Google Analytics™ Third Edition

Chapter 3. Creating Your Analytics Account

When Google purchased Urchin on Demand, industry analysts predicted that the merging of Google's technology with Urchin's capabilities would be a great relationship. Chalk one up for the analysts because it truly has turned out to be a marriage made in analytics heaven. Sure, there were some growing pains in the beginning, but combining a successful analytics program like Urchin with the power and simplicity of Google's technology has created an application that anyone can use.

It's not all roses and champagne, however. Even paradise has bugs, and Google Analytics isn't immune to them. Fortunately, the bugs have been pretty minor. You should have a minimum of frustration setting up Google Analytics. You could encounter a few issues, but we're going to walk you through those to make setup as painless as possible.

First, You Need a Google Account

With Google, the key to being part of the "in crowd" is having a Google account. Your Google account will open doors to all kinds of programs, including Google Analytics. And if you use any other Google applications, you probably already have an account.

Without a Google account you'd forever be an outsider, and you don't want that, do you? Signing up for one is easy. The amount of information required is minimal, just your e-mail address and physical location. In Figure 3-1 you can see the information required to create an account with Google.

Figure 3-1. Google wants your e-mail address, your location, ...