How to Track Organic Search In Google Analytics?

13 minutes read

Tracking organic search in Google Analytics allows you to monitor the amount of traffic your website receives from search engine results pages (SERPs) without any paid advertising. To track organic search, follow these steps:

  1. Sign in to your Google Analytics account and select the website property you want to track.
  2. Navigate to the "Acquisition" tab on the left sidebar.
  3. From the dropdown menu under "Acquisition," select "All Traffic" and then "Channels."
  4. In the main panel, you'll see different channels through which your website receives traffic. Look for "Organic Search" and click on it.
  5. Here, you'll find detailed information about the organic search traffic for your website, such as the number of sessions, new users, bounce rate, and more.
  6. To gain more insights, you can click on "Secondary Dimension" and choose additional metrics like "Landing Page" or "Keyword" to analyze the performance of specific web pages or search terms.
  7. If you want to view a different time period, adjust the date range at the top-right corner of the page.


Monitoring organic search traffic in Google Analytics helps you understand which keywords and search terms are driving the most visitors to your website. This information can guide your SEO efforts, content strategy, and help you optimize your website for better organic search rankings.

Best Google Analytics Books In November 2024

1
Google Analytics Demystified (4th Edition)

Rating is 5 out of 5

Google Analytics Demystified (4th Edition)

2
Learning Google Analytics: Creating Business Impact and Driving Insights

Rating is 4.9 out of 5

Learning Google Analytics: Creating Business Impact and Driving Insights

3
Google Analytics: Understanding Visitor Behavior

Rating is 4.8 out of 5

Google Analytics: Understanding Visitor Behavior

4
Google Analytics Breakthrough: From Zero to Business Impact

Rating is 4.7 out of 5

Google Analytics Breakthrough: From Zero to Business Impact

5
Google Analytics Alternatives: A Guide to Navigating the World of Options Beyond Google

Rating is 4.6 out of 5

Google Analytics Alternatives: A Guide to Navigating the World of Options Beyond Google

6
Learning Google AdWords and Google Analytics

Rating is 4.5 out of 5

Learning Google AdWords and Google Analytics

7
Data Engineering with Google Cloud Platform: A practical guide to operationalizing scalable data analytics systems on GCP

Rating is 4.4 out of 5

Data Engineering with Google Cloud Platform: A practical guide to operationalizing scalable data analytics systems on GCP

8
Practical Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager for Developers

Rating is 4.3 out of 5

Practical Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager for Developers

9
Advanced Web Metrics with Google Analytics

Rating is 4.2 out of 5

Advanced Web Metrics with Google Analytics


How to identify the top organic search queries in Google Analytics?

To identify the top organic search queries in Google Analytics, you can follow these steps:

  1. Log in to your Google Analytics account and select the website for which you want to identify the search queries.
  2. Click on the "Acquisition" tab in the left-hand menu.
  3. Expand the "All Traffic" section and click on "Channels."
  4. In the main window, you will see different channels including "Organic Search." Click on it.
  5. Now you will see the organic search traffic data.
  6. To identify the top search queries, click on the "Secondary dimension" drop-down menu above the data table.
  7. In the search box, type and select "Keyword" from the available options.
  8. The data table will now display the top organic search queries along with the corresponding metrics like sessions, bounce rate, and more.
  9. You can also adjust the date range at the top right corner to analyze the data for a specific period.
  10. To see more search queries, you can increase the number of rows displayed by clicking on the "Show rows" drop-down menu at the bottom of the data table.


This way, you can identify the top organic search queries driving traffic to your website using Google Analytics.


What is the referral traffic associated with organic search in Google Analytics?

Referral traffic associated with organic search in Google Analytics refers to the traffic that comes to a website from search engines, such as Google, when users click on a search result and are directed to the website. This traffic is categorized as "organic" because it is not influenced by paid advertising or promotions; instead, it is driven by the website's search engine visibility and relevance to the user's search query. In Google Analytics, referral traffic is typically attributed to a specific search engine, such as google.com, and can provide insights into the effectiveness of an SEO strategy and the performance of organic search traffic in driving visitors to a website.


How to optimize organic search performance based on Google Analytics insights?

  1. Identify top-performing keywords: Use Google Analytics to analyze the keywords that drive the most organic traffic to your website. Focus on these keywords and optimize your website content accordingly.
  2. Analyze landing pages: Analyze the landing pages that receive the highest organic traffic. Optimize these pages by adding relevant keywords, improving meta tags, and providing valuable content.
  3. Track bounce rates: Use Google Analytics to track bounce rates for different organic search queries. High bounce rates indicate that the content may not be relevant or engaging to users. Review and optimize these pages to decrease bounce rates.
  4. Monitor click-through rates (CTRs): Examine the CTRs of your organic search results. Low CTRs may indicate that your title tags and meta descriptions need improvement. Optimize these tags to make them more compelling and enticing to users.
  5. Review organic search traffic trends: Use Google Analytics to track trends in your organic search traffic over time. Identify any fluctuations or changes and adjust your SEO strategies accordingly.
  6. Mobile optimization: Google Analytics provides insights on the percentage of organic traffic that comes from mobile devices. Ensure that your website is mobile-friendly and responsive to provide a better user experience.
  7. Analyze user behavior: Utilize Google Analytics to analyze user behavior on your website, such as time spent on page, pages per session, and conversion rates. Leverage this information to optimize your website structure and content.
  8. Monitor website speed: Google Analytics offers data on website loading times. Improve website speed to provide a better user experience and potentially boost organic search rankings.
  9. Leverage demographics and interests: Google Analytics provides audience insights, including demographics and interests. Use this data to understand your target audience better and tailor your content and SEO strategies accordingly.
  10. Set up goals and conversions: Utilize Google Analytics to track and measure conversions from organic search traffic. Set up goals to monitor the performance of specific pages or actions. Analyze the data to optimize your conversion rate optimization (CRO) strategies.
  11. Utilize Search Console data: Integrate Google Analytics with Google Search Console to gain deeper insights into the performance of your organic search traffic. This will provide additional data to optimize your SEO efforts.


How to track organic search traffic from social media platforms in Google Analytics?

To track organic search traffic from social media platforms in Google Analytics, follow these steps:

  1. Set up Goals in Google Analytics: Start by setting up goals or conversion tracking in Google Analytics to measure the specific actions you want users to take on your website. For example, tracking newsletter sign-ups, form submissions, or purchases.
  2. Create UTM Parameters: Use UTM (Urchin Tracking Module) parameters to track the URLs shared on social media platforms. UTM parameters are tags added to your URLs that provide additional information to Google Analytics about the source, medium, and campaign name. You can use Google's Campaign URL Builder to generate UTM parameters easily.
  3. Use UTMs in Social Media URLs: Add UTM parameters to the URLs you share on social media platforms. For example, if you're sharing a blog post on Facebook, use the generated UTM link in your Facebook post.
  4. Monitor Organic Social Traffic: In Google Analytics, navigate to Acquisition > All Traffic > Source/Medium. Here, you'll find a list of different sources and mediums driving traffic to your website. Look for social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc., in the Source column, and "organic" in the Medium column.
  5. Analyze Traffic and Conversion Data: Analyze the organic social traffic data, including the number of sessions, page views, bounce rate, and conversion rates. Additionally, you can segment the data further to track traffic and conversions from specific social media platforms or campaigns using the Secondary Dimension feature.


Remember to regularly check and analyze the data to identify trends, optimize your social media strategies, and improve your website's performance.


What is the average session duration for organic search traffic in Google Analytics?

The average session duration for organic search traffic in Google Analytics can vary depending on the website and industry. However, according to a study by SEMrush, the average session duration for organic search traffic is around 3 minutes and 17 seconds. It's important to note that this is just an average and individual websites may have different session duration metrics based on various factors such as content quality, website design, user behavior, etc.


How to track the landing pages for organic search traffic in Google Analytics?

To track the landing pages for organic search traffic in Google Analytics, you can follow these steps:

  1. Log in to your Google Analytics account and navigate to the desired website property.
  2. Click on "Acquisition" in the left-hand sidebar to view different acquisition channels.
  3. Select "Organic Search" under the "All Traffic" tab.
  4. On the Organic Search page, you will see a list of landing pages for organic search traffic.
  5. To get more specific data, you can apply additional filters or segments. For example, you can filter the landing pages by specific keywords or search queries.
  6. To view the traffic and performance metrics for a particular landing page, click on its URL in the list.
  7. You can further analyze the data by using various options such as time range, comparison, secondary dimensions, etc., available at the top of the page.


By following these steps, you can easily track and analyze the landing pages for organic search traffic in Google Analytics.

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Telegram Whatsapp Pocket

Related Posts:

To access organic search data in Google Analytics, follow these steps:Sign in to Google Analytics using your Google account credentials.Once you're logged in, find and select the website for which you want to access organic search data. This will take you ...
Analyzing Search Console data with Google Analytics allows you to gain valuable insights into your website's performance in search engines. By connecting the two platforms, you can leverage Google Analytics' robust analysis capabilities to enhance your...
Analyzing organic social traffic in Google Analytics 4 (GA4) can help you understand how well your social media efforts are driving organic traffic to your website. By analyzing this data, you can gain insights into the performance of your social media campaig...