My Google FAQs

One of the interesting things about working at Google is that people will often ask me about products with which I am not particularly familiar, or about use cases that I've not tried. While I'm more than happy to have in-depth conversations about the appropriate use of id tokens or how best to integrate the Google Play Services client, when someone asks how to track a certain thing on Google Analytics I am rather less useful. However, there are a lot of good resources that the other teams at Google provide, so (for my own benefit as much as anything) I wanted to include a few here for easy retrieval.

How do I track All The Things?

Google Analytics have an amazing Individual Qualification course that teaches you all about the intricacies of the Analytics tools. There's a examination you can take that gives you the qualifications (which you have to pay for), but the learning part is completely free!

Update: Also check out the newly launched Analytics Academy

How do I get the number 1 position for "asbestos attorney insurance"?

Making websites that are Google friendly is a big concern for a lot of people. Matt Cutts and the webmaster team have some fantastic guides for beginners - and go straight to the end for some more advanced material.

How do I avoid spending bajillions competing for the number 12 ad slot for "asbestos attorney insurance"?

Adwords is really easy to get started with, but small differences can make the difference between a campaign that works for you and one that doesn't. The adwords team have their own course of materials to try that covers all you'd need to know.

How do I make a successful Google+ page?

While this is a bit more my area, there are certainly people that know an awful lot more about social media management for business. Luckily, they have put together a guide, which you can find on the Google+ For Business page.

What can I do with X API?

Pretty much all our developer documentation is on https://developers.google.com - generally under /product. So Google+ is https://developers.google.com/+, YouTube https://developers.google.com/youtube. The big exception is Android, who have their own rather chunky site with lots of information: http://developers.android.com.