Checking organic traffic in Google Analytics allows you to assess the effectiveness of your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts and understand how well your website is performing in attracting visitors through organic search results. Fortunately, Google Analytics provides an easy-to-use interface that allows you to monitor and analyze the organic traffic data of your website.
Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to check organic traffic in Google Analytics:
1. Log in to Google Analytics
The first step is to log in to your Google Analytics account. You need to have your website already set up with Google Analytics tracking installed. Once you’re logged in, select the appropriate website property (if you manage multiple sites) to view the analytics for that specific site.
2. Navigate to the Acquisition Section
Google Analytics organizes data into different categories like Audience, Acquisition, Behavior, and Conversions. To check your organic traffic, you need to go to the Acquisition section.
Follow these steps:
- On the left-hand sidebar, click on Acquisition.
- Under the Acquisition tab, click on All Traffic.
- Then, click on Channels.
3. Identify the Organic Search Channel
In the Channels report, you will see a breakdown of the different traffic sources that are driving visitors to your website. These include:
- Organic Search (this is the section that shows organic traffic)
- Direct (visitors who typed your website’s URL directly)
- Referral (visitors who came from other websites)
- Social (visitors from social media platforms)
- Paid Search (visitors from paid ads)
Look for Organic Search in the list of traffic channels. This is where you’ll find your website’s organic traffic data.
4. View Organic Traffic Metrics
Once you click on the Organic Search channel, you’ll see a variety of metrics for your organic traffic. These metrics can help you understand the performance of your SEO efforts. The most important metrics to check include:
- Sessions: The number of times users visited your site through organic search.
- Users: The total number of unique visitors who came to your website through organic search.
- Bounce Rate: The percentage of visitors who left your website after viewing only one page.
- Pages per Session: The average number of pages that users viewed during their visit.
- Average Session Duration: How long, on average, visitors stayed on your site.
- Goal Conversions: If you’ve set up conversion goals (e.g., form submissions, purchases), you can track how well your organic traffic is contributing to these goals.
These metrics provide insights into how well your website is performing with organic visitors. If you notice high bounce rates or low session durations, it might indicate that your content or landing pages need optimization.
5. Segment Organic Traffic by Landing Pages
To dive deeper into understanding which pages on your website are driving organic traffic, you can segment your traffic by Landing Pages.
- After clicking on Organic Search, scroll down to see the table with the list of landing pages.
- Click on Primary Dimension at the top of the table and select Landing Page.
- This will display a list of specific pages that users landed on when they arrived through organic search.
You can evaluate which pages are the most successful in attracting organic traffic and analyze how well these pages are performing in terms of engagement and conversions.
6. Use the Search Console Integration (Optional)
For more detailed insights into your organic traffic performance, you can link your Google Analytics account with Google Search Console. This integration gives you additional data, such as:
- Impressions: How many times your pages were shown in search results.
- Clicks: The number of clicks your pages received from search results.
- Average Position: The average position of your pages in search engine results.
To set up the Google Search Console integration in Google Analytics, follow these steps:
- Go to the Admin panel in Google Analytics (the gear icon in the lower-left corner).
- Under the Property column, click on Property Settings.
- Scroll down and find Search Console.
- Click on Adjust Search Console Settings and follow the prompts to link your Search Console account.
After linking the two, you will have access to more detailed organic search data, including which queries are driving traffic, click-through rates, and average rankings.
7. Using Secondary Dimensions for Further Analysis
Google Analytics offers an option to apply secondary dimensions to your reports for more detailed insights. For example, you can apply a secondary dimension like Device Category to see whether your organic traffic is coming from desktop, mobile, or tablet users. This can help you understand user behavior on different devices and tailor your content accordingly.
To use secondary dimensions:
- In the Organic Search report, click on Secondary Dimension.
- Choose a dimension like Device Category, Landing Page, or Source/Medium.
This will provide additional insights into how organic traffic is interacting with your site across different platforms.
8. Use the Date Range Selector
Google Analytics allows you to select specific date ranges to analyze your traffic data over time. You can use this feature to compare organic traffic performance across different periods, such as:
- Daily, weekly, or monthly traffic trends.
- Comparing periods before and after implementing an SEO campaign or website update.
To change the date range:
- At the top-right corner of the screen, click on the Date Range.
- Select the start and end dates for your desired analysis period.
- Click Apply to view the data for the selected date range.
9. Setting Up Goals and Conversions
If you want to track the success of your organic traffic in terms of business outcomes, you can set up Goals and E-commerce Tracking in Google Analytics. Goals allow you to track specific actions users take on your website, such as:
- Form submissions
- Downloads
- Newsletter sign-ups
- Purchases
Once you’ve set up goals, you can measure how well your organic traffic contributes to these goals by looking at the Goal Conversion Rate in the Organic Search report.
10. Use UTM Parameters for Advanced Tracking (Optional)
If you want to track specific organic campaigns or efforts in more detail, you can use UTM parameters to tag URLs and differentiate traffic from various organic sources. This allows you to segment and analyze traffic based on specific marketing efforts.
To create UTM parameters for tracking, you can use Google’s Campaign URL Builder tool.
Conclusion
Checking organic traffic in Google Analytics is an essential step in evaluating the success of your SEO efforts. By understanding how users are arriving at your website through search engines, you can make informed decisions to improve your content, user experience, and overall marketing strategy. Organic traffic is an important metric because it reflects your website’s visibility and relevance to users, providing insights that can drive long-term growth for your business. By following the steps outlined in this guide, you’ll be able to effectively track and analyze your organic traffic and refine your approach for better results.