How to share Search Console and Analytics access safely

Google Search Console shows how a site appears in Google Search, and only an owner of the property can add people to it.

1. Open Search Console and choose the property.
2. Go to Settings, then Users and permissions.
3. Select Add user and enter the agency’s email address.
4. Choose the permission: Restricted to read reports, or Full to see everything and take some actions.

Google Analytics records what visitors do on the site, and access is given per property.

1. Open Analytics and go to Admin.
2. Under the property, open Property access management.
3. Select the plus button, then Add users, and enter the agency’s email address.
4. Choose the role. Viewer can see reports and change nothing.

Reporting needs the least access. For an agency that will only measure and report, Restricted in Search Console and Viewer in Analytics are enough. An agency that will also fix things may need Full access in Search Console, for example to submit a sitemap, and the Editor role in Analytics to change its settings. Start low and raise the role when a task needs it.

Passwords and sign-in codes stay with the owner. No agency needs the account’s password, its two-step codes, or ownership of the property to do its work. A request for any of those is a reason to stop and ask why.

Access is removed on the same screens it was given. In Search Console, open Users and permissions and remove the user. In Analytics, open Property access management and do the same. The change takes effect at once.

Both tools are free, and both belong in the business’s own Google account. An agency can do the setting up, as long as the account and the ownership are yours and the agency is added as a user afterwards.