Guide for Setting up and Accessing Google Analytics for Advertising, Marketing or Design Agencies and Their Customers and Clients
Anyone that has ever worked at an agency knows that reporting is critical in account management. Failure to provide accurate, data-driven metrics and insights can cause “expectation rifts” and cause significant problems.
In the past, providing reporting was time consuming and cumbersome. With the introduction and improvement of website analytics systems it has become far more simpler for both agency and client.
Questions remain however, particuarly for those that are actually setting up accounts or trying to access and manage existing accounts. The following aims to provide some insights into the best practices. These are essential protocols for creating new accounts or gaining access or control over existing accounts. That will be useful for those who manage multiple client accounts) on the Google Analytics system.
No Data? Set the (Lower) Expectation
It is very common for clients to enter an agency contract/relationship and not have any data available for review. That is obviously super problematic as there is no baseline from which you can determine performance or set benchmarks. When the kickoff meeting is on the books, make sure to request access to any and all analytics systems. The reasons to do this beforehand is so that a baseline can be established.
The Importance of Proper Access Levels
The first decision agencies must make is what level of access they will need from their clients as it relates to that company’s Google Analytics (GA) account. Companies should also figure this out for themselves – and the guidance below applies to this group as well.
Best practice is for each company (both agency and client) to have their own organization. Companies also have accounts underneath organizations to which they grant or are granted access from other users or specific accounts.
Why is setting up an organization so critical?
Limiting access to the property or view level removes the ability to control other aspects of the Google Analytics ecosystem and ultimately limits the opportunities for optimization of the website or mobile property. Why?
With user-permission set to the highest possible level, it is essential to check (and double-check) that those working within the account are able to do all the things they need to do including create new custom reports, make account-wide administrative changes, etc.
Maintain your own organization (whether you are a company or an agency) makes it easier to control who has access and who does not.