Organic vs SEO in Analytics
-
In my analytics account, the Acquisition / All Traffic / Google organic searches shows me around 19,000 hits from 1st Jan to 1st Feb.
But if I go to the Search Engine Optimization tab / Queries or Landing pages I can only count 1,800 clicks from 1st Jan to 1st Feb.
Why such a huge discrepancy ? Am I getting 1800 clicks from the Google organic search, or 19,000 ?
-
Hello Coadr93,
The two numbers come from two different sources (GSC and the GA Script on your site) so I wouldn't expect them to align. Think of the Search Engine Optimization data Google shows in GA as a representation of which keywords and landing pages are working, relative to each other. I definitely wouldn't use it for reporting.
The GA data should be closer to the truth, as it relies on the script, which should appear on every page on your site.
If I go to Acquisition ---> SEO ---> Queries in Google Analytics for a website I run, I see 400,852 impressions and 7,126 clicks. I get the same number with the Landing Pages report under SEO in GA.
If I go to Acquisition ---> All Traffic ---> Source/Medium ---> Google Organic I see 7,291 sessions for the same time period.
There is a difference, but not a huge one.
If you have looked at the same reports and the discrepancy is as large as you stated in the original question, I would look into verifying your sites in GSC and making sure the right one is connected to GA.
You can verify in several ways, including at the DNS level, or with your GA tracking code:
https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/35179?hl=enGood luck!
-
Yes, the default URL in Propriety Settings is
and if I scroll down and click Adjust Search Console I can see
Search Console Settings
Search Console site
If your property is also a verified website in Search Console, and you are the owner, you can associate your Search Console data here. Google Analytics will then be able to display some of that data in some reports.
http://www.domain.com/ - EditEnabled views ( 3 views selected )
And if I click Edit it takes me to my Webmasters account on my email and I get this.
Enable Search Console data in Google Analytics
When you associate a Google Analytics web property with a Search Console site, you will be able to see Search Console data in your Google Analytics reports, and enable Search Console to link directly to associated reports in Google Analytics.Web Property: domain.com ( just the name of the propriety, not the URL )
Linked Site: This site is not linked to any web property in your Google Analytics account.
Search Console site Associated Analytics web propertyYou haven't verified any sites.
When you associate a site in your Search Console account with a Google Analytics web property, by default Search Console data is enabled for all profiles associated with that web property. As a result, anybody with access to that Google Analytics property may be able to see Search Console data for that site. More information.
Add a site to Search ConsoleSo basically yes, it's the same URL for Analytics and Search Console.
So the discrepancy of the numbers is really strange.
-
Just take one step back: you say that if you go to the Admin > Property settings you see that there is a link between the analytics account and a search console account. You don't have to edit it, you just have to be sure that both accounts are covering the same domain & same scope:
So - if your analytics account covers www.mydomain.com and sub.mydomain.com - it could be linked to the search console account of www.mydomain.com or the account of sub.mydomain.com. It's unfortunately not possible to link one analytics property to multiple search console accounts. On the other hand - you can't have one search console accounts that spans multiple subdomains.You can only link accounts when you have access to both the Analytics (with edit permissions) and Search Console (as admin)
Dirk
-
So basically I can only see the Search Console results in the Analytics account, only for that website ( there are many more but I'm working with one currently ) but if I access my Webmasters account (on my email) it tells me that there is no verified propriety so I added the site and it now tells me
"You don't have access to this property. Verify this property or ask a property owner to add you as a user. - verify this propriety"
-
You must have the "edit" permission for the Analytics web property.
I have it...
-
-
Ok so my collegue gave me access to the search console, I don't know exactly how he did it and if it is correctly set up, I will ask.
If I go to Analytics > Admin (top navigation) - Check Property settings at the bottom I have Adjust Search Console and then the URL of the website shows there, then I can click it and it tells me I have 3 enabled views I can then click Edit and this is what I get.
"
Enable Search Console data in Google Analytics
When you associate a Google Analytics web property with a Search Console site, you will be able to see Search Console data in your Google Analytics reports, and enable Search Console to link directly to associated reports in Google Analytics.
Web Property:url to site
Linked Site: This site is not linked to any web property in your Google Analytics account.
Search Console site Associated Analytics web property
You haven't verified any sites.When you associate a site in your Search Console account with a Google Analytics web property, by default Search Console data is enabled for all profiles associated with that web property. As a result, anybody with access to that Google Analytics property may be able to see Search Console data for that site. More information.
Add a site to Search Console
"
But this is only on my account, I'm not the owner, the programmer is. Did the programmer set me up wrong ?
-
You're right - it doesn't include the paid traffic (I put it a bit too simplistic when stating referrer = google).
It's strange that you don't have access to the SC account - somebody must have linked both else you wouldn't been able to see anything under this report. If you're analytics Admin you can create access in Search Console (Analytics can be used as ownership validation - check here: https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/35179?hl=en).
You can also check in Analytics > Admin (top navigation) - Check Property settings (at the bottom of that page you see which Search Console (= Webmaster tools) account is linked to your analytics.
Dirk
-
Hi Dirk, thanks for the anwer !
Just to make sure, the ( Acquisition / All Traffic / Google organic searches ) means that they do NOT include the paid ads right ? So some people might search "brand name" where we also have an ad, and some might click on the ad ( goes to google cpc traffic ) and some might click on the organic one ( and it goes to organic traffic ).
The problem is I don't have access to the Webmasters account ( search console is there right ?) , I just have access to the Analytics account. But I will check and try to find out. I heard about this about web/images/video but I doubt people search images because the products are supplements, and we definitely don't have many videos, around 3-4 with low views.
-
The first ( Acquisition / All Traffic / Google organic searches) measures the traffic (on your site) with referrer = Google. This figure should normally be the most accurate.
The second report is coming from the Search Console - and measures the number of clicks in the SERP's. It's not abnormal that there is a difference between these two figures (check this link)- but in your case it seems huge.
Are you sure that the Search Console Account which is linked to the Google Analytics account has the same scope as the Analytics account (example - if you have a search console account measuring the traffic for the www version & analytics includes traffic from all subdomains)? If you check in the Search Console account - do you have big amount of non-web search (image/video)?
Dirk
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Search and Replace filter on Google Analytics?
Hello! On our GA account for one of our clients, we'd like to add a search and replace filter to the Views section of the account. The URL is www.askergoworks.com (it redirects to askergoworks.com), and Google has flagged us to have redundant hostnames. This is why we'd like to add the filter. Would the regular expression be askergoworks.com|www.askergoworks.com ? Any help would be great - I'm not a regex expert, so I really don't how to go about this. Thanks!
Reporting & Analytics | | AGILITY0 -
Splitting Google analytics data
Hi Everyone I'm not sure if this can be done but thought i would ask anyway. One of our clients has a website which is a 3 tiered website, basically this means different access levels for different users depending on their ip address. The split is as follows (business 1, business 2 and the general public all see different things and areas within the website) Now what we are wanting to do is essentially split our analytics data for each of the 3 different users on the site, Can this be done through Google analytics? Thanks in advance. ps If im not clear enough let me know and ill try clear it up
Reporting & Analytics | | TheZenAgency0 -
Why my WMT is showing more clicks than my Google Analytics Organic Search Traffic?
Hello Everybody, Can somebody help me figure out this puzzle: My WMT is showing 6000 clicks, while my Organic Traffic in Google Analytics is showing only 3500 daily ... how is that possible? Best Regards
Reporting & Analytics | | Muhammad_Jabali0 -
Google Analytics showing discrepancy in Geo data
My site is related to UAE and the Gulf region. An year ago, Google Analytics abruptly started showing high incoming traffic from USA (Visits grew from 50k/month to 500k/month) while the overall traffic was stagnant. An year down the line, this has now been reverted back to normal nos and the overall traffic is still maintained. What could be a possible explanation for this discrepancy? Since this reversal has also now boosted traffic nos for other countries, should we rely on this data? Or is it polluted?
Reporting & Analytics | | vivekrathore0 -
Google Analytics and Webmaster Tools Setup for Agencies
Hi, As agencies, what are people finding to be the best practices for allowing multiple members of the agency's team to access client WMT and GA data? Have a generic "analytics@myagency.com" account that's used for the shares, that anyone in the agency can use as needed (limited, of course, not admin). Have the individual person at the company use their company email for the share for each particular client? employee@agency.com. Yet what happens when we need someone else to check the GA or WMT data? Any advice is much appreciated.
Reporting & Analytics | | Titan552
Thank you!0 -
Google Analytics: Deleted Profile
Has anyone ever successfully managed to have a deleted GA profile restored? One of our client's profiles was deleted accidentally. I know the official line is it can't be restored, but...
Reporting & Analytics | | David_ODonnell0 -
Google Analytics Queries
Hi we used a web company who put our analytics under their company name we have left them and set up a new tracking code not associated with them, but we still have access to the data and it is all contained under the same login, is it possible to merge the two tracking codes? so that we have seemless history. Also does anyone know if you can change the primary e-mail address (gmail account) to a corporate email account? Any help would be appreciated as we have researched both and from what we have found we can't merge the data and also we are stuck with the primary email address.
Reporting & Analytics | | loopylu030 -
Strange increase in Direct traffic in Google analytics
For past 2 weeks, several of our sites have strange increase in direct traffic in Google Analytics. we also have another tracking code, and in this account we don't have any big changes, so this is very strange what is happening. We didn't changed any codes, and none of the changes were done to application. Any ideas why this is happening? z7ME9.jpg
Reporting & Analytics | | InformMedia0