Google Analytics (GA) is a robust tool that helps site owners understand how visitors discover and interact with their websites. Insights gained from visitor data can help you track targeted goals, analyze how content performs, and watch traffic movement on your site.
But while the data available through GA makes it an indispensable tool to evaluate your website marketing efforts, knowing how to transform that data into an organic search strategy is another story. That’s why it’s important to provide your search engine optimization (SEO) team with access to your Google Analytics account.
Delegating SEO responsibilities empowers someone else to do the work it takes to boost organic traffic, engagement, and conversions on your site. In the meantime, you can spend your time meeting the myriad demands your thriving business requires of you.
To provide access to everyone who needs it, you’ll have to understand the different Google Analytics roles, Google Analytics data restrictions, and how to grant access to Google Analytics.
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Understanding Google Analytics Access Levels
Google Analytics allows for different types of account users. The platform lets you modify permissions and manage account users with different degrees of access to your GA account.
The first step in sharing Google Analytics access is to determine what role new users should be granted.
Google Analytics Roles
When you add someone to GA, you grant access at one of five different levels.
1. Administrator
Administrator access is the top level of access in Google Analytics 4. Administrators can see all the data associated with the account or property. They can add or remove users and change access levels for the accounts or properties for which they have admin access.
The corresponding Universal Analytics (UA) permission level would be the “Manage Users” permission.
2. Editor
Users with editor access cannot manage user access. However, they have full control over property settings.
The editor access level is synonymous with the “Edit” permission in UA.
3. Marketer
Users with marketer access have the ability to create, modify, or delete audiences, conversions, attribution models, and events.
The marketer access level is a new access level that was not included in Universal Analytics.
4. Analyst
A user with analyst privileges can create, edit, and delete property assets like explorations. They can also collaborate on shared assets.
This user level is the same as the “Collaborate” permission in UA.
5. Viewer
Viewers cannot create, edit, or delete reports or property assets. They can simply view reports and property assets and use filters or comparisons to manipulate how they view the data.
This access level is similar to the “Read & Analyze” permission in Universal Analytics.
Google Analytics Data Restrictions
In addition to different roles, GA4 also allows you to implement two types of data restrictions. Google Analytics data restrictions limit access to certain financial information.
1. No Cost Metrics
Users with this data restriction will see a “0” rather than the value of cost metrics. When creating new reports, these users can select associated cost metrics — they just won’t be able to see the value for those metrics.
2. No Revenue Metrics
Users with the “no revenue metrics” data restriction will be unable to view data related to revenue. Although they’ll be able to generate reports featuring revenue metrics, when they view the reports, they’ll see “0” rather than the true value.
How To Add Someone to Google Analytics
Adding a new user to your Google Analytics account is a straightforward process.
- To get started, log into your Google Analytics dashboard and choose your property. Don’t forget to confirm you’re logged into the correct Google Account by checking the little circle icon at the top right of the window and switching accounts if necessary.
- Click on the Admin icon at the bottom left of the main menu.
- Account settings are located at the top of the Admin panel. Select “Account access management.”
- Click the ‘+’ icon.
- Then, click ‘Add users’ from the drop-down list.
- Enter the new user’s email address at the top. You can now assign a particular role based on the amount of access you want them to have. If you’re still not sure which level of permissions to grant, click ‘Learn more’ to view Google’s detailed description. If you want to restrict access to certain data, check the corresponding box.
- Finally, click ‘Add.’
Congratulations! You’ve successfully taken the first step in Google Analytics user management by granting a new user access to your account. If you left the ‘Notify new uses by email’ box checked,
Google will send them a message to let them know they’ve been given access to a new Google Analytics account. However, you may still want to notify them personally so they don’t miss it.
How To Share Google Analytics Access
There are times when you want to share specific information with someone who isn’t a user on your GA account. When you send them a link to a report or dashboard, they’ll need to request access from you to view it.
When the recipient clicks on the link you sent, they’ll be prompted to request access to Google Analytics, which will send an email to an administrator of the Analytics account. From here, the admin has control over the level of access they wish to grant them.
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Have More Questions About Google Analytics?
If you still have questions about how to give access to Google Analytics, or if you want to learn more about using GA to inform your SEO strategy, we’re here to help. Our SEO agency has a deep bench of strategists whose approach to search engine optimization is built on time-proven and innovative tactics that drive business growth.
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