Web Analytics 2.0: The Art of Online Accountability and Science of Customer Centricity

Although it is only February, I can say with a pretty high degree of confidence, that the analytics book of the year is Avinash Kaushik's new book Web Analytics 2.0. As a follow up to his first book, Web Analytics: An Hour A Day, I think Avinash out did himself with this book.

Web Analytics 2.0 is a nice balance of theory and practical tips, but more importantly, provides guidance for readers with a wide range of skill and experience. Over the 14 chapters of the book, Kaushik covers almost every aspect of web analytics, from competitive analytics to optimization, even guides for picking a solution vendor and starting a career in the industry.

Overall the book is an easy read for anyone interested. Avinash's causal writing style and frequent examples makes the text engaging and entertaining. For the most part, you can dive into any area of the book without missing too much context from the rest of the book. Of course I recommend reading the whole thing, but even if you just read one chapter, say on social measurement, you'll still get a lot out of it.

On top of being a well-written resource, all of the profits from this book (and his previous one) go to two charities: The Smile Train and The Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation. Get the book and start the new year off right with a quick education on the in's and out's of web analytics.