In SEO, ranking isn’t truly the aim. It’s traffic. To report on SEO, we must thus use GA4, as the SEO tools do not include traffic statistics.
In SEO, traffic isn’t the end goal either. It’s called lead generation. This implies that we require high-quality traffic that generates leads. This implies that since our conversion data is located there, we must utilize GA4.
Welcome to our mini-guide on tracking SEO success with Google Analytics. From top-line traffic to bottom-line lead generation, these seven reports explain how to utilize GA4 for SEO and show you how you’re doing in Google search.
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We’ll stick to the primary reporting part and keep things straightforward. Looker Studio does not require specific SEO dashboards or GA4 explorations. We’ll use fundamental filters and common metrics for all of our work. No elaborate setup is necessary.
If you just have GA4 data, how can you evaluate search performance? These are the methods.
- Track overall traffic changes from search
- Track search traffic to specific URLs
- Check conversion rates from SEO traffic
- Check conversion rates from SEO traffic to specific URLs*
- Check engagement rates on low ranking pages
- Track visitors who clicked on your Google Business Profile
- Set up email notifications for drops in search traffic
1. Use GA4 to track overall traffic from SEO
Initially, we will address the fundamental inquiry: What is the amount of search traffic that the website receives? Has the total search traffic increased or decreased?
Although this GA4 report may have limited practicality, it provides a comprehensive overview. It displays the entirety of search traffic to each URL, and by comparing the period range, you can promptly determine if the website is progressing in the correct direction.
It is rapid and effortless. To access the Acquisition section, navigate to the Traffic Acquisition section, choose a specific date range, and activate the “Compare” switch. This concludes the matter. Examine the percentage change row for “Organic Search” to see whether the total search traffic is increasing or decreasing.
It is important to exercise caution while selecting date ranges due to seasonality. The improvement observed from one year to another poses challenges in accurately assessing recent endeavors. Attempt multiple date ranges in order to obtain a comprehensive understanding. Exercise patience. SEO modifications have a gradual effect, typically spanning several months.
It provides a brief assessment of SEO well-being, but it does not provide a comprehensive overview. This numerical value consolidates the entirety of search traffic sent towards all pages within the website. It is the total. Based on the aforementioned information, it appears that the month-to-month search traffic remains stagnant. However, there may be fluctuations in search traffic to different URLs.
Now, let us examine alterations in search traffic at the individual page level. The true insights in GA4 are consistently more profound.
2. Check search traffic changes to specific pages
Certain pages hold greater significance than others. those who access a webpage showcasing your services are frequently tenfold more inclined to convert into leads compared to those who initiate their visit through a blog post. Not all traffic is of equal quality.
If there is an increase in search traffic to your blog but a decrease in search traffic to your homepages, GA4 may indicate a gain in overall search traffic…and you would have contentment. However, in actuality, the number of qualified visitors is reduced.One should not experience any sense of happiness.
It is necessary to do a more comprehensive analysis of organic search traffic fluctuations per URL. Here is the method:
- Go to Engagement > Landing page
- Use a date range comparison (try previous period and previous year)
- Click “Add filter +” and set the filter to show only traffic from search
Dimension: “Session medium”
Match Type “exactly matches”
Value: “organic” - Click “Apply”
The GA4 SEO report is quite valuable.
You are currently examining modifications from the search to each individual page. It is immediately apparent that there are significant winners and losers in any given time period. The page-level has significant volatility that is not readily apparent when examining the overall search traffic.
Now you own a greater number of practical SEO observations.
When organic traffic to a page is down…
The process of doing an SEO analysis often encompasses the following inquiries. I have arranged them in ascending order of likely utility, drawing from my personal expertise.
- Examine the text on that page carefully.
Are there any missing answers? Specifics? What improvements could be made? - Please examine the search terms for which the page is ranked, as indicated by Google Search Console, Semrush, and Ahrefs.
Does the alignment of titles, headers, and body content correspond to those phrases? - Seek for additional pages that are thematically linked.
Is there any content available that can be linked to this page? - Check the demand for the topic using Google Trends.
Does the decrease in traffic occur on a seasonal basis? - An examination of the page speed of the URL can be conducted using GT Metrix and Google Pagespeed Insights.
Is there a factor impeding the speed of this webpage? - Examine the search engine results page (SERP) by conducting a search for the relevant phrases.
Do you face competition from newly introduced SERP features?
Irrespective of the diagnosis, the course of action for addressing traffic declines typically involves implementing on-page SEO modifications, internal linking strategies, digital public relations and link building efforts, as well as evaluating technical SEO concerns. However, there are no actions that can be taken regarding alterations to SERPs.
When organic traffic to a page is up…
After you have finished rejoicing, seek ways to optimize the worth of the victory.
- Examine the internal hyperlinks inside the content, particularly in the context of blog entries.
Should this article provide any further hyperlinks? Perhaps an option with a substantial conversion rate? - The examination of the calls to action, such as “contact” for sales pages and “sign up” for blog posts, raises the question of whether this page effectively directs visitors towards conversion.
- Take into account the interconnected subjects (particularly for blog articles) Is it possible to compose a similar piece that focuses on a neighboring phrase?
- Google Analytics does not provide keyword data. To accomplish this, you will want Google Search Console or a commercial service specifically designed to monitor SEO operations.
3. Check conversion rates from organic search traffic
Let us proceed collectively through the funnel.
In order to ascertain the comprehensive conversion rate derived from organic traffic, it is advisable to utilize the aforementioned report, while ensuring that the conversion rate is included as one of the metrics. This entails tailoring the report to display that specific metric. Here is the method:
Navigate to the Acquisition section and select Traffic Acquisition.
- Please select the pencil located in the upper right corner.
- Click on the “Metrics” option in the Customize Report window.
- To obtain the “Session conversion rate,” please search for the term “rate” in the designated “Add metric” field
- located at the conclusion of the list.
- Please select the “Apply” option.
Note: There is no need for concern regarding the comparison of date ranges. The conversion rates vary minimally over time based on the source of traffic. However, verify for yourself if you are inquisitive.
The conversion rate for each channel is now visible.
See how conversion rates from different traffic sources differ significantly? It all comes down to intent and traffic quality.
However, there is an issue with this report. It aggregates all forms of conversions, such as leads generated by contact form submissions and subscribers generated by newsletter signups. There is a combination of both commercial and informational visitor intent.
Even if the site may only produce a small number of leads, the overall conversion rate may appear high due to the large number of subscribers. Alternatively, the site may appear to have a poor conversion rate due to its high blog traffic, but in reality, it produces a large number of quality leads. Therefore, aggregate data is typically deceptive.
Let’s examine those two categories of conversions in more detail.
What’s the email signup conversion rate for organic search visitors?
Examining visitors with distinct intents and conversion types separately is preferable. For instance, perform these two more actions to see the pace at which organic visitors are signing up for your newsletter through blog posts:
To see only visitors who comment on blog posts, click “Add filter +” (see screenshot below).
“Landing page + query string” is the dimension.
Type of Match “contains”
Worth: “blog”
From the dropdown menu under “Session conversion rate,” choose the email signup conversion type.
It’s also interesting to see the report’s engagement rate. According to this perspective, blog post visitors from organic search queries are more engaged than those from other sources of traffic. At 72%, it is significantly higher than usual. There is a 55% average engagement rate.
What’s the lead generation conversion rate for organic search visitors?
Let’s examine the true return on investment (ROI) of SEO by marketing qualified leads at the bottom of the funnel.
However, all of those indolent blog readers skew the lead generating rate for search visitors conversion rate. We should first remove those visitors from the data since they never intended to use our services.
Modify the filter to display visitors who did not begin on a blog post (Landing page does not contain blog) in order to remove the visitors who began their visit on a blog post.
Next, under the “Session conversion rate” measure, choose your lead generation conversion event from the menu. Our conversion event is entitled “contact_lead,” as you can see in the screenshot below, but it might have a different name.
Be careful—GA4 isn’t always right!
Although this figure isn’t entirely correct, the report above also displays total conversions. GA4 consistently underreports conversions and traffic. This is a result of certain visitors choosing to use privacy tools, accepting cookies from the cookie consent banner, using incognito mode, or picking up the phone. Although conversion rates appear to be OK, do not use GA4 to calculate total conversions.
Check your CRM (customer relationship management)—it should be linked to your contact form—to see a more precise figure of conversions. To gauge the veracity of your Analytics account, compare those figures to those in GA4. 20% of our conversions weren’t showing up in GA4 when we last checked.
Perhaps even more useful are the insights for e-commerce websites. particularly if GA4 is linked to the Google Merchant Center. Brie Anderson, an analytics expert, clarifies:
4. Check conversion rates from organic traffic per landing page
It’s a war waged on each page for SEO. Each and every page is in competition with every other keyphrase. But which of your rivals need to be your first concern? Which pages have the biggest influence? For each URL, what is the conversion rate?
Understanding this will enable you to target your SEO efforts appropriately.
This report is much the same as the one we produced for report #2 above, except it includes the conversion rate and does not compare dates. This is how to make it:
Access the Landing page under Engagement.
To restrict the filter to only display search traffic, click “Add filter +” (see screenshot below).
“Session medium” as its dimension
“Exact matches” is the match type.
“Organic” value
We’ll add a few additional stages so that you can view only the visitors who had commercial intent (i.e., didn’t start on a blog post) and converted into an actual lead (as opposed to the other various sorts of conversions):
Add a new filter condition to display only those visitors who did not begin reading a blog article.
Size: Page landing
Type of Match: “does not contain”
Worth: “blog”
From the dropdown menu under “Session conversion rate,” choose the lead generating conversion type.
This is how the report ought to appear:
Now you can see exactly which pages drive bottom line impact. These are the pages that you should prioritize. Optimize them first. Use every SEO tactic in the book. Give them all the love you can. They’re the ones that fill the sales pipeline.
While you’re at it, take a moment to promote those high performers in other channels.
- If they’re articles, keep promoting them on social media
- If they’re service pages, consider buying a bit of traffic with Google Ads
5. Check engagement rates of low ranking pages
The page is quite detailed and features relevant keywords. In comparison to the other pages that rank for the same keyword, it also has a great Page Authority. Surely, it ought to rank? It fulfills both requirements. It does cover the fundamentals of SEO.
But perhaps they aren’t interacting with the page. Perhaps when someone lands, they swiftly press the back button. Google refers to this low user participation as “pogo sticking.” The page is receiving negative signals from users, which lowers the page’s ranking.
The place to look for potential “negative user interaction signals” is GA4. Check the engagement rate in Google Analytics if the standard explanations for the poor ranks don’t work. You might have identified the issue if it’s extremely low.
This report is identical to the one we used previously (landing page filtered so “session medium” matches “organic”), but we’re looking for the engagement rate metric this time.
A low engagement rate could indicate to Google that users are communicating with them. Google notices that users who land on this page swiftly return to the search results. Poor “dwell time” (time on page from organic search) is what this is called as, and while it hurts your rankings, it’s visible in GA4.
Numerous user experience best practices have the potential to increase SEO performance and raise engagement rates.
- Add depth and detail
- Add formatting (subheads, bullets, bolding, etc.)
- Add visuals and video
- Add internal links
6. Track traffic from your Google Business Profile
Visitors who search for your company name are already brand aware. This searcher has “navigation intent” which means they’re trying to get to your website. They see your website ranking at the top and your Google Business Profile on the right. Did they click on your search listing? Or your business profile? Can you see the difference in GA4?
Yes, you can track visitors who click on the “Website” button in your Google Business Profile, but only if you add a bit of tracking code to that link. The code is technically a set of three parameters (utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign) that you add to the end of the link using a URL Builder.
Now use that link, with the three campaign UTM parameters added, as the link to your website from your Google Business Profile. When visitors click that link, GA4 will attribute that click to that button, with the source, medium and campaign name you specified.
In the example below, I’ve used the search tool to show just campaigns with “gmb” in them. You can see that there are business profiles for multiple locations, each with their own campaign name, but only one of the locations is getting any clicks. You can imagine how important this is whenever local SEO is part of an SEO strategy.
7. Get notified of drops in organic search traffic
If organic traffic tanks, you may not notice for weeks. Few marketers watch their traffic reports that closely. But GA4 can keep an eye on things for you and send you an email notification if traffic crashes. It’s a “custom insight” with an email notification. Back in the days of Universal Analytics, this was called a “custom alert.”
Here’s how to set up a custom insight that emails you if search traffic drops:
- Go to Reports (the “Reports snapshot”)
- Click on “View all insights →” in the insights card
- Click the “Create” button in the top right
- Click the “Create new” button under “Start from scratch”
- Set “Evaluation frequency” to weekly
- For Segment, rather than “All users” click “Change” and use the following settings to watch for just search traffic.
Dimension: First user medium
Match Type: exactly matches
Value: “organic” - Set “Comparison period” to Previous week
- For the insight name, use “Organic Search Traffic Drop” or something similar
- Under “Manage notifications” enter your email address
- Click the “Create” button in the top right
Look closely at this screenshot to see what all of the settings look like:
Don’t wait until small problems get big. Let GA4 alert you to issues, then you can jump in and see what’s happening.
- Is it a problem with one or two blockbuster URLs? If so, look at those SERPs and that content.
- Is it a sitewide organic traffic drop? If so, check technical SEO factors and Google algorithm changes.
- Is it a reporting problem with GA4 itself? If so, check Google Tag Manager and cookie consent settings
Data keeps people accountable
If you’ve hired an agency to do SEO services or an SEO specialist in house, use your Google Analytics 4 data to keep them accountable. Although it’s not famous for SEO metrics, GA4 is an important part of the reporting picture. It’s still the best place to watch traffic and conversion rates.
And it’s a fantastic tool for doing analysis and finding insights. We hope we’ve answered the question: Can Google Analytics be used for SEO? Yes.
Quick recap: Beyond the reports, we covered some key points that are very important. Let’s revisit them here:
- GA4 underreports actual traffic, for privacy and technical reasons. Your real traffic and conversions are likely 20% greater or more.
- GA4 doesn’t have any keyword data. For that you’ll need to connect Google Search Console to GA4. Or just jump over to GSC.
- GA4 data can be integrated into other tools. A lot of digital marketers connect their tools and then build their SEO reports in Google Sheets. Or pull the data into BigQuery then build SEO dashboards in Looker Studio. That’s what we do.