Much hype accompanied Google's takeover of the Urchin Web analytics package and its subsequent free offering of a low-end version of Urchin to anyone who wanted to sign up. There's a lot to dislike about Google Analytics, but its quality and availability have improved somewhat since its initial release, and for those who can't afford a high-end analytics package that can cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars per month, there are few reasonable alternatives. Wiley Publishing's Google Analytics is a good, in-depth guide to this service and all of its various settings.

Writing analysis

Google Analytics starts out with a brief explanation of what this service is and how it can be useful to webmasters and managers of all kinds. The next two sections are, oddly enough, on the AWStats Web log analysis package. Since log analysis tools like AWStats and Webalizer collect and compile Web site visitor data in a fundamentally different way than JavaScript-and-cookie-tracking tools like Google Analytics, the results they show can be useful in different ways. By giving a decent run-through of AWStats, the authors are encouraging readers to use a variety of tools to measure the success of entire sites and individual pages.

The rest of the book is just like the introduction, except redesigned with specific Google Analytics topics. You're given a brief explanation of a feature in Analytics, then the authors explain how and to whom it may be useful, and then show you how to use it. There are plenty of screen shots, sidebars with appropriate explanations of related topics, and even a beginning lesson on how to use regular expressions in Analytics.

The book's written in an entertaining, somewhat comical, occasionally goofy style, but it never loses focus or drifts off topic. The language is inconsistent, though, which can be chalked up to both the perils of using multiple authors and lax editing. Web sites are referred to alternately as Web sites, web-sites, and websites, and information is occasionally restated unnecessarily. These are minor errors and don't at all ruin the book or make it inaccurate, but I'd like to see the editors take a little more care with language style in future books.

Putting the book to the test

The only real problem with Google Analytics is that the information it provides is frequently obvious or easily figured out just by using the service. As a Web application, Google Analytics can hardly be any easier to use. If you have already signed up for Analytics and had no trouble implementing it and benefiting from the data it compiles, this book will be of little use to you.

The real value of Google Analytics (the book) is to people who need to measure and analyze the effectiveness of their Web sites, but don't have the technical experience or time to figure out the Google Analytics service on their own. Web sites -- somewhat unfortunately for those of us who have been publishing online for a long time -- are increasingly being published and maintained by people who know how to write, sell, market, or advertise, but don't know any of the technical details behind the sites they are working with. To this growing market of pseudo-technical people, a book like this is as necessary as the service it explains.

Summary and conclusions

If you've already got a Google Analytics account, know how to use it, and aren't concerned that you're getting the most from it, I can't see any reason to recommend this book to you. If, however, you are at all confused by any part of the service, this Google Analytics book is undoubtedly the best resource for you.

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Copyright 2007 JEM Electronic Media, Inc. No reprints without written permission.