How to Use Google Analytics for Keyword Research

Your best new keywords aren't in a third-party research tool, they're hidden inside your own website traffic data, waiting to be discovered. Google Analytics is a goldmine for understanding what real people are searching for to find your business. This tutorial will walk you through exactly how to connect it with Google Search Console to uncover keyword opportunities your competitors are overlooking.

Why Google Analytics is Your Secret Weapon for Keyword Research

You may have noticed that the days of seeing every single keyword someone used to find you directly in Google Analytics (GA) are long gone. Most of that data now shows up as "(not provided)," which is pretty unhelpful. This is where Google Search Console (GSC) comes in.

Google Search Console tracks your site's performance in Google search results. It shows you the exact queries people typed in, how many times your site appeared for those queries (impressions), and how many people clicked through to your site.

The real magic happens when you connect GA and GSC. By linking them, you bring those powerful search queries into your GA reports, allowing you to analyze them alongside on-site behavior. You can finally answer questions like:

• Which keywords drive the most engaged traffic to my site?
• Which search terms lead to actual conversions?
• For which keywords are we getting a ton of impressions but very few clicks?

This combination turns abstract search data into actionable insights about what your audience truly wants.

Getting Started: Connect Search Console to Google Analytics 4

If you haven't already linked these two free tools, this is your first and most important step. It's a quick, one-time setup that unlocks all the keyword data you need. Before you begin, you’ll need to have admin-level permissions for both your GA4 property and your GSC property.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Log into your Google Analytics 4 account.
2. Click on the Admin gear icon 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. A new panel will slide out from the right.
5. Here, you'll manage your new link. Click Choose accounts, and select the Search Console property for the website you want to link. Click Confirm.
6. Click Next. Now you’ll select your Web Stream - this is just telling GA4 which specific data stream (your website) to associate with this Search Console data. Select your site and click Next.
7. Review all the information to make sure it's correct and click Submit.

That's it! You've created the link. Keep in mind that it can take 24-48 hours for new data to start appearing in your Google Analytics reports, so be patient.

How to Find Your Search Keyword Data in GA4

After your data has had time to populate, your next mission is finding the actual keyword report. By default, GA4 doesn't immediately show the Search Console reports in the main navigation. You'll need to publish them first.

Publishing the Search Console Reporting Collection

1. In your GA account, go to the Reports section (the icon with the bar chart).
2. On the bottom of the left-hand navigation menu, click on Library. This is where GA4 stores all of its available report collections.
3. Find the card labeled Search Console in the Collections section.
4. Click the three vertical dots on the card and choose Publish from the menu.

Once you’ve done this, a new “Search Console” menu item will instantly appear in your primary Reports navigation on the left. This collection contains two valuable reports:

• Queries: This shows the specific Google search queries that drove traffic to your site. This is your keyword goldmine.
• Google Organic Search Traffic: This is a landing page report focused on your search traffic, showing which pages are performing best in organic results.

Analyzing the 'Queries' Report for Actionable Insights

Click on the "Queries" report to get to the good stuff. Here you'll see a table filled with search terms alongside several key metrics. Understanding what these mean is crucial for pulling out valuable information.

Key Metrics to Focus On:

• Organic Google Search Clicks: The simple count of how many times a user clicked a search result linking to your site for that query.
• Organic Google Search Impressions: The number of times your site appeared in the search results for that query.
• CTR (Click-Through Rate): This is the percentage of impressions that resulted in a click (Clicks ÷ Impressions). It's a key indicator of how compelling your title tag and meta description are.
• Average Position: Your company's average ranking in the search results for a given query.

Four Proven Strategies for Finding Keyword Opportunities

1. Find High-Impression, Low-CTR Keywords

This is the classic "low-hanging fruit" of SEO. These are keywords where Google is clearly showing your pages to a lot of people (high impressions), but for some reason, searchers aren't clicking (low CTR).

• How to find them: In the Queries report, sort the table by Impressions in descending order. Then, scroll through and look for terms with a high impression count but a CTR below 1-2%.
• What it means: Google sees your content as relevant to the query, but your search result snippet isn't convincing users to click. The problem is usually your page title or meta description.
• Action plan: Rework your title tag to be more compelling and clearly address the user's search intent. Rewrite your meta description to function as a short ad for your content, explaining exactly why someone should click on your result over the others.

2. Identify Your "Striking Distance" Keywords

These are keywords for which you already rank, but you're hovering on the bottom half of page one or onto page two (average position between 6-20). A small optimization push can often bump these pages into more prominent, higher-click positions.

• How to find them: Filter your Queries report to show only keywords where the Average position is greater than 5 and less than 21.
• What it means: You have content that's relevant, but it's not quite strong enough to reach the top spots. It might be lacking depth, internal links, or authority.
• Action plan: For the URLs that rank for these terms, focus on improvements. This could mean updating and expanding the content, adding more graphics or video, improving the internal linking structure pointing to this page, or pursuing a few high-quality backlinks to give it a boost.

3. Discover Untapped Question Keywords

People often search by asking direct questions. These keywords are fantastic targets for creating helpful content like blog posts, new FAQ sections, or even dedicated landing pages.

• How to find them: Use the search filter box at the top of the Queries table and enter terms like "what," "how," "why," or "where."
• What it means: You are uncovering the precise problems your audience is trying to solve.
• Action Plan: If you already have a page ranking for that question, consider how you can make the answer clearer and more direct. Could you add a short summary at the top? A step-by-step list? If you don't have content that directly answers the question, you've just found your next great blog post idea.

4. Compare Brand vs. Non-Brand Queries

It's helpful to understand how people are searching for you specifically versus finding you through general, unbranded topics. This can inform both your SEO and brand-building strategies.

• How to find them: Use the filter box to include queries that contain your brand name. Then, do the opposite by excluding your brand name to see all non-brand searches.
• What it means: This shows the health of your brand awareness (brand queries) and your content marketing efforts (non-brand queries). A good strategy will grow both.
• Action Plan: If you have low non-brand traffic, you need to expand your content strategy to target more top-of-funnel, problem-aware keywords. If you have low brand traffic, it might be time to invest in PR, social media, or other brand awareness campaigns.

Bonus Tip: Use On-Site Search for More Content Ideas

Don't forget the keyword data collected from your website's own search bar! This is direct feedback from people who are already on your site. They are literally telling you what they're looking for but might be struggling to find.

To see this data, navigate to Reports > Engagement > Events. Look for an event name called view_search_results. Clicking on this event will show you a dashboard with more information, and you should be able to see a card with the parameter search_term. This list shows every single thing people have searched for on your site.

If you see a lot of people searching for a topic you haven't covered, that's a clear content gap you need to fill. If they're searching for something you do have (like "how to return an item"), it might be a sign that your navigation needs improvement to make that information easier to find.

Final Thoughts

While Google Analytics doesn't show you search queries out of the box, connecting it with Google Search Console transforms it into an incredibly powerful keyword research tool. By blending off-site search data with on-site user behavior, you can move beyond guessing and start making data-driven decisions that attract more - and better - organic traffic.

Spending a few hours each week digging through GA and GSC reports to find these gems is a high-leverage activity, but we understand it's still manual work. That's why we built Graphed. We wanted to eliminate the need to hunt, click, and customize reports constantly. Once you connect your data sources like Google Analytics and a dozen others, you can simply ask questions in plain English - like "Which keywords are on page 2 that I can optimize?" or "What are my top organically-driven landing pages for conversions in the last 30 days?" - and get an instant, real-time dashboard that answers your question in seconds.