How to Set Up Keywords in Google Analytics

It's one of the most common frustrations in Google Analytics 4: you open your reports looking for the keywords people used to find your site, but all you see is a long list of "(not provided)." Thankfully, this data isn't gone - it's just in a different place. This article will guide you step-by-step on how to properly set up GA4 to see your organic keywords, track your paid search performance, and even find what visitors are searching for on your own website.

Why You Can't See Keywords in Google Analytics 4 (And What to Do About It)

Years ago, Google shifted to encrypting search data to protect user privacy. As a result, the organic keywords users type into Google are no longer directly passed into Google Analytics. This is why you see "(not provided)" under organic traffic sources. While this protects users, it leaves marketers and content creators guessing about which search terms are actually driving their traffic and conversions.

The good news is that this keyword data is meticulously tracked and available for free in another Google tool: Google Search Console. Google Search Console (GSC) is a powerful platform that gives you insights into how your site performs in Google's organic search results. By linking your GSC and GA4 accounts, you can bring this invaluable keyword data directly into your Analytics reports, giving you a much clearer picture of your SEO performance.

How to Add Organic Keywords to GA4 with Google Search Console

To see your organic keyword data appear in GA4, you first need to link your Google Search Console property. This process adds a new set of dedicated reports to your GA4 account, populated directly with data from search.

Step 1: Make Sure You Have an Active Search Console Account

Before you can link anything, you need to ensure you have an active and verified Google Search Console account for your website. If you're not sure, you can visit Google Search Console and sign in with your Google account.

• If your website property is already listed, you're all set.
• If not, you'll need to add and verify your site. GSC provides several simple methods to do this, such as adding a DNS record, uploading an HTML file, or using your Google Analytics tracking code to prove ownership. You must be a verified owner of the GSC property to complete the link.

Step 2: Link Google Search Console to Your GA4 Property

Once your GSC account is ready, linking it to GA4 only takes a few clicks. You will need Editor permissions in GA4 and be a verified owner in GSC for this to work.

1. Log into your Google Analytics 4 account.
2. Click on the Admin icon (the gear) in the bottom-left corner.
3. In the Property column, scroll down to the Product links section and click on Search Console links.
4. Click the blue Link button in the upper-right corner.
5. A new screen will appear. Click Choose accounts and select the Search Console property you want to link. Double-check that you're picking the correct one (e.g., the https://www.yourdomain.com version). Click Confirm.
6. On the next screen, click Next. Then, you'll need to select the web data stream from your GA4 property that corresponds to your website. Select the appropriate stream and click Next.
7. Review the settings to ensure everything is correct and click Submit.

You'll see a "Link created" notification, and that's it! It typically takes about 24-48 hours for data to start populating in your GA4 reports.

Step 3: Finding Your Keyword Reports in GA4

After the link is established and data starts flowing, two new reports will become available in your Reports library: Google organic search queries and Google organic search traffic. To make them easily accessible, you should add them to your left-hand navigation menu.

1. In GA4, go to Reports.
2. At the bottom of the left-hand menu, click Library.
3. You'll see report collections like "Life cycle" and "User." In the list of collections, find the one you want to edit (typically "Life cycle") and click Edit collection.
4. On the left side of the screen, you will see a list of topics like "Acquisition" and "Engagement." On the right, under "Reports," you'll see all available reports. Use the search bar to find "Google organic search."
5. Drag the "Google organic search queries" and "Google organic search traffic" reports from the right-hand column and drop them under the "Acquisition" topic on the left.
6. Click Save, and then save the changes to the current collection.

Now, when you navigate to Reports > Acquisition, you'll see your brand new GSC reports. The "Queries" report shows you which non-branded search terms are driving clicks and impressions to your site - this is where you’ll find your golden keywords!

Tracking Your Google Ads Keywords in GA4

Just as you connect GSC for organic data, you can connect your Google Ads account to see your paid keyword performance. Linking these accounts allows you to analyze paid keyword data alongside user behavior and conversions in GA4.

Step 1: Link Google Ads to GA4

This process is very similar to linking Search Console and requires admin access to the Google Ads account.

1. Navigate to the Admin section in GA4.
2. Under the Property column, click Google Ads links.
3. Click the blue Link button.
4. Click Choose Google Ads accounts and select your Ads account from the list. Click Confirm.
5. Click Next. It's highly recommended to leave the Enable Personalized Advertising and Enable Auto-Tagging settings on. Auto-tagging is what allows GA4 to automatically track your campaign performance in detail.
6. Review your settings and click Submit.

Step 2: Where to Find Your Google Ads Keyword Data

Once linked, GA4 will start populating with data from your paid campaigns.

• Go to Reports > Acquisition > Acquisition overview.
• Scroll down to find the card titled "Sessions by Session Google Ads campaign." Click on View Google Ads campaigns.
• This will open a detailed report. By default, it shows Campaign names, but you can change the primary dimension. Click the dropdown arrow next to "Session Google Ads campaign" and select Session Google Ads keyword text to see the performance of each paid keyword.

Bonus: How to Track What Users Search for on Your Site

Knowing what brought a user to your site is half the battle. The other half is knowing what they're looking for once they get there. Tracking internal site search reveals user intent with incredible clarity, helping you identify content gaps, popular products, and confusing navigation.

Step 1: Enable Enhanced Measurement

For most websites, GA4 automatically tracks internal site search through its "Enhanced Measurement" feature. You should first make sure this is turned on.

1. Go to Admin > Data Streams.
2. Click on your website's data stream.
3. Under Enhanced measurement, ensure the toggle is on. Click the gear icon to see the individual settings.
4. Confirm that Site search is enabled. GA4 is pretty good at automatically detecting search query parameters (like q, s, search, query, keyword).

Step 2: Configure Your Site Search Settings (If Needed)

If GA4 isn't picking up your search terms, you might need to tell it which query parameter to look for. To find yours, just perform a search on your own website and look at the URL. It will look something like this:

https://www.yourwebsite.com/search?**q**=find-this-keyword

In this example, the letter q is the query parameter. Some sites use s, search, or other terms. If yours is something other than the defaults, you can add it in the site search settings within Enhanced Measurement.

Step 3: Finding Your Site Search Data

The site search data is collected as an event called view_search_results. To analyze your top search terms:

1. Navigate to Reports > Engagement > Events.
2. Click on the event name view_search_results in the table.
3. On the next screen, scroll down. You'll see a card titled search_term that will list what people are searching for. This provides direct insight into what your logged-in users and engaged visitors are hoping to find.

Final Thoughts

Unlocking keyword data in Google Analytics 4 is all about connecting the right data sources. By integrating Google Search Console for organic insights, Google Ads for paid performance, and activating site search tracking, you can transform GA4 from a source of frustration into a complete hub for understanding user intent from start to finish.

We know that even with all the connections, jumping between different reports in Google Analytics, Search Console, and Google Ads can be a hassle. That’s why we built Graphed - to bring all of your marketing and sales data into one unified place. Instead of spending your time tracking down reports across ten different browser tabs, you can just ask a simple question in plain English, like "what were our top organic keywords from GSC last month?" or "show me our ad spend vs. revenue in a chart," and get an instant, real-time dashboard that answers your question.