Why You Should Utilize Separate Accounts when Managing Multiple Websites

When setting up accounts for your job with services like web hosting, Google Analytics, etc., don't be tempted by the "it will be convenient for me now" argument. If you manage multiple websites, it may be easier to have all your Google Analytics reports under one Google account for example, but what if you need to split those websites up for some reason? If another developer takes over a website, will it be easy to turn over the keys? As in turning over the source files and account information…not emotionally. For that, you might need counseling.

As an in-house developer, I typically work on websites that are closely related. There is fairly little risk of needing to strip one website's account information from another. In fact, having a closer connection for these websites is more beneficial to visitors. So it makes sense that these websites be listed under the same account. However, some websites that I develop for have a greater chance of needing to be turned over to another developer. Luckily the website host we use makes it fairly simple to transfer aspects of our account. We just need to keep the websites that have a high risk of being transferred in their own sub-accounts.

Google Analytics, on the other hand, is not so forgiving. Once those reports are grouped together, there isn't any way to separate them. You can export specific reports, but there isn't an easy way to export all the data. You could give the new developer access to the existing analytics report. Just keep in mind that the free version of Google Analytics is limited to tracking 5 million pageviews per month and every website counts towards that total. Of course, you could sign up for a Google AdWords account if you're near the limit. As long as you maintain an active AdWords account, you get unlimited pageview tracking.

Related Links

• How do I grant other users access to my Analytics reports? – instructions for sharing Google Analytics reports with other users.