SEO Analytics: Ways to Use Google Analytics for SEO

How to Use Google Analytics for SEO: A Practical Analytics Guide

Using Google Analytics for SEO is one of the most effective ways to understand your site’s performance in search and make better decisions.

Whether you run an agency, manage an internal team, or handle SEO for your own business, knowing how to work with analytics for SEO can make a clear difference to your SEO results.

This article breaks down how to analyse SEO data, track organic traffic, and pull useful insights from your Google Analytics account - without relying on hype or guesswork.

Outline

1. What Is SEO Analytics and Why Does It Matter?

2. Can You Really Use Google Analytics for SEO?

3. Setting Up Google Analytics 4 for SEO Tracking

4. Understanding Organic Search Traffic in Google Analytics

5. Which SEO Metrics Should You Be Tracking?

6. What Can Google Analytics Tell You About Search Queries?

7. Using Google Analytics with Google Search Console

8. How to Monitor SEO Campaigns in Google Analytics

9. Building a Simple SEO Dashboard in GA4

10. Practical Ways to Use Google Analytics to Improve Your SEO

1. What Is SEO Analytics and Why Does It Matter?

SEO analytics is the process of collecting and interpreting data to understand how your website performs in organic search.

It’s not about vanity metrics. It's about measuring how your SEO efforts translate into traffic, rankings, and ultimately sales or leads.

The goal of SEO analytics is to give you a clear picture of:

• Which search queries bring visitors to your site

• How users behave once they arrive

• Which pages drive the most traffic

• Where your traffic is coming from

• What impact your SEO strategies are having

By using tools like Google Analytics, you can gather the SEO data needed to make better decisions, allocate resources, and measure progress.

It’s especially useful for identifying what’s working and where your site might need improvement.

2. Can You Really Use Google Analytics for SEO?

Yes, you can use Google Analytics for SEO, but it works best when paired with Google Search Console.

Google Analytics gives you behaviour and conversion data - what users do once they’re on your site.

Google Search Console gives you keyword visibility and search performance - how users find your site in the first place.

While Google Analytics alone won’t show exact keyword data like it once did, it’s still useful for analysing organic traffic patterns, bounce rates, engagement, and conversions from organic search.

You can also connect your Google Analytics account to Search Console to bring in keyword-level insights.

Used correctly, Google Analytics can help you measure SEO, track SEO ranking changes, and provide context to your SEO report.

3. Setting Up Google Analytics 4 for SEO Tracking

If you're still using Universal Analytics, it's time to switch. Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is now the default and only supported version. Here’s how to get started:

• Create a GA4 property or upgrade your existing setup.

• Connect your Google Analytics account with Google Search Console.

• Set up conversion tracking for your key SEO goals (e.g. form submissions, product views, downloads).

• Filter out spam, bots, and internal traffic using filters and custom audiences.

Once that’s done, you’ll have a basic setup that lets you begin tracking your SEO performance through your analytics reports.

You won’t see keyword-level data directly in GA4, but you will get detailed engagement and conversion metrics that support SEO insights.

4. Understanding Organic Search Traffic in Google Analytics

One of the most valuable features of Google Analytics is how it tracks organic search traffic. This includes all non-paid visits from search engines like Google, Bing, or DuckDuckGo.

To view this data:

• Head to the "Traffic acquisition" report in GA4.

• Filter by "Session source / medium" and select google / organic or simply organic.

This shows you which traffic to your site comes from search engines and how those visitors behave.

You’ll be able to see which pages attract the most organic traffic, how long people stay, and what actions they take.

This is where SEO starts to overlap with user behaviour analysis. It’s not enough to rank - users also need to engage.

5. Which SEO Metrics Should You Be Tracking?

You don’t need to track everything. Focus on the SEO metrics that actually matter:

• Organic traffic volume

• Landing pages visited via search

• Average engagement time

• Bounce rate or user retention

• Conversions from organic search

• New vs returning visitors

• Site speed and loading time

These help you understand how effective your SEO strategies are and whether your content matches the search intent of your visitors.

GA4 also allows you to segment your users by source, so you can isolate performance from SEO and avoid mixing it with traffic from email, direct or social media.

6. What Can Google Analytics Tell You About Search Queries?

Google Analytics doesn’t show keyword data directly anymore. Most of it is marked as (not provided). That’s where linking Google Search Console comes in.

Once connected, you can view search queries through the “Search Console” section of GA4. This data includes:

• Top queries by clicks

• Landing pages ranked in search

• Impressions vs clicks

• Average position in Google search results

It’s not detailed to the session level, but it gives you direction. These insights can help with content planning, spotting gaps, and improving the relevance of your pages to specific keywords.

7. Using Google Analytics with Google Search Console

If you want SEO analytics that goes beyond surface metrics, use Google Analytics alongside Google Search Console. When these two platforms are linked:

• You can view search performance in your analytics reports

• Search Console adds keyword data to your SEO dashboard

• GA4 gives deeper user engagement stats for SEO landing pages

You’ll need admin access to both tools to set this up. Once integrated, you’ll be able to pull SEO insights such as CTR, impressions, and rankings into your overall view of website performance.

This combination gives a more complete picture of SEO tracking than either tool on its own.

8. How to Monitor SEO Campaigns in Google Analytics

To track the success of an SEO campaign, set clear goals and use Google Analytics to monitor progress. Here's a basic process:

1. Identify landing pages targeted by your SEO work.

2. Use GA4 to monitor traffic to those URLs from organic sources.

3. Track changes in engagement, conversions, and bounce rates.

4. Compare timeframes before and after implementation.

GA4’s comparison tools make it easy to see if your SEO efforts are improving the performance of specific content.

You can also add annotations or use custom reports to track milestones or campaign launches.

9. Building a Simple SEO Dashboard in GA4

To keep an eye on your SEO without digging through multiple reports, create a simple SEO dashboard.

Your dashboard could include:

• Organic traffic volume over time

• Top landing pages from organic search

• Engagement rate for organic sessions

• Conversions from SEO traffic

• Search queries via Search Console integration

• Site speed metrics

Use GA4’s “Explore” function to build custom views. You can export these reports or schedule email updates to stakeholders.

If you work with clients, a clear SEO dashboard also builds trust by showing the impact of your SEO analytics tools.

10. Practical Ways to Use Google Analytics to Improve Your SEO

There are several ways you can use Google Analytics to improve your SEO:

• Identify underperforming landing pages with high bounce rates and low engagement from organic traffic.

• Spot fast-exiting entry pages and improve content relevance or internal linking.

• Check which devices or regions perform best and adapt your content or layout.

• Monitor changes in site speed that could be affecting your SEO ranking.

• Track goal completions to link SEO success to actual business results.

Here are some specific actions:

• Filter your analytics report to show only organic search traffic, then look for weak-performing pages.

• Use Google Analytics reports to compare SEO metrics before and after site updates.

• Match SEO ranking improvements with changes in on-site behaviour or conversions.

• Track the impact of metadata changes or content edits over time using annotations or date comparisons.

Analytics for SEO isn’t about vanity charts. It’s about pulling the right signal from your traffic to make informed decisions. It lets you adapt your SEO strategies with data rather than guesswork.

Summary: Key Points to Remember

• SEO analytics helps you track the effectiveness of your SEO efforts using real data.

• Google Analytics gives insights into how organic visitors behave on your site.

• Use Google Analytics for SEO by filtering reports to view organic search traffic only.

• Link Google Search Console to unlock keyword and search query insights.

• Focus on key SEO metrics like engagement, conversions, and bounce rates.

• Build custom dashboards to monitor your SEO campaign performance.

• Track SEO over time with GA4’s comparison and exploration tools.

• Combine behaviour data with keyword data for better SEO decisions.

• Use Google Analytics reports to support and adjust your content strategy.

• Google Analytics 4 is the standard - get familiar with it for accurate tracking.

If you need help setting up GA4 or turning SEO data into decisions, get in touch with SEOJet. We base our work on evidence and experience.