As far as website analytics goes, Google Analytics is advanced. It’s free, which is great, but just because it’s free doesn’t mean it’s straightforward to use.

When I chat to people about the analytics they are collecting on their website, it’s not uncommon to hear “We’ve got Google Analytics installed, but we don’t really look at it”. Not surprisingly, if you don’t take the time to learn Google Analytics (or any other analytics program you’ve got running on your website), you won’t be able to make the most of it.

If you’re after a less complicated solution, for my money (slightly more than the cost of Google Analytics), Clicky is the winner. It’s simple, easy to use and cheap (but not free). I’ve written about its benefits previously.

However, Google Analytics is the industry standard. ‘27 features that make Google Analytics best of breed‘ might be three years old, but it still applies and then some, with even more features added since.

Here are some resources to learn more about Google Analytics so it can be more than just code you’ve got running in the background of your site!

My first recommendation is to go to ‘Conversion University’ and take lessons in Google Analytics IQ. These short tutorials provide a beginners overview to Google Analytics, what it is, what it does, and how you can set it up. If you’re brave, you can then do the test!

I also recommend checking out the following:

• Follow the Google Analytics Set-Up Checklist. This is a step-by-step process, with links to more detailed instructions.
• Google Analytics has a blog – you can check out the Back to Basics Series and the Beginner Topics.
• Google Analytics Help Centre. As the name suggests…
• A Guide to Google Analytics and Useful Tools from Smashing Magazine. Includes some good links to desktop applications and Firefox extensions for monitoring analytics. For example, this extension to let you know if Google Analytics is installed. SiteScan can also check this for you (first 100 pages free).
• O’Reilly produces some well-written technology books (usually at the more intermediate/advanced end of the spectrum). I’ve got Google Analytics Shortcuts from O’Reilly. Google Analytics is due for publication this July. Complete Web Monitoring incorporates advice on analytics and more general site maintenance (i.e. it’s more advanced).
• Two books I’ve heard good things about are Web Analytics: An Hour a Day by Avinash Kaushik and his more recently book – Web Analytics 2.0.
• The Complete Google Analytics Power Guide. I’m always wary when something is describe as ‘complete’ or ‘ultimate’ – I don’t think this is either, but it’s another resource worth checking out.
• 10 Must Track Google Analytics Goals. For example, how to track how many people are subscribing to your newsletter or RSS feed.
• If you find yourself wanting to learn more, three blogs worth exploring are Occam’s Razor (by Avinash Kaushik), ROI Revolution, Analytics Talk, and of course Google’s official Analytics blog.
• The Google Analytics Channel on YouTube. For quick tips, check out the series Google Analytics in 60 seconds. Other videos for beginners include ‘Interpreting and Acting on Your Data’:

Is your church or ministry using Google Analytics on its website? Do you feel like you are making the most of it?