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Google+Analytics/?hl=en
A user-generated discussion forum on every aspect of Google Analytics that you can possibly imagine. Report issues, review other analytics user’s posts, and see feedback from Google and Top Contributors.

7. Google Code – Google Analytics.
URL: http://code.google.com/intl/en/apis/analytics/
Techies, webmasters, and implementation folks, this resource is tailor-made for you. All technical schematics, code examples, SDK libraries and management API documents are available here.

8. Google Analytics IQ.
URL: http://goo.gl/vniUW
Test your Google Analytics knowledge by studying for and passing the Google Analytics IQ exam. As Google Analytics Certified Partners, we regularly review the instructional videos and re-take our exams to stay on the cutting edge of all things Google Analytics.

9. The Google Analytics YouTube Channel.
URL: http://www.youtube.com/googleanalytics?hl=en
There are some amazing series of videos on this YouTube channel – everything from basic tutorials, in-class presentations and the extremely popular Web Analytics TV episodes can be found here.

10. Google Analytics Status Dashboard
URL: http://www.google.com/analytics/status#hl=en
Okay, so this resource is very difficult to find off of the Google Analytics website. Nonetheless, you should bookmark it and check it whenever you notice a service interruption – your issue may have already been reported here.

And, of course, you can follow Google Analytics on Twitter (@googleanalytics).

We hope that the next time you’re in the mood to venture outside your Google Analytics account that you won’t forget about the many resources available on the Google Analytics website. It’s there for you!