How’s this for a click-bait headline? “Google Analytics is lying about your organic traffic and it’s been doing it for ages.” We bit and clicked as, after all, it is germane to our core business.
The reported lie is that your Organic Search traffic is under-reported in Google Analytics due to attribution issues that result in Organic traffic being miscategorized as Direct traffic.
Duh!
We’ve always noted the likelihood of SEO analytics and traffic being under-reported. Not just due to the Direct traffic issue mentioned above. It also happens when Organic traffic becomes Unassigned traffic when the visitor ignores or does not agree to your website’s consent requests.
So, yes, Google Analytics is hiding some of the extra website traffic driven by your SEO efforts.
On the plus side, Google Analytics can also reveal the extra value of Organic Search traffic; the value of the quality of Organic Search traffic that extends beyond the quantity.
One example of the added value of Organic Search traffic is the “pre-qualified” nature of those visits. The journey started with someone posing a query expressing the information they were seeking. Then, they selected your website from the many options delivered on the Search Engine Results Page as the one providing the likely answer.
This pre-qualification increases the likelihood of conversion. You can see this value by comparing the engagement and conversion rates of Organic Search traffic with other channels driving traffic to your website as reported via Google Analytics. You can also drill down to the Conversion Attribution Paths Report in GA4 to see how many touches Organic Search had along the visitors’ paths to conversion.
Go ahead and look for the hidden value SEO brings to your website in terms of traffic quantity and quality. We think you’ll be surprised to see how much more your SEO strategy is worth.
