Adding another website to Google Analytics raises a question before you click anything: does it need its own property?
If you get that answer wrong, the danger is that two sites’ visitors could blend into one set of reports. Even with the right answer, a new property collects nothing until its tracking code is on the site.
A new website needs its own property when it has its own audience. If it’s part of the same business, it may belong in the property you already have.
In this guide, I’ll show you how to decide between a new property and your existing one. Then I’ll walk you through creating a new property and its data stream, and connecting the property to WordPress.
We’ve helped a lot of WordPress site owners through this exact setup. The Google Analytics side takes only a few minutes.
In This Article:
- Understanding Accounts, Properties, and Data Streams in Google Analytics
- Does a New Website Need Its Own Google Analytics Property?
- How to Add a Website (Property) to Google Analytics in 5 Steps
- How to Check That Your New Property Is Collecting Data
- Recap: How to Add a Property in Google Analytics
- FAQs About Adding a Website to Google Analytics
Understanding Accounts, Properties, and Data Streams in Google Analytics
Google Analytics organizes your data in three levels: the account, the property, and the data stream. When you know which level you’re working in, a new website’s numbers stay out of the wrong reports.
Here’s what each level holds:
- Account: The account is the highest level. You’ll need a Google Analytics account before you can add any properties. If you don’t have one yet, we walk you through creating one in our guide to setting up Google Analytics.
- Property: A property holds the reports for one website, one app, or a website and app that share an audience. One account can hold up to 2,000 properties.
- Data stream: A data stream is the connection that sends visits from one website or app into a property. Each web data stream gets its own Measurement ID, a code starting with G- that tells Google Analytics where the visits belong.
The property is the level to think hardest about when you add a website, because it decides whose visitors are counted together.
Does a New Website Need Its Own Google Analytics Property?
A new website can get its own Google Analytics property or share the property you already have. If you pick the right one up front, you’ll avoid comparing numbers that were never meant to sit together.
In its guide to Google Analytics account structure, Google recommends one property for each logical user base and one web data stream per property. A logical user base is a group of visitors you want to analyze together.
The new website needs its own property when it serves a separate audience. A second business, a client’s website, or a side project you’ll report on separately each fit this case.
Your existing property is the better home when the new website belongs to the same business and you want its visitors counted with your main site. A separate store domain for the same brand is one example.
In that case, you’d use one web data stream for both domains and set up cross-domain measurement. With cross-domain measurement, Google Analytics recognizes a visitor who moves between the two sites as the same person.
To add a property, you need the Editor role or higher on the Google Analytics account. If you created the account, you already have it. Otherwise, see our guide to user permissions in Google Analytics for how roles work.
If the new website needs its own property, the next step is creating it.
A Quick Test
Ask whether you’d ever want both websites’ numbers in a single report. If the answer is yes, keep them in one property with cross-domain measurement. If it’s no, give the new website a property of its own.
How to Add a Website (Property) to Google Analytics in 5 Steps
Adding a website to Google Analytics takes five steps, from opening Admin to connecting the new property to your site. Steps 1 to 4 happen inside Google Analytics, and Step 5 puts the property’s tracking code on your website.
Step 1: Open Admin in the Right Google Analytics Account
The account you work in decides which business the new website’s data belongs to.
Sign in to Google Analytics and check the account name at the top left of the screen, just above the property name. If it’s the wrong account, we show how to switch to the right one in our guide to logging in to Google Analytics.
Then, click Admin, the gear icon at the bottom left of the screen.
Step 2: Create the Property and Enter Its Details
The property is where the new website’s reports will live. In Admin, click Create at the top left, then choose Property.
Next, you’ll need to enter your website’s property details. Start by entering a name, selecting a reporting time zone, and choosing your currency.
I’d recommend a property name you’ll recognize at a glance, such as the website’s name. It’s also worth picking the time zone and currency the new site does business in, since your reports use them for daily totals and revenue.
Click Next to move on to your business details.
Step 3: Describe Your Business and Choose Your Objectives
Google Analytics uses your business details and objectives to decide which reports and recommendations you see first. Choose your industry category and your business size, then click Next.
The last screen before Google Analytics creates the property asks for your business objectives. Each objective comes with its own collection of reports and suggested audiences.
Check the one or two objectives closest to what you want from the site; Google recommends no more than two. If none of them fit, choose Other business objectives.
Once you’ve checked a box, the Create button becomes clickable. Click it to create the property.
Your objectives aren’t locked in, either. You can change your business objectives later in Admin, under Property details.
Step 4: Add a Web Data Stream
A new property can’t collect any data until you add a web data stream to it. After you click Create, Google Analytics asks where your data will come from, so choose Web.
If you closed that screen, or you’re adding a stream to a property you already have, go to Admin » Data streams. Click Add stream and choose Web.
In the Set up data stream panel, enter the Website URL exactly as visitors reach the site. Match the https:// option, and include www only if the address uses it.
Then, enter a Stream name that’s easy to tell apart from your other streams.
Enhanced measurement is switched on by default, and I’d recommend leaving it that way. It records page views, scrolls, outbound clicks and a few other actions without extra code, as we explain in our guide to what enhanced measurement tracks.
When the form looks right, click Create & continue at the top right of the panel.
You’ll need the stream’s Measurement ID if you ever add the tracking code by hand. To find it, go to Admin » Data streams and click the stream’s name. The Web stream details panel shows the Measurement ID.
We cover every place to find a Measurement ID in our Google Analytics Measurement ID guide.
Step 5: Connect the New Property to WordPress with MonsterInsights
The Google tag is the tracking code that sends each visit to your new property. It needs to load on every page of the website. If the site isn’t on WordPress, follow Google’s instructions for installing Google Analytics.
For a WordPress site, I recommend MonsterInsights, the Google Analytics plugin for WordPress. It adds the Google tag for you, so you don’t have to edit theme files.
In your WordPress dashboard, go to Plugins » Add Plugin, search for MonsterInsights, and click Install Now, then Activate.
When you activate MonsterInsights for the first time, the setup wizard opens. If it doesn’t, go to Insights » Settings and click Launch Setup Wizard.
Follow the prompts to sign in with Google. Use the Google account that owns your new property, and click Allow when Google asks for access.
On the Great! Let’s choose an Analytics Property! screen, pick your new property from the Select Your Property dropdown, then click Complete Connection. If the property isn’t listed, you may be signed in to a different Google account. Click Select a different Google account to switch.
It can take up to 24 hours for MonsterInsights to show the new site’s data. After that, go to Insights » Reports to see its sessions and engagement without leaving WordPress.
We walk through every screen of the setup wizard in our guide to connecting MonsterInsights to Google Analytics.
Add Google Analytics to WordPress Without Touching Code
MonsterInsights connects your new Google Analytics property to WordPress in a few clicks. Skip the manual tracking code and see the site’s traffic right inside your dashboard.
Get MonsterInsights FreeHow to Check That Your New Property Is Collecting Data
A new property can look finished in Admin and still receive no visits. A quick check confirms that data is reaching Google Analytics before you start relying on its reports.
Open the new website in a separate browser tab and click through a page or two. Then, in Google Analytics, click Reports in the left menu and choose Realtime overview.
The Realtime report shows activity from the last 30 minutes, so your own visit should appear there. If it isn’t there right away, give the property a little time. A brand-new property can take up to 30 minutes to start collecting data.
Your standard reports take longer. Data processing can take 24–48 hours, and the numbers in those reports may change during that window.
If nothing shows up after 30 minutes, we explain how to find the problem in our guide to checking whether Google Analytics is working.
Recap: How to Add a Property in Google Analytics
Here’s a quick recap of how to add a website to Google Analytics:
- Sign in to Google Analytics, check that you’re in the right account, and click Admin.
- Click Create, then Property. Enter the property name, reporting time zone and currency.
- Choose your industry category and business size, then check one or two business objectives (or Other business objectives) and click Create.
- Choose Web, enter the website URL and a stream name, leave Enhanced measurement on, and click Create & continue.
- Connect the new property to your website so its Google tag loads on every page.
- Visit the site and look for your visit in the Realtime overview report.
Once your visit shows up in the Realtime report, your new website is fully set up in Google Analytics.
FAQs About Adding a Website to Google Analytics
How do you add a website to Google Analytics?
Sign in to Google Analytics, click Admin, then click Create and choose Property. Enter the property details, your business details and your objectives, then click Create. Finally, add a web data stream for the website and put the Google tag on its pages.
Should I create a new property or a new data stream for another website?
Create a new property when the other website has its own audience, such as a separate business or a client’s site. If it belongs to the same business and you want its visitors counted with your main site, keep it in your existing property. In that case, use one web data stream for both domains and set up cross-domain measurement.
Can you have more than one property in Google Analytics?
Yes. Google Analytics allows up to 2,000 properties per account. One account can hold websites, apps, or both, each in its own property when they serve different audiences.
Where do I find the Measurement ID for my new property?
In Google Analytics, go to Admin, click Data streams, and then click the website’s stream. The Measurement ID appears in the Web stream details panel and starts with G-. Each web data stream has its own Measurement ID.
What permissions do I need to add a property in Google Analytics?
You need the Editor role or higher on the Google Analytics account. If you created the account, you already have it. Otherwise, ask an Administrator on the account to give you the Editor role.
How long does it take for Google Analytics to start collecting data?
Data collection can take up to 30 minutes to begin after the Google tag is on your website, and you can watch for it in the Realtime report. Standard reports can take 24–48 hours to finish processing, so their numbers may change during that time.
After a few days of data, the new property’s reports can start to show where the website’s visitors come from and which pages they read. I hope this tutorial helped you add a website to Google Analytics. If you liked this article, check out the following beginner-friendly guides:
- How to Add Google Analytics to WordPress Without a Plugin
- Google Analytics Reports: The Ultimate Guide (GA4)
- How to Delete a Google Analytics Account, Property, or Data Stream
- How to Add Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to Google Tag Manager
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