Properties and Accounts in Google Analytics: What They Are, and How to Use Them

When adding a new website in Google Analytics, should you create a new account and property, or add a new property to an existing account? Well, that depends! This article will answer that question. We’ll examine what Google Analytics accounts and properties are, and explain how they should be used.

What is a property in Google Analytics? A property in Google Analytics is a website or web app.

What is an account in Google Analytics? An account is a way of organizing websites. It’s a portfolio of websites or properties. By giving someone access to one of your Google Analytics Accounts, you’re giving them access to the Analytics of all the properties inside.

When you need to add a new website in Google Analytics, should you create a new account and/or Property?

So the default answer is: when in doubt, give a new property it’s own account.

We will look at some different use cases:

A company: a company might want to compartmentalize its sites, however it might not. The larger the company, the more likely they will be to want to compartmentalize their properties. However, some people may need access to all the websites. The more accounts a company has, the longer a task it is to give someone access to all the accounts.

If you think you might consider selling a website or product to another company one day, give it it’s own account.

When Google Analytics Properties Should be Grouped Together:

There may be some instances where multiple properties naturally go together. An example of this is a website and a web app, where the web app is at a subdomain. An example of this: website.com and app.website.com. In this example, with a small team where the two analytics properties are so closely related, you may wish the above sites to be on the same account.

When Google Analytics Properties should be under their own account:

However as the company grows, if multiple income streams are developed such as website2.com and website3.com, then these other properties would likely be under their own accounts. The various teams or departments would only have access to the properties they are working one.

A web design agency: You want to give each client their own account. This is because when you share your analytics with a client, you don’t want them to get access to the data from all other clients. If you are making a second site for the same company, they may want the same account for the new site.

All other use cases: If it isn’t obvious in your use case whether you should add a property to an existing account, then create a new account.

Great, we’ve just looked at what accounts and properties in Google Analytics are, and when to create a new account, or use an existing account for your property. Interested in learning How to Add a Property in Google Analytics? Find out now!