A Google account lets you access lots of Google products. It does not need a .Gmail email address. Virtually any email address can be setup as a Google account.
The above is important – if you are in a business you should use your business email address to setup your Google account. And you need to ensure all staff are aware of this.
How to create a Google Account
You can create a Google Account by going to the Account Creation page (https://accounts.google.com/signup) or by clicking the Create an account button on the top-right corner of any Google sign-in page.
On this page notice some text in blue under ‘Choose your username’ that says ‘I prefer to use my current email address’. Click this and the form changes to allow you to enter an existing email address which can be a business one.
Why you should use a business email address and not a Gmail address if you are a business.
When signing up for a Gmail account you can give different names to your username so the real owners of the account are not traceable. Yet they own the data associated with any website on the Google account. This can mean website owners inadvertently give all their marketing data away to third parties. Unfortunately many agencies and web developers are unaware of best practise with regards Google Analytics accounts.
