How to use GA4 to improve SEO performance

As the digital landscape evolves at record speeds, so do the tools that help us navigate it. Google Analytics 4 is the latest version of Google’s powerful analytics platform, designed to make marketers more efficient and informed.

Unlike its predecessor, Universal Analytics, GA4 features event tracking, which you can set up to focus specifically on the metrics that matter most to your bespoke campaign goals.

Ready to level up your SEO with GA4? Read on and we’ll take you through a few pointers to get you started.

• Check out your device data
• Comparison and analysis
• Engagement levels matter
• Exploration reports
• Session source - the overlooked metric!
• Full connectivity with Google Search Console

Check out your device data

Use GA4 to identify which devices are driving the most traffic to your site. Some brands naturally bring in more engagement on desktop, while others are leagues ahead of their desktop metrics with mobile activity. The contrasting user experience of each is what makes such a big difference. 

There’s no right or wrong here, just check in on how your campaigns are performing and optimise for mobile or desktop, whichever is getting you the best results.

Optimise for mobile
While you’re checking in on your device usage data, if you find that mobile traffic is dominant, ensure your content is mobile-friendly. Perhaps it’s time for a dedicated mobile landing page for some of your best-performing content?

There are a few limitations with mobile device usage, so adjust meta titles and descriptions for mobile-specific character limits. To help improve your site performance, optimise image sizes to reduce load times on mobile devices.

If you’re feeling adventurous, consider how voice search on specific pages can be optimised for mobile. With plenty of hands-free browsing activity taking place on mobile devices, now’s the time to see how your website copy matches with the phrases your audience is most likely to say out loud when browsing specific pages.

Desktop considerations 
If you’re bringing in a significant portion of desktop traffic, tailor your content to provide a richer, more detailed experience.

Desktop users have a longer time frame compared to mobile users. They’re in less of a hurry and are more likely to browse, ask questions and discover more about your brand through their browsing. In other words, they’re more likely to keep scrolling past the fold. So you’ve got flexibility and breadth to work with when planning content for desktop pages.

Comparison and analysis

One of the finest features of GA4 is its varied and detailed reporting abilities. Here’s how to make the most of them.

Year-over-Year (YoY) comparison
Get your campaign data from your oldest campaigns and take a look at your year-over-year comparisons. This is ideal for businesses with strong seasonality, such as travel, where annual trends impact traffic.

Compare traffic, conversions, and user behaviour year-over-year to identify growth or any decline in trends.

Month-over-Month (MoM) comparison
For a more granular approach, check out your monthly comparisons. It’s invaluable for eCommerce and other businesses that need regular performance insights. This will be the fastest way to pick up on trends at speed, without having to wait months to get results and data to inform your predictions for future campaign performance.

Custom segments
In GA4 you have this brilliant ability to create custom segments. These can be split data sets into various users, sessions and even events (this one is new to GA4). You can add multiple conditions to a segment, for example: users who have viewed a specific page and made a purchase.

You can also create segments based on age, gender, language, location and interests. GA4 provides possibilities to really drill down into the details of your demographics, making SEO targeting even more precise and relevant.

Engagement levels matter

Engagement is one of the most useful and important metrics to track to gauge how successful your campaign is. Here are some of the top metrics that you can track in GA4.

Engaged sessions
These are sessions where users interact meaningfully with your content, such as clicking links, scrolling through pages, or viewing videos. The higher your number of engaged sessions, the better your user experience tends to be, which can positively affect your SEO performance.

Engagement rate
Your engagement rate measures the percentage of engaged sessions against your total sessions. A higher engagement rate means that users are finding your content relevant and worth exploring, which is a good sign that your strategy is hitting the mark. Similarly, it’s worth looking at pages that aren’t performing so well and comparing them to your most effective pages. There will usually be SEO differences that you can improve on between the two.

Average engagement time
This really useful metric tracks how long users spend engaging with your content. The longer they stay, the more valuable they find your content. Higher engagement times often translate to better SEO rankings, as search engines see this as a sign of quality content.

Exploration reports

One of the most useful features for any SEO marketer in GA4 are the exploration reports. These provide a fast and easy way to access powerful metrics and insight to your data, to help shape your ongoing SEO strategy.

Free form reports
Free-form exploration reports provide quick access to specific data points, such as performance metrics for particular pages or sections of your website. These reports can be customised by selecting dimensions and metrics that align with your SEO goals. 

Whether you’re tracking conversion rates or user interactions, free-form reports allow you to focus on exactly what matters to your strategy.

Path exploration
Path exploration lets you analyse user journeys across your website, from start to finish or even in reverse. This tool helps you pinpoint where users are dropping off and offers insights into how to optimise those pages to keep them engaged longer. 

By understanding how users interact with your site, you can improve content placement and overall user flow to create a smoother experience.

Session source - the overlooked metric!

Session source allows you to track where your website traffic is coming from—whether it’s Google, Bing, direct visits, or referrals. Analysing how users from different sources behave on your site can help you refine your SEO strategy. 

For example, monitoring the performance of traffic from your Google Business Profile can boost your local SEO efforts. Don’t forget to track source trends over time, as shifts in user behaviour can reveal new opportunities to optimise your strategy.

Full connectivity with Google Search Console

By integrating GA4 with Google Search Console, you can seamlessly access search performance data within GA4. This integration provides detailed insights into search queries, impressions, clicks, and average positions, all in one place. 

Use this data to fine-tune your keyword strategies and improve your rankings without the need to leave GA4.

Conclusion

Google Analytics 4 isn’t just an update from Universal Analytics—it’s a game-changing tool that can elevate your SEO strategy. By leveraging GA4’s advanced features, you’ll gain more actionable insights and the ability to make informed, data-driven decisions.

Armed with the right data, your SEO campaign will be unstoppable. You just need to know where to look.