Guide to The Five Best Resources for Getting Help with Google Analytics

Start with Google Analytics Help Center

Basically what passes for the User Manual. While it may be good at explaining how to do things, it doesn't always tell you why you should be doing them. Nevertheless, this is the "mother lode" of official Google Analytics (GA) support.

I recommend: Google Analytics Help Center as your starting point for GA, and as a good reference point if you run into something that you can't figure out, or want to get into more advanced analytics.

Stay current with the Google Analytics Blog

The most significant value of the blog is staying current on outages, delays and new feature announcements. Although it bills itself as "The latest news, tips and resources straight from the Google Analytics team" there are better resources out there.

I recommend: The Official Google Analytics Blog as a source you should read daily in order to stay current with the "official" postings from the GA team.

From Basics to Advanced

Justin Cutroni's blog, Analytics Talk, is simply one of the most authoritative and well written sources on Google Analytics. Justin works for EpikOne, a Google Analytics Partner, and he knows GA inside and out. EpikOne offers a full range of GA training and support if you should want to go that route.

I recommend: Analytics Talk as a daily or weekly read if you really want to learn how to master GA.

Tips, Tricks and Techniques

ROI Revolution produces a monthly email newsletter that mixes good advice with promotions for their training and services. There's usually at least a few nuggets of value that you'll come away with to make it worth your time.

I recommend: ROI Revolution Analytics Newsletter on a monthly basis.

Call in the Reinforcements

Ok, so Google Analytics is free, but you or your team doesn't have the time or experience to figure out how to set up tracking of ad campaigns, e-commerce, visitor segmentation and report access. What do you do? Pay someone to help you. For this you'll go the Support page, where you'll find links to certified Google Analytics Partners, who can help you figure things out, or do all your analytics for you.

I recommend: Google Analytics Support if you need to find a support option.