12 Must-Read Analytics Blogs Analytics Blogs

Just discovered data analytics and want to learn more? Perhaps you’re considering a career in the field? Or maybe you’re a seasoned data analyst looking for specialized topics? Wherever you’re on your data analytics journey, you’ll find an abundance of great data analytics blogs to help you. These include beginner’s guides, student support, and career development for those looking to expand their expertise.

However, with so many data analytics blogs available, it’s all too easy to spend more time searching for the right one than actually reading about the topics that interest you. To save you from the quagmire of Google’s search results, we’ve compiled our personalized list of top data analytics blogs that we think you can’t do without. We’ll cover:

1. Best blogs for data analysts: total beginners

KDNuggets

Created by data scientist and founder of KDD conferences (Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining), Gregory Piatetsky-Shapiro, KDNuggets is one of the leading data science blogs. Perfectly pitched at beginners, it covers everything from AI to machine learning and other data-related topics. Standing for ‘Knowledge Discovery’, KDNuggets also dives deep into industry meetings, upcoming events, and data analytics software reviews.

While the UX design of KDNuggets leaves a little to be desired, its breadth of content more than makes up for this. It boasts tutorials and opinion pieces, and if you want to go beyond learning (and straight into doing) it recommends high-quality datasets that you can dabble with. If you prefer content popping up on your socials rather than trawling the blog itself, follow KDNuggets on LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter, where you’ll get regular updates straight to your newsfeed. https://www.kdnuggets.com/

Towards Data Science

With over 600,000 subscribers, Towards Data Science is a Medium blog that publishes a range of data analytics concepts, ideas, and code. What’s great about this blog is its breadth of authors and independent data bloggers, who are mostly professionals working in the field. This keeps it diverse, relevant, and up-to-date. The bloggers all use a friendly, accessible language, making this ideal for beginners who want to learn about topics ranging from machine learning to data visualization, as well as practical guides to Python and other programming tips.

If you’re not sure where to start, we recommend checking out Towards Data Science’s Editors’ Picks. This curates some diverse subjects, such as what you can learn about data from playing the viral hit Wordle. As one Reddit user writes, “This is less of a blog to follow and more of a mandatory landing page in your browser tab.”

CareerFoundry data analytics blog

The CareerFoundry data analytics blog is specifically aimed at those with limited experience of data analytics, but who may be considering a career in the field. You’ll find everything from beginner guides to data analytics, to how it’s used in different industries, as well as introductory explainers like how to apply different MS Excel functions.

You’ll also discover posts covering the latest on the data analytics job market, including interview tips, salary guides, data analytics portfolio examples, and topics exploring the difference between different data analytics roles. The CareerFoundry data analytics blog always uses inclusive, straightforward language, making it a great resource for those who are dipping their toe into the topic for the first time. https://careerfoundry.com/en/blog/data-analytics/

2. Best blogs for data analysts: data analytics students

Full Stack Python blog

A fundamental tool for data analysts—whether beginner or expert—is the Python programming language. While Python is meant to be easy to pick up, many of the resources for learning it are vastly overcomplicated and aren’t written using very accessible language. The Full Stack Python blog is not one of these. This excellent blog covers Python’s many applications in fields from web development to app deployment and, naturally, data analytics.

Written by various contributors, the blog underscores concepts in simple, non-technical language, offering links to the best tutorials for given topics. The data analytics section covers everything from the basics of relational databases to Python data types. And where possible, it uses real-world examples to help illuminate the concepts. For an example, see this post which explores how to learn the Python package, pandas, using Covid-19 data. https://www.fullstackpython.com/

Kaggle Winner’s Blog

The machine learning and data science community, Kaggle, is an excellent data analytics resource in its own right. It offers free support, free datasets, and code to all its members. It’s also known for running regular competitions, where data analysts compete against one another to win data- and coding-related challenges. This alone makes it a useful sandpit for data analytics students to test their skills.

In addition, though, is Kaggle Winner’s Blog, where you can read interviews with past Kaggle challenge winners, discovering what they’ve learned, what their backgrounds are, what approach they took to win the challenge, and where you can get your hands on their code! It’s a great way to learn about applied data analytics and is a prime first step for understanding how to use your newfound skills once you enter the job market. https://www.kaggle.com/datasets/kaggle/kaggle-blog-winners-posts

Cross-Validated by Stack Exchange

Well-written data analytics blogs can be helpful, but what happens when you have specific questions that need answering? Given the complexity of the field, this is a common issue for many data analytics students. Enter Cross Validated by Stack Exchange. As much of a community hub as anything else, Cross Validated gives you the option to see real data analytics queries answered by experts, in more or less real time.

For instance, how do you deal with perfect separation in logistics regression? And why is accuracy not the best measure for assessing classification models? Helpfully, the most commonly asked questions rank more highly. You can also sort articles by topic, which makes it much easier to find the answer you’re looking for. If necessary, you can also ask your own questions, comfortable in the knowledge that the community offers pretty swift replies. https://stats.stackexchange.com/

3. Best blogs for data analysts: best practices for the field

Data Science Central

If you’re a professional data scientist working in the field, you’ll no doubt want to stay abreast of the latest developments. Enter Data Science Central, which is everything professional data practitioners could need. The best thing about this data analytics blog is the granularity of the content. Drill down by industry news and data trends, by programming language, or by technical topics, covering everything from linguistics to data security.

Perhaps most helpful for data professionals, though, is that the blog breaks down articles by sector type, meaning you can stay up to date on data analytics news within your industry. Want to learn about financial services, manufacturing, or healthcare? You’ll be spoiled for choice. If you’re not in the mood to read, Data Science Central also has a great selection of podcasts, videos, and webinars that you can listen to, watch, or sign up for. https://www.datasciencecentral.com/

Forrester Big Data Blog

Research and advisory firm, Forrester, is known for having its finger on the pulse when it comes to professional practice—and that includes data. Unlike some providers, the firm’s big data blog doesn’t try to cover all bases, instead focusing specifically on big data in the context of operations and business management. Perfect if you’re climbing the career ladder and want fresh insights into companies’ approaches to data strategy.

The Forrester Big Data blog includes data-related topics ranging from industry event summaries to pressing IT issues and useful questions to ask your BI platform provider. Although it doesn’t offer the more generic content you might expect from other blogs, it offers a range of voices and points of view, and you’ll find topical content in all its professional contexts. https://www.forrester.com/blogs/category/big-data/

Statistical Thinking

One sector that has embraced data analytics like almost no other is healthcare. Enter Statistical Thinking, a blog devoted to data analytics’ impact on the sciences. Run by Frank Harrell, Professor of Biostatistics at Vanderbilt University’s School of Medicine, the blog focuses on the theoretical and critical thinking behind data analytics. It addresses topics such as how to maximize the use of information, how to avoid common statistical pitfalls, and explores issues related to statistical approaches; all within the biomedical sciences.

We’ll be honest, this blog isn’t the lightest read, but it’s definitely worth checking out if you’re fascinated by healthcare analytics. Using many real-world examples, you’ll learn about the applications of data analytics in clinical trials to improve drug research and medical diagnosis, all straight from the mouths of the scientists who have done the work.

4. Best blogs for data analysts: specialized topics

Statistics: Simply Statistics

Run by three biostatistics professors (Jeff Leek, Roger Peng, and Rafael Irizarry), Simply Statistics covers everything you need to know (and everything you didn’t know you needed to know!) about applied statistical techniques. It looks at things like the role of theory in data analytics, as well as other hands-on topics. To provide insight into the role of statistics in the real world, the blog also includes a series of compelling interviews with data scientists, such as this one with biostatistician Stephanie Hicks.

And it’s popular—Simply Statistics has a whopping 65,000 followers on Twitter. Two of the blog’s authors, Jeff Lee and Roger Peng, also produce a regular podcast, very much reflecting the blog’s relatable tone and direct approach to complex topics. While the blog itself isn’t always super technical (which is arguably not a bad thing), should you need to follow up with explanations of statistical methods, we can recommend the Statistics How To website. https://www.statistical-thinking.com/

Data visualization: datavis.blog

We love a bit of beautiful data and datavis.blog does not disappoint. This blog instructs you exactly how to create data visualizations from scratch using the visualization software, Tableau. Run by Mark Reid, a certified Tableau professional and former ambassador to the brand, it covers the wide range of functionality that the software offers, with foolproof step-by-step guides complete with helpful screenshots to direct you through the process.

From ‘flashy’ visualizations such as how to create animated transitions to more prosaic (but still surprisingly delightful) applications such as visualizing floor plan data, the blog is a great introduction to Tableau. And yes, while there are other data viz tools available, Tableau is arguably one of the most popular, making this blog a must-read. Mark has also done some fascinating talks on this topic if that’s more your thing. You can find a list of them here.

Artificial Intelligence: DeepMind Blog

Last, but not least… if, like us, you’re fascinated by artificial intelligence (AI), there are few better resources than the DeepMind blog, from Alphabet’s artificial intelligence arm. The blog explores the latest research and developments, from leaps forward in so-called ‘nowcasting’ (the ability to forecast weather in the immediate term) to how DeepMind is using AI to predict gene expression.

The blog keeps explanations as straightforward as possible, going into the technical details of their research just enough to satisfy your curiosity. However, it offers a tantalizing insight into what the future holds. While the DeepMind blog mostly inspires, if you’re looking to develop the underlying skills, we can also recommend checking out Machine Learning Mastery, a blog that aims to help developers grasp the practicalities of ML techniques.

There we have it, our handpicked top 12 must-read analytics blogs! While there are many more fantastic blogs and other free resources available, we all have to start somewhere. We highly recommend using these as your jumping-off point, before digging a bit deeper. What other great blogs can you find?

Whether you’re just starting out in data analytics, have been in the field for a while, or just want to expand your skills, blogs are a quick, free, and simple way of building your knowledge base and staying up to date with the latest trends.

12 Must-Read Data Analytics Blogs