Table of Contents

Intro

As the internet continues to grow, newer methods are used to measure how
users engage with the site. But what tools are used to help make such
data-driven decisions? Google Search Console and Google Analytics.

Throughout this guide, we want to help you become better at analyzing
user activity. That way, your marketing team can focus their efforts and
ad campaigns on the right people. Are you ready? Let's begin!

Chapter I - Google Search Console

What is Google Search Console (GSC)? Let's say you have a completed
website for your brand. You'll need to know how it performs on Google
Search. But how? That's where Google Search Console steps in.

Google Search Console is a free tool that helps webmasters track their website's visibility
in Google Search rankings. It features
multiple dashboards that give essential information on your website's
performance and critical issues that need to be fixed. Keywords can be
tracked on GSC, giving you further insight on which keywords are working
correctly.

Google Search Console is an essential tool in any website owner's
arsenal, and we'll show you how to set it up for your own webpage.

Google Search Console Dashboards

When using GSC, the dashboards act as performance indicators. Here are
the most common dashboards you'll see when using GSC.

• Performance: Gives an overview of your website's Google Search
  results.
• Links: Displays what internal and external links are clicked on
  your site.
• Removals: Used to block specific pages from Google Search
  results.
• Sitemaps: This allows you to create a sitemap and view your
  previous submission issues.
• Security Issues: Alerts you on potential security threats on
  your site.
• URL Inspection: Provides information on Google's index.

Most of the time, you'll be looking at the performance report. Check the
performance report to see how your user's interactions are in Google's
Search Rankings.

What is a Performance Report?

In Google Search Console, a performance report displays the important
metrics about your website. Metrics such as click-through rate,
sessions, how often the site shows up in the search results; and special
features (i.e., unique pageviews).

Performance reports have 3 main areas (Metrics Chart, Dimensions Tab,
Top Filter) to help you configure the data to your preferences. The
metrics chart shows the four main metrics to measure site performance
(clicks, average position, impressions, average CTR).

• Clicks - Measures how many users have clicked on your site.
• Average CTR - Total Number of clicks on your website divided by
  the total number of impressions.
• Impressions - Number of people who view your site.
• Average Position - Total Change in Output/Total Change in input.

With these metrics, they give you insights into how your website is
appearing on Google Search Console. When creating reports, the metrics
will show your marketers what aspects of the site are working and what
needs to be changed. Always find the important metric for your site, and
use that as a base of understanding user activity.

What Are Metrics?

Metrics are quantitative measurements found in data. You use metrics to
determine how much, what time, or how many users have interacted with
your site. Metrics give you an accurate representation of how a
process is working and give you base suggestions on where your site can
improve.

Every business aspect has performance metrics that need to be monitored.
Marketers have to track social media metrics such as program and
campaign statistics. Use dashboard and analytic tools if you're trying
to track business metrics.

Dimensions Tab

Unlike metrics, dimensions are used to describe the qualitative
attributes of data. They are used to measure what the users have done or
what has happened. For example, the dimension of a country such as the
United States or Canada shows where your users are coming from.

To use the Dimensions tab, select the preferred dimension you'd wish to
show up on the report. It will appear on the report table.

Top Filter

The top filter is the section that allows you to customize the data
based on your parameters. It enables you to select the search
dimensions, date range, and filter dimensions. Use this section when
you're trying to separate data and find custom insights.

How Do I Configure the Report?

First, define what metrics you would like to see in the report. During
this step, think about your business goals and what you're trying to
achieve with your website. Once you've found your desired metrics, place
them in the report.

Press +NEW on the filter button. This allows you to select the
dimension you want to add to the table. You can add a search type filter
to determine if users are interacting through web, image, or video.

Remember, when filtering search results, the information shown in the
chart might not show up in the table. For example, if you make a query
filter for your brand name, it won't add up to the chart total. This is
because certain data cannot be shared due to privacy reasons. As a
result, there is a limit to how many queries will show up on the report.

When using GSC data, part of the information is aggregated by the URL
and the site. Besides basic data like top pages or top queries, the
Performance Report gives you deeper insights into your website's
performance.

What are Sitemaps?

Sitemaps are a file that lists the essential pages on your website.
Google's web crawlers find these pages and crawl through them all. This
makes it easier for your site to rank in Google's Search Engine.

As a website owner, you want Google's crawler to search through every
page on your website. But in some situations, your pages might not have
internal links directed to them. Sitemaps are used to help your website
rank within Google's algorithm.

Example Case:

For example, let's say you're creating a boss. You can use XML sitemaps
to help your audience find recent blog posts. You can start making a
handful of posts and tags to start with. However, there might not be
enough content to provide value to your visitors. Use an XML sitemap to
show your users your best pieces of content while GSC shows that it has
been properly indexed.

So how do you fix errors lying in your sitemaps? First, you have to dig
deep into the reason why the errors occurred in the first place. It
could be a simple typo that's causing issues to your pages. After
finding the errors on the sitemaps, you can fix them so the website can
start ending up on Google Search Index.

Here's a list of common design errors found in Google Search Console

• Elements are too close together - If clickable buttons on your
  site are too cluttered, go back to your Site Editor and give them
  some more whitespace and room.
• Content/Screen Issues - Remove the horizontal scrolling on your
  website. That way, your content will remain uniform and precise
  throughout the site.
• Viewport is Not Setup - Make sure all of the pages have the meta
  viewport tag. This allows you to adjust your site's dimensions
  based on what devices your visitors use.

When setting up your website, fix the design issues to help your users
navigate through your page. By doing this, your page will rank faster,
and your visitors are more likely to convert.

Using the Removals Tool

The removals tab in Google Search Console is used to remove duplicate
links on your website. During your SEO career, you will have a client
that is suffering due to duplicate or thin content. With this tool, you
can remove those excess attributes and help your page rank faster. It is
divided into three sections.

Outdated Content

In the Outdated Content tab, you can see content removal requests made
by the public. Here is where your site visitors will ask for changes in
your current links. So any visitor can suggest updates if the right
information is not available. You can see the outdated content within a
six-month range.

SafeSearch Filtering

SafeSearch Filtering is a tool used to determine the difference between
standard and adult-rated content. Use it to filter your content and
provide more accuracy within Google's indexing system.

Temporary Removals

Want to remove unwanted links quickly? Try out the Temporary Removals
tab. This feature allows you to temporarily remove links for a 6 month
period. It takes a day to process your removal request, and it lasts up
to 6 months.

You can block out bad URLs by having a 404 error or the robots.txt.
Also, you can use the removals tab to remove the cached URL to remove
your page description snippet. It won't make any changes until Google
crawls the page again.

What is the Mobile Usability Report?

Since the invention of mobile websites, site visitors can view your site
through multiple devices. However, mobile sites can be tricky to manage
because their design and site layout are different from desktop
websites.

With the Mobile Usability Report, you'll see what developmental and
design issues are occurring on your mobile page.

What starts off as a great web design strategy can turn into an
unclickable and confusing interface for your visitor. Mobile pages that
are poorly designed have a higher bounce rate and zero leads. A poorly
designed website leads to no customers and low organic traffic.

How to Verify Website Domain With Google Search Console

Before you can use GSC for your website, you have to verify it first.
Your website domain needs to be verified so GSC's software can track it
properly. First, go to the Google Search Console and press "Add
Property." Next, select 'Domain' and type in your site's domain name.

After writing your domain name, "Click Continue" and copy your domain
verification TXT record. Go to your preferred website hosting site and
add the TXT record, domain name, and the TTL. Lastly, go to your Google
Search Console and click "Verify."

It might take time for your DNS records to finalize the verification
process. On average, it will take around 2-3 minutes. After a few
minutes, your domain will be successfully verified!

Examples of Google Search Console?

Here are some specific scenarios:

Understanding Performance Drops

When having a website, there will be times where you'll have to measure
performance. In reality, your users might show gaps in interactions as
the months' progress. While your website can have 100 clicks in January,
the total clicks can drop down to 50 in February.

How do you solve this?

Start by checking various dimensions to determine what caused the change
in user activity. Sometimes the performance can be changed due to device
issues, keyword ranking drops, or a change in the specific country.

TIP: You can create a comparison between two-time frames to see changes
between a previous time period and the time period you choose. Go to Top
Filter > Date > Compare and select the dates you want.

How to Determine CTR Optimization?

Knowing the click-through rate is a great way to measure the quality of
your PPC ad campaigns. The click-through rate determines the rate users
click your PPC ads.

Formula:

• (Total Ad Clicks) / (Total User Impressions) = Click Through Rate

On average, a reasonable click-through rate is around 0.35% for display
and 1.91% for search. However, the true percentage you need to measure
is based on the industry you're attempting to target.

Thanks to Google Search Console, you can see the highest performing
queries with low click-through rates. In most scenarios, you can
increase the CTR by creating a better meta description or tag that ranks
in the search query.

Find Keywords That Can Rank Easily

When using GSC, you'll notice some keywords that might not be optimized.
Here's how you can find keywords that can enhance your site's SEO. Go to
the dimensions table and use a filter to find the search queries your
site is ranking for.

After that, go to the Pages tab to view what keywords are ranking on
the page. See if you can improve the current page that has the keyword.
Alternatively, you can make a new piece of content that uses the
keyword.

Desktop vs. Mobile Device Performance

Not all website users are the same.

They have different devices and methods of viewing your site. With
Google Search Console, you can measure the difference between the user's
desktop vs. mobile performance. After receiving the data between your
desktop and mobile users, you can make decisions to help further
optimize your site.

Benefits of Using Google Search Console

Whether you're a website owner, marketer, or a CEO of your business, GSC
is crucial to track your Google Search visibility. But there's so much
more that this tool provides. Here are some of the benefits:

Website Messaging

Websites can have hidden issues when they're in use. Wouldn't it be nice
if Google sent you alerts when these website issues occur? With GSC, it
will send you messages when your page web crawlers are inactive.

With GSC's website messaging feature, you can know potential issues
before they become a major issue. It allows you to create messaging
forwarding and get notifications sent to your email.

After receiving website notifications, it's important to take heed to
them. It's easy to ignore the notification update, but these are major
improvements that need to be made on your website.

Organic Search Traffic

You can use GSC to improve organic search traffic. Organic search
traffic is traffic that is earned when a user enters your site. Traffic
data is a good way to gauge your marketing initiatives and website.

When creating website content on a regular basis, you can use the
organic search traffic data to measure results and see if they correlate
to actual ROIs. Through Google Search Console, you can measure the
traffic through long-term intervals.

SEO Performance Index

Google Search Console has a Search Analytics feature that helps with
seeing how your site appears in Google's search results. This allows you
to view your organic and paid traffic and see where they are coming
from.

Also, you'll learn what pages have the best CTRs and which search
queries are made via smartphone. The Search Analytics section is one of
the more popular features that are on GSC. This tool helps marketers
assess their website's search performance and make changes as needed.

By understanding what pages and search queries result in the most
conversions, you can focus on what is already working and remove the
methods that aren't. Plus, knowing what queries are being made via
smartphone gives you the ability to focus efforts on what works and stop
processes that aren't bringing in the proper conversions.

Since your user's search queries are through the smartphone, you can use
the data to enhance the mobile user experience on your site's pages.
Look through the 'Search traffic' tab to the right of the dashboard.

Utilize Google Index

Google's Search Index is used to help users find important information
on your site. It is algorithmic-based because Google uses web crawlers
(web spiders) to view the information of your site.

When in use, the crawler visits your web page and collects information.
The data that is found becomes converted to Google's index.

GSC allows users to determine what web pages are in Google's index. This
tool will enable you to determine what web pages are showing up in
Google's search results. Also, you can use Google Search Console to
monitor links you don't want to be indexed.

With this information, use Google Index's report information to remove
the unwanted URLs from your site. This report will show the blocked
resources and content keywords. With this information, you can fix
unwanted resources on your site and increase your content's keyword
usage.

Google Analytics Integration

Did you know that Google Search Console can be integrated with Google
Analytics? Having both platforms will help you boost your analytics
efforts. This allows you to see your Google Search Console information
in Google Analytics reports. As a result, you'll keep all of your data
in one place.

It's best to use both Google Analytics and Google Search Console in
conjunction. GA views a total number of search queries, while GSC gives
you the most critical information found on your site. Google Analytics
will tell you if your website users are converting, Google Search
Console will provide you information as to why. Every successful
marketing campaign uses both platforms, thus making integration a
beautiful thing.

How do I link GSC and Google Analytics?

• Go to the GSC dashboard and choose which site you want to link.
• Select the gear icon located in the upper left corner.
• Click the "Google Analytics Property" you want to send the GSC data
  to.
• Select the Google Analytics account and click "Save."

In our next section, we'll go in-depth with Google Analytics. With both
Google Search Console and Google Analytics, you'll have the SEO and
Analytics tools needed to make data-driven decisions out of your user
activity.

Chapter II - What is Google Analytics?

Google Analytics is a free tool used to track user engagement on your
website. Each time a user interacts with the site, Google Analytics
tracks, and reports that data in their software.

While Google Analytics is a powerful web reporting tool, beginners find
it very overwhelming. When opening a GA account, you’ll notice many tabs
and reports displayed right in front of you.

Don’t worry! Setting up Google Analytics is not difficult. You have to
add a tracking code to the %3Cbody%3E section of your web page.

If it’s your first time using Google Analytics, go one step at a time.
After using and experimenting with data, you’ll get the hang of the
platform.

Google Universal Analytics vs. Google Analytics 4

Google Analytics is divided into two different versions. Developed in
2012, Google Universal Analytics (UA) is the “classic” version.

While it does have good reporting and data tracking, it’s starting to
become obsolete. The data that’s processed in UA won’t be sent to a
machine-learning algorithm. Google Analytics 4 allows you to track data
from websites and mobile apps, giving it an edge over its previous
version.

If you are currently using Google UA, you can transfer your data into
Google Analytics 4. To do so, go to the Admin tab, select the
Property and then select GA4 Setup Assistant. Doing this allows
you to link your UA data to GA4.

Google Analytics 4 was revealed in 2020. One of its main advantages lies
in its machine learning algorithm. Conversion Data on GA4 can be sent to
a machine-learning algorithm that gives you better insights and
recommendations for your site. You can still use UA, but it's best to
set up GA4 on your pages so it can use Google’s latest analytical
features.

Google Analytics Data

Data is presented in multiple ways in Google Analytics. After creating a
Google Analytics account, you’ll be sent to the Home dashboard.

The home dashboard gives you a basic overview of your user’s activity on
your site. For more details, there are five different categories to give
you specific data insights. They’re all located on the left tabs,

Real Time

Real-Time data is measured live. It will only show data of user activity
within the last 30 minutes. If you’re planning on launching a site,
real-time data is accurate at tracking who is interacting with your
site.

Engagement

Previously known as the behavior tab, Engagement measures how your users
are interacting with your website. The overview tab will show what
events were triggered when they entered your landing page. Use this tab
to see how your visitors act and make data-driven decisions to help
increase their engagement.

Monetization

Are you planning on running a paid campaign? The Monetization tab shows
how visitors are increasing your page's earnings. For E-commerce
campaigns, you're going to need this tab to help determine what products
your customers like the most.

Retention

The retention tab describes how well you are at keeping your users on
your site. With user retention, you want to see what dates showed a gap
in activity. By finding these gaps and improving your page, you'll
increase the user retention rate throughout your website.

User Demographics

The user demographic section gives a breakdown of your website’s users
by gender and age. For instance, let’s say you have a Facebook Ads
Campaign that has users click on your website.

The demographics tab would show their age groups, and you realize that
the 18-24 age group has the most conversions. As a result, you use your
future ads to target 18-24-year-olds and maximize your campaigns.

Data Segmentation

With Google Analytics, you can divide your data into different parts.
Data Segmentation allows you to separate your users into more specific
segments (i.e., country, device, etc.).

Date Range

Date Range compares data from a start and end date. If this is your
first time using an analytics tool, the date range is a great way to
find historical data on on-site interactions. By viewing data in
different time frames, you can better understand how your site is
utilized.

Search

This is a simple option that helps find results faster.

Secondary Dimension

As its name suggests, the secondary dimension is added onto a primary
dimension in a data report.

Google Analytics 4 Reports

While Google Analytics has a complex array of report types, we’ll go
with the basics in this section.

View Page User Interaction

You’ll want to track what users are doing with your site. To do so, go
to Behavior > Site Content > All Pages. The All Pages report gives
you a clear overview of user behavior and how much traffic is directed
to your page. This feature allows you to see what users are interested
in when viewing your website.

How to View Top Page Interactions

The first 30 seconds are important to any web page. To view your
top-performing pages, go to Behavior > Site Content > Landing
Pages. This is a good report when you’re trying to measure which pages
are getting the most traffic and conversions.

How to Find Your Best Traffic Sources

The Acquisition page helps determine where your new site visitors are
coming from. Go to Acquisition > All Traffic to view this
information.

• Source/Medium: Find where your traffic originates from and the
  source category (i.e Facebook/organic, email/organic).
• Referrals: View the top pages that are referring users to your site.
• Channels: View the traffic percentage by your most common channels.

For instance, let's say you’ve noticed an increase in organic traffic.
You can go to the source/medium report and compare different time
periods to see the largest user increase compared to previous time
periods.

Knowing Your Visitors

Google Analytics gives you insights into your website visitors. Location
(countries) and demographics (gender, age) are the best ways to
determine what type of people are viewing your site.

What Are the Most Important Metrics?

Usually, this will depend on what your analytics team is trying to
track. When doing analytics, try to find the one metric that’s the most
important to your site. Here are some metrics that are tracked via
Google Analytics:

• Goals or Achievements (Conversions)
• How visitors engage with your website (Behavior)
• Website Traffic (Acquisition)

User Acquisition Metrics

While the acquisition page is the most used, a few terms still confuse
new users.

• Pageview: Every time a user visits a page, Google Analytics tracks
  it as a pageview. If the visitor has seen the same page multiple
  times, GA4 still tracks their interaction.
• Sessions: Think of sessions as the time period where a user browses
  your site.
• User: Users are people who visit your webpage. Users are unique,
  meaning that if a repeat user visits the site, it won’t be tracked
  as a new user.

Session Duration

When a user starts a session on your site, GA tracks their activity
until they leave the page. However, it's not a good idea to draw large
conclusions based on these metrics.

What is the Bounce Rate?

The bounce rate measures how many website visitors left your page
without taking any action. In most cases, a low bounce rate is good as
it means your visitors are still looking at your page but aren’t taking
too long to interact with it.

What Are Events?

Events are user interactions that can be tracked through Google
Analytics. The events are triggered when a user clicks a button on your
site or does any form of activity. In Google Analytics, you have to set
up events to see how users are performing on your website or mobile app.

Use Events to Track User Interaction

With events, you can tell Google Analytics what activities your users
are performing. You can create custom events to measure user signups,
shopping cart purchases, etc. After configuring the events, the data
will take at least 24 hours to show on Google Analytics.

But don’t just stop with custom events. You’ll still need to track what
user interactions will lead to conversions. To do so, go to the
Configure tab> Conversions > and click on the event you want
to mark as a conversion.

After making a conversion event, the data can be sent to Google’s
machine learning algorithm. This helps with future Ad campaigns as
you’ll have the information needed to target your audience faster. For
simplicity, create 1-2 conversion events on the most important user
action on your site.

Chapter III - Rank Tracking

What is Rank Tracking?

Rank tracking is a process where URLs are tracked on a webpage. The URLs
are tracked to detect user trends and understand the impact of SEO
customization. Think of it as a way to see how your inbound and outbound
links are viewed in Google’s search results.

Using rank tracking will help you see what strategies can improve
organic traffic and site rankings if you're a website owner. In terms of
Google Analytics and Google Search Console, rank tracking is easier to
use.

Rank tracking is important for any SEO marketer’s workflow. To track
keyword positions, you can use Google Search Console. If you’re planning
on using a third party rank tracking software, here are some features to
look into:

• Historical Data
• Organic Traffic
• Keyword Positions
• Daily Data Updates
• Search Volumes

For best practices, you’ll want to track the progress of your keyword
positions and see how they impact your overall traffic. Look at your
keyword positions' current and historical data and make any adjustments
if you notice a drop off in user behavior.

Chapter IV - Analytics Best Practices

Before starting an analytics project, here are some best practices:

Send Weekly Data Reports

Take the time to create reports out of the data you’ve seen. The rest of
your marketing team can use this data to learn in-depth information
about their users. When sharing reports, add explanations on data points
and information that might be confusing to them.

Understand The Context Behind Your Data

Think like a detective when working with any analytics tool. You’ll want
to find the root cause of a problem that could be affecting your site’s
user engagement.

For instance, there can be internal and external reasons why there is a
drop-off in user activity.

• Website outage or technical issues
• Wrong metrics are tracked
• Errors within the rank tracking tool

When using Google Search Console, Google Analytics, and a rank tracker,
you’ll have more useful insights on their behavior and demographics.

Send Alerts

When working with data, it’s always good to be alerted to drastic
changes in user activity. Most analytic tools have a feature that sends
email alerts if certain conditions are met. Having email alerts is a
great way to stay on top of your data without constantly staring at data
tables.

Create a Measurement Plan

Before starting any analytics project, you’ll want to make a measurement
plan. Ask your marketing team the following questions:

• What metrics are we looking for?
• What user interactions can be turned into custom events?
• What date range are we trying to measure?

Then create an Excel sheet for further organization. In this sheet, you
can write down what metrics you’re planning to track and the current
status of it. Doing so will ensure that your important metrics are
tracked and gives non-technical users an idea of what you’re doing.

Survey Your Site Visitors

The best way to get feedback is to speak to the users that viewed your
webpage. You can call them to ask them what their reasoning was on
viewing your page and what needs to be changed. Finding user
testimonials also increases user retention, as your site visitors are
more likely to come back.

When surveying them, keep the questions open-ended. Try to walk them
through your site’s navigation and see what insights they have. By
surveying your visitors, you’ll get first-hand analytical feedback and
extra ways to improve your page’s rankings.