The following jQuery code will load the google Analytics code on dom ready thus preventing any slowdown in the loading of the page. replace the the UA-xxxxxx-x bit with your your google analytics account id:
jQuery.getScript(gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js", function(){ try{ var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker(gaTrackCode); pageTracker._initData(); pageTracker._trackPageview(); }catch(err){/* handle errrors here */} });
Google Analytics reports whether a visitor has Javascript enabled or disabled (http request detects js). If GA is only loaded (requested) by jQuery, all javascript-disabled visitors will not be registered by Google.
GA script isn't that huge and requesting the script as Google recommends is most reliable for analytics.