Deleting an account on Google is a pretty complex multi-step process. You cannot just delete it on a whim before doing some housekeeping because that's where crucial records of everything you do with Google services like Gmail, Maps and YouTube are being stored.
Depending on your interactions with Google, the data associated with your account may include everything from your personal files to your vacation images to stored bookmarks, web searches, locations, purchased apps, media and much more.
Therefore, it is absolutely crucial that you download all your important data, past searches and purchased media, as well as update other services that use your Google account, before you actually delete it.
We have created this tutorial with these precautions in mind: using our cheat sheet and following detailed step-by-step instructions in this guide, you will safely dispose of your Google account in a manner that won't ruin your experience on other websites, delete your personal data without giving you a chance to download it beforehand or otherwise ruin your online life.