Search Console or Google Analytics? How to Use Both for Better SEO Insights

Learn when to use Google Search Console vs Google Analytics. Discover how both tools can give powerful insights to improve SEO and boost site performance.

When it comes to understanding how your website is performing, Google Search Console (GSC) and Google Analytics (GA4) are two essential tools in your SEO toolkit. But if you’re new to digital marketing — or a small business owner trying to make sense of your site’s data — you might hear words like Google Search Console or Google Analytics and have no idea where to start. Which one do you need? What do they do? The short answer: both and quite a bit. 

Both GA4 and GSC serve a different purpose, and together they can provide a complete picture of how your site attracts and engages visitors, not just from organic search, but from a variety of traffic sources so you can do things like:

• Build better customer journeys on your site
• Track conversions like purchase revenue, lead form fills, scheduled appointments, add to carts, shop now clicks, etc.
• Understand what users are searching for before landing on your site and what pages they are arriving at (use this for content optimizations!)
• Identify which traffic sources (organic, direct, referral, paid, social) are driving the most engaged users
• Uncover which devices and user demographics interact best with your content
• Monitor technical issues (indexing errors, mobile usability, page experience) that could limit visibility
• Measure the performance of updated content by comparing search position changes with on-site engagement
• Prioritize high-potential keywords and landing pages for further optimization

What Is Google Search Console?

Google Search Console is all about visibility in Google Search. It helps you understand how your site performs in search engine results pages (SERPs). You can see:

• What queries people use to find you
• Your average position in search results
• How many clicks and impressions your pages get
• Which pages are indexed and which aren’t — and why
• Any technical issues affecting your search performance, such as your Core Web Vitals, structured data enhancements, non-secure pages, and any manual actions like spam alerts or site security issues

If you’re interested in how people find your site on Google, GSC is where you want to start.

What Is Google Analytics?

While GSC focuses on organic search behavior before a user clicks from Google, Google Analytics shows what happens after they land on your site. GA4 provides insights like:

• User demographics and locations
• Pageviews and bounce rates
• Traffic sources beyond Google Search (social media, email, direct, referral, etc.)
• Conversion and event tracking
• Session duration and behavior flow

If you want to know what users do when they’re on your website, GA4 is the answer.

Google Search Console vs. Google Analytics: When to Use Each

Here’s a simple breakdown of each tool and some ways you can use it for different purposes:

1. Improve SEO

Use Google Search Console to see top-performing keywords, impressions, and clicks. 

• This data can help you understand what queries your site is already ranking for and identify any gaps for ones it isn’t. Turn those keyword gaps into content optimization opportunities for primary landing pages on your site. Go the extra mile and ask Google to reindex the newly optimized page for potentially quicker re-indexation. 

Use GA4 to track how visitors behave once on-site. 

• If you see that users aren’t spending a lot of time on a page with a lot of content or several CTAs, evaluate that page and see how you can improve UX. If certain events aren’t converting how you’d like them to, try moving them above the fold, putting them on the homepage, or displaying them in a sitewide banner. Check if that paid Google Ads campaign is working, if your blog content is getting traction, or if you’re gaining users in that new state you just launched in. 

2. Identify Technical Issues

Use Google Search Console to fix indexing or mobile usability problems.

• The pages report in GSC can give you a detailed breakdown of why (if any) of your pages are not being picked up by Google. View your Core Web Vitals report to drill down further on technical things like layout shift, load time for individual assets on the page, and how long it takes your page to be interactive.

Use GA4 to check site performance and engagement metrics.

• Use the sessions and landing pages metrics to detect any anomalies on your site that could indicate broken or missing pages or a missing tracking tag. Use bounce rate to gauge user interest as they navigate through your website — and determine where you might be losing them. View all of your tracked events and the pages that users converted on to help determine things like content and paid ad strategies.

3. Measure Content Updates

Use Google Search Console to monitor search position changes

If you recently updated a blog post or landing page, GSC can help you see how that change affects your organic search performance. Track keyword rankings and compare impressions and clicks before and after the update. If rankings rise and clicks improve, your optimizations are working. If not, dive into the page’s queries and coverage status to see what may be limiting performance. 

Use GA4 to analyze bounce rate and time-on-page.

Look at how users interact with your updated content. Are they staying longer? Scrolling more? Converting? A higher engagement time and reduced bounce rate suggest your content is more relevant and user-friendly. On the other hand, if the bounce rate increases, it might be a sign that your update missed the mark. Segment the data by device, traffic source, or region to get a clearer picture of how different audiences are reacting to the changes.

4. Optimize Conversions

Use Google Search Console to see which queries drive traffic.

GSC’s performance report helps you identify which search queries drive visits to high-converting pages. Use this data to align your SEO strategy with business goals, such as increasing traffic to product pages or lead-gen forms. If you notice valuable queries pointing to lower-converting pages, consider shifting your keyword focus or updating page content and structure to better meet search intent.

Use GA4 to track which pages convert the most users.

Dive into conversion paths and event tracking in GA4 to see where users are converting — whether it’s a form fill, purchase, call click, or appointment request. Use funnel exploration reports to identify drop-off points and experiment with layout changes, CTA placement, and messaging. Track conversions over time to see how changes impact performance, and segment by traffic source to evaluate the success of your SEO strategies.

What’s the Takeaway? 

When you combine data from both tools, you get end-to-end insight — from search impression to site conversion. It’s not about Google Search Console vs. Google Analytics — it’s about using both effectively.

Need Help Making Sense of the Data?

Understanding how to use Google Search Console and Google Analytics can make all the difference in optimizing your website’s performance. If you’re unsure how to interpret your data or want expert insights to improve your SEO strategy, GPO can help.
Our team specializes in data-driven SEO and content strategies that deliver measurable results. Make your analytics work for you by chatting with one of our experts today.