Analyzing the data on Google Search Console and Analytics, we can certainly see substantial and growing differences as the volume of organic traffic increases. If we compare with other tracking systems, for example Yandex Metrica, we see that the values still change. There are basically three reasons for this:
- these tools use different algorithms;
- collect data from a different source;
- the script is in a different location within the page, so the timing of activation and data collection are not the same.
In other words, the data collected online are accurate but not absolute. Certain technical aspects can change the data collection process, and for this reason, it is necessary to have a good understanding of how these tools work in order to do a proper analysis.
How to analyze organic traffic on Google Search Console
Let’s start with the first tool we encounter the moment we do a search. Google Search Console is located on Google and calculates the actions made by the user from the moment he or she searches for information on the search engine until he or she clicks. It can tell when our site appeared among the results in Serp (impressions) and the clicks it received from there. After this moment, Google Search Console leaves the playing field.
It is important to note that the data collected is only that of Google. Searches on Bing, Yandex, Yahoo or other engines are not counted. In addition, in the performance reports in search results, we can select one of four types of search: web, image, video, and news. To get the total value of organic traffic from Google search, we need to add up the 4 types of search.
How to analyze organic traffic on Google Analytics
Let us continue the user path and see who we meet after the click. The Google Analytics script sits within the site page and collects the traffic that occurs here, from the time a user lands until they leave the pages tracked by the same code.
Google recommends installing it in the head section. Thus, it can collect data even if the user leaves the page before loading. The very time the script is activated can cause alterations in Google Analytics metrics.
There can also be important differences from data collected by other tools, such as Yandex Metrics, because they use different scripts and are in different locations within the page, so they load at different times. To get an idea of the loading times of individual scripts, simply use the Page Speed Insight tool.
Filtering in Google Analytics for organic traffic, we have a value that includes all traffic to the site from about sixty search engines, including Google, Bing, Yandex, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, Baidu. We can filter further to isolate a single search engine. In the case of Google, the 4 types of search are considered altogether: web, image, video and views.
Google Search Console and Google Analytics: the comparison
If we compare the data on Google Search Console and Google Analytics, we first need to make sure that we have selected the same period (data collected by GSC are available only two days later), that we have considered the 4 search types and the organic/Google source/media they have in common.
At this point, we must never forget that the two tools work on different platforms-Google and the site. Therefore, if everything is set up correctly, it is normal that the organic traffic detected on Google Search Console is higher than that recorded by Google Analytics.
Further differences may exist in thepoint-by-point analysis of individual search queries. This is the effect of the data processing rules applied to these tools. Again, the values counted by Google Search Console tend to be higher.
When to use Google Search Console or Analytics
Google Search Console and Google Analytics collect The data at two different times: before and after the click that takes us from Google to the website. Depending on the type of analysis we want to perform and the objectives, we can choose the best tool. The important thing is that, in building a funnel, we keep in mind that there may be a discrepancy when switching from one tool to another.
In terms of website traffic, Google Analytics is the most widely used and universally recognized tool. If installed correctly, it is one of the most reliable and allows us to analyze in detail a lot of information about our audience. However, there are other similar tools that offer very interesting additional features. For example, Yandex Metrica offers free heat maps, click maps and session recording. Google Tag Manager, on the other hand, allows us to do advanced analysis on conversions and actions taken on the site. The advice is to use Google Analytics and evaluate, based on the goals of the analysis and on-page script load times, which ones to add.
