What is the advantage of linking Google Search Console to Google Analytics 4 (GA4)?
Google Analytics 4 allows you to connect your GA4 property with Google Search Console property.
You should link/connect your GA4 property with your Google Search Console account.
Through such integration, you can view the Google search console data in your GA4 property.
The Search Console data is made up of:
Queries
Impressions
Clicks
CTR
Organic Google search average position
Landing pages etc
Through Google search console data, you can determine what users saw in Google search results before they decided to click on your website.
You can then use this data to identify new content development opportunities and prioritize content development and marketing efforts to increase your website traffic.
For example,
You can identify landing pages on your website that have good clickthrough rates (CTR) on search result pages but have poor average ranking positions.
These could be pages that people want to see but have trouble finding. You can then work on improving their search engine rankings.
Similarly,
You can identify search queries (keywords) for which your website has good CTR on search result pages but poor average positions.
You can then work on improving the search engine rankings of your landing pages for their search queries.
When you link your GA4 property to your search console account, the following two new search console reports become available in your GA4 property:
Queries report.
Google organic search traffic report.
How to link Google Search Console to Google Analytics 4 (GA4)?
Follow the steps below to link your Google Search Console property to your GA4 property:
Step-1: Make sure that both your GA4 property and the search console property you are planning to link to each other are collecting data for the same set of web pages (i.e. website).
Step-2: Make sure that your GA4 property has at least one web data stream.
Note(1): You can link a search console property to only one web data stream at a time.
Note(2): You can link a web data stream to only one search console property at a time.
Step-4: Make sure that the email address you are using for the GA4 property (with either the ‘Administrator’ or ‘Editor’ permission) is also used to log in to your Google Search Console property, for which you must be a verified site owner.
Step-5: Navigate to your GA4 Property and click on the ‘Admin’ link from the menu:
Step-6: Under the ‘Property’ column, scroll down to the ‘Product links’ section and then click on the link ‘Search Console Links’:
Step-7: Click on the ‘Link’ button:
Step-8: Click on the link ‘Choose accounts’.
Step-9: Click on the check box next to the search console property you want to link to your GA4 property, and then click on the ‘Confirm’ button:
Step-10: Click on the ‘Next’ button:
Step-11: Click on the ‘Select’ button to select a web data stream for your website:
Step-12: Click on the web data stream you want to link to your search console property:
Step-13: You should see that your selected data stream is listed under the ‘Select Web Stream’ section. Now click on the ‘Next’ button:
Step-14: Review your configuration settings and then click on the ‘Submit’ button:
You should now see the ‘Link Created’ message:
Step-15: Close the overlay by clicking on the cross button on the top left-hand side:
You should now see a screen like the one below:
Congratulations!
You have successfully linked your GA4 property to your Google Search Console property.
Note(1): You will not see the search console reports even after linking your GA4 property to your search console property. This is because the search console reports in GA4 are unpublished by default. They need to be published first.
Note(2): You can not edit a Search Console link. If you need to make a change to the link, then you would need to delete the existing link and then create a new one.
Note(3): Your Search Console data becomes available in GA4 depending on when you create the web data stream and when you complete site verification in Search Console.
So if you created a web data stream in GA4 and then completed site verification in the search console, the search console data in GA4 is available from the time of site verification.
On the other hand, if you completed site verification first and then created a new web data stream in GA4, the search console data is available in GA4 from the creation date of the web data stream.
Note(4): The Google Search Console data is usually available in GA4 Search Console reports 48 hours after it is collected by your linked Search Console property.
Step-16: Click on the ‘Reports’ link from the left-hand side navigation menu:
Step-17: Click on the ‘Library’ link from the menu:
Step-18: Under the ‘Collections’ section, look for the new collection named ‘Search Console’:
Step-19: Click on the arrow button (>) under the ‘search console’ collection:
Step-20: The ‘Search Console’ collection is not yet published. You would need to publish it. To do that, click on the three dots menu:
Step-21: Click on the ‘Publish’ button.
Note: If you do not see the ‘Publish’ button, then click on the ‘Edit’ link to edit the ‘Search Console’ collection and then click on the ‘Save’ button.
You should now see the ‘Published‘ status as well as the new ‘Search Console’ menu:
Note(2): You can also link to your GA4 property from your search console property via Settings > Associations
About ‘Queries: Organic Google Search Query’ Report
Through the ‘Queries’ search console report in your GA4 property, you can get the following insight:
#1 You can see the trend of Google organic search clicks over time:
#2 You can determine the top 5 Google Organic search queries that generated organic search traffic on your website:
Note: Search Console reports in GA4 do not support the time series chart.
#3 You can see the search console dimensions and metrics
When you scroll down the ‘Queries’ report, you will see a data table just below the two graphs, which list the search console dimension named ‘Organic Google Search Query’ and the following search console metrics:
Organic Google Search Clicks.
Organic Google Search Impressions.
Organic Google Search Click through rate.
Organic Google Search Average positon.
Note: These Search Console metrics are only compatible with Search Console dimensions and the following Analytics dimensions: ‘Landing page’, ‘Device’ and ‘Country’.
#4 You can determine the Google organic search terms/queries that generated traffic on your website via the ‘Organic google search query’ metric:
#5 You can determine the traffic (in terms of clicks) generated by each search query to your website via the ‘Organic google search clicks’ metric:
#6 You can determine the number of times your website appears in Google search results for a particular query via the ‘Organic google search impressions’ metric:
#7 You can determine the percentage of Organic Google Search impressions that resulted in search clicks via the ‘Organic google search click through rate’ metric:
#8 You can determine the average search engine ranking position of your website for each search term via the ‘Organic google search average position’ metric:
About ‘Google Organic Search Traffic: Landing page’ Report
Through the ‘Google Organic Search Traffic: Landing page’ report in your GA4 property, you can get the following insight:
#1 You can see the trend of Google organic search clicks over time:
#2 You can determine the top 5 landing pages that generated organic search traffic on your website:
#3 You can see the search console metrics
When you scroll down the ‘Google organic search traffic’ report, you will see a data table just below the two graphs, which list the following search console metrics for each landing page:
Organic Google Search Clicks.
Organic Google Search Impressions.
Organic Google Search Click through rate.
Organic Google Search Average positon.
#4 You can determine the top landing pages of your website in terms of organic search traffic:
Note: The Google Search Console, by default, keeps data for the last 16 months. So the search console reports in GA4 can show you a maximum of 16 months of data.
Other articles related to GA4 (Google Analytics 4)
Frequently asked questions about Google Search Console integration with Google Analytics 4
How do I integrate Google Analytics 4 and Google Search Console?
Follow the below steps to integrate Google Analytics 4 and Google Search Console. Step-1: Navigate to your Google Analytics 4 Property and click on the ‘Admin’ link from the menu. Step-2: Now in the ‘Property’ column, click on the ‘Search Console Linking’ available under ‘Product Linking’. Step-3: Click on the blue ‘Link’ button. Step-4: Click on ‘Choose accounts’. Step-5: Select the search console account. Step-6: Click on ‘Confirm’. Step-7: Select the ‘Data Stream’ from the GA4 property. Step-8: Click on ‘Next’. Step-9: Review your configuration and click on ‘Submit’.
How do I add the Google Search Console report menu to Google Analytics 4?
Once you have successfully linked Google Search Console to Google Analytics 4, follow the below steps to add the Google Search Console report menu to Google Analytics 4. Step-1: Navigate to your Google Analytics 4 Property and click on the ‘Library’ link from the Menu. Step-2: Now under ‘Collections’ you will find the new widget as ‘Search Console’. This widget is not yet published and to get a quick access sidebar menu, you need to publish it. Now click on the 3 dots beside the search console widget. Step-3: Now click on ‘Publish’. Step-4: As soon as you publish the widget, you will find a new sidebar menu available as ‘Search Console’.
What are the limitations of linking Google Analytics 4 and Google Search Console?
There are a few limitations as below
1. You can link a web data stream from GA4 to only one Search Console property. 2. You can link your Search Console property to only one GA4 web data stream. However, you can also link it with another Universal Analytics property. 3. Search Console reports in GA4 do not support the time series chart. 4. Search console by default keeps data for the past 16 months so in GA4 reports as well you can only see data for the past 16 months. 5. Data collected by the Search console is available after processing that takes 48 hours. This is applicable in GA4 as well 6. You can not edit links to search console property. If you want to link another GA4 property with the search console you need to delete the existing link and create a new one.
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