SEO Tip #53: Will Using Google Analytics have a Negative Effect on Ranking?
Matt Cutts: The answer is no. Webspan does not use Google Analytics. A while ago I went and checked and search quality in general does not use Google Analytics in ranking. So you can use Google Analytics or you could not use Google Analytics and it won’t affect your ranking within Google search results.
Now just to cover, in case you’re very very curious, one tiny corner case, which is: what if my site was very, very slow and adding Google Analytics just barely tipped me over the edge to where my page or my site looked like it loaded very slowly? And the answer to that is good.
Google Analytics has recently introduced new asynchronous JavaScript code that you can add to your page and it will wait and load up the JavaScript after the toolbar unload event. So even if you’re worried about what if Google Analytics might slow my page down a little bit, they’re actually on the cutting edge of having good JavaScript that won’t affect the load time for users and thus in no way effect your search engine results either.
So no matter how you slice it, it should be completely safe to add Google Analytics whether you’re tracking your e-commerce, or if you’re just looking at the sort of searches that people use to show up on your site. That data is not currently used in any way shape or form, to the best of my knowledge, as of today May 17th, 2010 in Google search results. I hope that puts your mind at ease.
About the Author
Andy Johnson has been on the Internet since the its dawn(ie his first computer program was recorded on cassette tape) and his first hard drive cost about as much his current MacBook. His first byline was in 1993 for a local newspaper rag he eventually helmed, and his last “real job” was at a computer start up which ended when it ended. Throughout it all he’s freelanced and blogged. Now he is mesmerized by Search Engine Optimization forever trying to “rise to the top” for the right reasons. He’s been married to his wife Julia for as long as he can remember and has two lovely, wonderful children. He looks forward to sharing the latest in the technical best for all the online entrepreneurs.