Ok so we hit a little snag today, Dave has sooooo many Google Analytics accounts that he can no longer create any (bummer – max 25) – obviously he has the option to place profiles in the same account (up to 50) but really it is best practice to create a new account for each company you deal with.

For example, say you are working for a client and they have a .com domain name for English speakers and then a .fr domain name for the French market. It is best to put these two domains in the same account, each as a different profile.

Alternatively if a client uses the same domain name, but allows people to select multiple languages, it would be best to create one account with a primary profile for the whole domain, and then more profiles within the same account, with a filter for each language.

If you do run out of Google Analytics accounts – you can always get someone you work with to host the rest and simply add you in as an administrator, allowing you to have access to an unlimited amount of accounts.

Also don’t forget, profile filters filter data on the way in, so once you filter it out it is lost forever and won’t be coming back! For this reason it is always best to keep one profile within your account without any filters on – so you have a “backup”.

David Whitehouse

11 Comments

  • 1

    It took me years to work out how to setup Analytics properly, too bad that your article wasn’t posted months ago :)

    Christopher Ross | http://www.thisismyurl.com

    22nd April 2009 @ 12:34

  • 2

    Yeah I used to make the school boy error of adding all the profiles under one account, it just ends up being a mess.

    Instead I now set up the account with the clients Google account and then provide my account with Admin access. I only have 22 accounts set up so not sure if it circumvents the issues with the 25 limit but at least it allows the client control of their own account if they decide to move one.

    Even if a client has multiple domains I add them all in 1 client account, it just makes life simpler when you a doing reports etc

    James @ Dolphin Promotions | http://www.dolphinpromotions.co.uk

    22nd April 2009 @ 13:22

  • 3

    hi,

    I have create a.c in same, and for my all clients..

    Regards

    Arpit Kothari | http://www.indiawebsitedeveloper.com

    23rd April 2009 @ 08:53

  • 4

    You don’t have to be limited to 25 profiles in one account. Just open a new account, add the website and add the master account as admin user. Now you have 26 profiles in the master account ;-)

    I admit, a bit of an hassle but it works like a charm.

    Webshoptimizer | http://www.webshoptimizer.com

    23rd April 2009 @ 09:29

  • 5

    I manage a very large number of Analytics accounts, and encountered this issue quite some time ago – I get around the issue by adding all new Analytics accounts to “clientname@mymaindomain.com”, with a catch all email inbox to let me verify the account. It is then possible to add the account as an administrator to your main Client Center account, and the account limit isn’t enforced.

    Another tip – Don’t add www. to the beginning of your site name in the inital Analytics Settings, then once you’ve added it to your main Master account profile, you’ll be able to skim through the list with a keyboard letter press.

    Webmaster tools, on the other hand doesn’t allow more than a set number of accounts under one main email address, without any real portability if a client leaves (or you’re taking one on from someone else). There was a mention of increasing functionality to allow linked accounts to control WMT accounts, so with any luck, Google will address things soon.

    Jamr0ck

    23rd April 2009 @ 09:37

  • 6

    Or upgrade to a paid for analytics platform…

    On this note, I have come across more and more companies who are nervy about putting the ga script on their sites, as they are, justified or not, wary of Google and their reputation. Anyone else come across this?

    Andy Blackburn

    23rd April 2009 @ 12:50

  • 7

    There’s nothing funnier than small agencies who know no better than to use one account for all of their different clients combined.

    Then, one day, their clients will want to switch agencies. Oops! Goodbye, data ;)

    Joshua

    23rd April 2009 @ 14:00

  • 8

    I echo Christopher Ross, and I’m still not sure that I can’t get more from it. These tools are good, but there never tell you how to get the most benefit, which is good I suppose. If everyone got the benefit, then no-one gets it.

    Keep up the good work.

    WebWrite | http://www.write-research-office.com

    23rd April 2009 @ 16:00

  • 9

    Yes, we can register N number of sites with one google analytics account. It is even easy to understand the analytics of all the sites and flexible

    Johnn | http://legaladvantage.net/Services/DocumentReview.aspx

    24th April 2009 @ 07:51

  • 10

    WebWrite – if you are wanting to get more out of your Analytics, I suggest you check out Google Analytics Conversion University – the videos for the Google Analytics IQ exam are very helpful. They also have some useful articles on there – somewhere!

    David Whitehouse | http://www.david-whitehouse.org/

    24th April 2009 @ 09:09

  • 11

    Really nice article! It is really helpful to understand google analytics. Thanks!!

    Steve | http://www.paydayonly.co.uk

    27th April 2009 @ 04:58

Write a Comment

*

*

*

SES New YorkA4U Expo Munich
Subscribe
to the David Naylor feed
Follow
David Naylor's Twitter feed

View Dave's Blog