If you’ve spent any time online or in the blog world the past week you should have heard Google Analytics is live.

Google Analytics is based on technology from Urchin, a web analysis company that Google bought back in March. Thanks to Google, what used to cost $199 a month is now free. That’s right, the tools are free and there seems to be no strings attached!

To start using the service all you need a Gmail, Adwords, or other Google account. Cut and paste the JavaScript tracking code across your pages, and you get complete access to a full suite of analytical tools: track Adwords ROI, track keywords from any search engine, track incoming links from anything, you name it.

I wanted to post about this earlier, but hadn’t had time to play with it. Well I did today, and it is amazing. And Google’s implementation is impressive. As an added bonus, Google has also opened up their Conversion University site, with includes a number of articles on optimizing your site for converting visitors into customers and driving traffic to your site. I’ll be using this 24/7 at work and right here on weBranding.