Key takeaways
- Search Console shows what happens on Google; Analytics shows what happens on your site after the click.
- In GA4, filter traffic by the Organic Search channel to see SEO visits.
- Link Search Console to GA4 to see queries and landing pages together.
- Mark calls, forms and purchases as key events, or you cannot tell if SEO brings customers.
Measurement is the first step of every SEO audit I do. If the data is wrong, every decision after it is a guess.
What is the difference between GA4 and Search Console for SEO?
Search Console shows how your site performs in Google Search before the click: queries, impressions, clicks and position. Google Analytics 4 shows what visitors do after they arrive: pages viewed, time, leads and sales. For SEO you need both: one tells you how you are found, the other whether it pays.
| Question | Tool |
|---|---|
| Which searches show my site? | Search Console |
| What position am I in? | Search Console |
| Which pages do Google visitors land on? | Both |
| Do Google visitors call, fill a form or buy? | Google Analytics 4 |
Search Console's Performance report covers the first half. My Search Console guide explains it.
How do you see organic traffic in GA4?
Open Reports, then Acquisition, then Traffic acquisition, and look at the Organic Search channel. Change the dimension to landing page to see which pages Google visitors arrive on. Compare the same period last year when your business is seasonal, so a normal slow month does not look like an SEO problem.
How do you link Search Console to GA4?
In GA4, go to Admin, then Search Console links, and connect a web data stream to your Search Console property. You need the Editor role in Analytics and to be a verified owner in Search Console. Then publish the Search Console report collection in the Library, because it is hidden by default.
The requirements and the two reports it adds, organic search queries and organic search traffic, are in Google's guide to connect Search Console to Google Analytics. One web stream can link to only one Search Console property.
How do you measure leads from SEO in GA4?
Mark the actions that matter as key events: a form sent, a click on the phone number, a WhatsApp click, a booking or a purchase. Then look at key events by the Organic Search channel and by landing page. Without key events, GA4 can tell you how many people came, but not whether SEO brings customers.
- List the three or four actions that mean a lead or a sale.
- Track them with events, through Google Tag Manager or your platform.
- Mark them as key events in GA4.
- Exclude your own payment gateway and domains that create fake referrals.
- Give your SEO provider read access with their own user, never your password.
Google explains how to identify unwanted referrals and how to add users with the right role.
The GA4 numbers that belong in an SEO report
Keep it short: organic sessions, key events from organic, the top landing pages and the trend against last year. Everything else is detail. I show a full example in what an SEO report should show, and how to put GA4 and Search Console in one dashboard in my Looker Studio SEO report guide. As an SEO consultant, I check your tracking in a free diagnosis: book it here.
Frequently asked questions
Is GA4 free?
The standard version is free.
Why do GA4 and Search Console show different numbers?
They measure different things: clicks on Google versus sessions on your site, with different rules.
Does GA4 show keywords?
Only through the linked Search Console reports.
What is a key event?
An action you mark as important, such as a lead or a purchase.
Should my SEO provider have admin access?
Usually read or analyst access is enough. Give each person their own user.
About the author
Juan José Giraldo is an SEO consultant in Medellín, Colombia, with 5+ years of experience. He works on technical and local SEO for 600+ US car dealerships at Reunion Marketing, an Inc. 5000 agency, and supervises the SEO of 18 US online stores with more than 3 million products at Prontomowers. Read more · LinkedIn.
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