Google Analytics improves SEO data integration

Good news this week for SEO analysts: Google’s replacing the Search Engine Optimisation report in Google Analytics with Google Search Console data. The new report, rolling out in the next few weeks, will be located under the Acquisitions tab and will mix Google Search Console data with Google Analytics data.

The new report will be located in the Acquisitions reporting area, replacing the Search Engine Optimisation report. To take advantage, first make sure that you have linked Google Search Console to your Google Analytics account.

Long overdue, the new report will for the first time integrate behaviour and conversion metrics from Google Analytics with organic search acquisition data (impressions, clicks, rank and so on) pulled from Google Search Console.

Google’s blog announcement cautions that “while the data is displayed in parallel, not all Google Analytics features are available for Search Console data — including segmentation…You may also see that clicks from Search Console may differ from total sessions in Google Analytics.”

Why should you care?

While it’s long been possible to link Google Search Console to Google Analytics, until now the data has not provided a complete picture of post-acquisition behaviour.

Google gives, as examples, the following options as now being possible with the improved integration:

• Find landing pages that are attracting many users through Google organic search (for example, high impressions and high click through rate) but where users are not engaging with the website.
• Find landing pages that have high site engagement but are not successfully attracting users from Google organic search (for example, they have low click through rates).
• Learn which queries are ranking well for each organic landing page.
• Segment organic performance by device category (desktop, tablet, mobile) in the new Devices report.
 

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