5 Reliable Ways To Gather Local SEO Insights In Your GA4 Dashboard

Leveraging the power of local search engine optimization (SEO) is instrumental to the success of your business.

According to W3Techs, “56.6% of websites use Google Analytics 4.”

So, you can’t afford to ignore Google Analytics 4 for local SEO performance. If you leverage this tool effectively, your business can formulate great local SEO results for optimal results.

What’re you waiting for?

Just read the article until last:

5 Useful GA4 Dashboards For Local SEO

1. Landing page

Landing pages in Google Analytics 4 (GA4) can provide valuable insights about your local SEO efforts. Still, the data requires some strategic analysis due to the platform’s shift away from traditional “views” and “sessions” metrics.

Here’s how you can leverage landing pages in GA4 for local SEO:

Understanding User Location:

• Demographic Details Report:

This report reveals the locations of users (city, region, country) who visited your landing pages. While not perfect (e.g., VPN usage), it provides a general understanding of your organic traffic’s geographic origin.

Source: Semrush

• Custom Dimensions: 

Consider setting up a custom dimension to capture a user city or region based on an IP address. This allows for more granular location data analysis within GA4 reports.

Analyzing User Behavior on Location Pages:

• Landing Pages Report: 

“The average landing page conversion rate across all industries is 2.35%”

Analyze which landing pages receive the most organic traffic from local users. Prioritize optimizing these pages to improve local search ranking and the user experience.

• Engagement Metrics: 

Look beyond just pageviews. Analyze metrics like time spent on a page, scroll depth, and bounce rate for your local landing pages. This data can reveal how engaged users are with your content.

• Event Tracking: 

Set up event tracking for key user actions on location-specific pages (e.g., phone call clicks and contact form submissions). This allows you to understand user intent and conversion rates for local traffic.

Leveraging Landing Page Insights for Local SEO:

• Optimize Content for Local Users: 

Identify location-specific landing pages with high traffic but low engagement. This might indicate a need to tailor content to the local audience’s needs and search intent.

• Improve Conversion Rates:

Analyze event tracking data for location pages and identify areas for improvement. This could involve optimizing calls to action, adding location-specific information, or streamlining contact forms.

• Identify High-Performing Locations:

Compare user behavior and conversion rates across landing pages targeting various locations. This can help you prioritize local SEO efforts for areas with the most engaged and valuable organic traffic.

2. Demographic Details

GA4’s demographic details section offers valuable insights for local SEO. Here’s how to leverage it:

Accessing Demographic Details:

• Go to Reports > User > User Attributes.
• By default, this report shows user visits by country.

Extracting Local SEO Insights:

• Location Targeting: 

Switch the dimension to Region or City/Town to understand where your local audience comes from. This helps tailor content and marketing efforts to specific areas.

Source: SE Ranking

• Content Optimization:

Analyze which geographic areas have high traffic but low conversion rates. This might indicate a need for location-specific content or landing pages.

• Identify Growth Areas:

If many visitors come from a neighboring city, consider expanding your reach there through targeted campaigns.

3. Custom Reports

While GA4 offers pre-built dashboards, custom reports allow you to drill down for highly specific local SEO details. Here’s how to leverage them effectively:

Leveraging Existing Reports as a Springboard:

• Don’t reinvent the wheel! Start with GA4’s standard reports like “User Demographics” or “Traffic Acquisition.”
• These provide a foundational understanding of your local audience and traffic sources.

Tailoring Reports to Your Local Needs:

GA4’s magic lies in customization. Go to the desired report (e.g., Engagement by City) and click the “Edit” icon.

Now, you can craft your local SEO report by adding dimensions and metrics that matter to you. Here are some key elements:

• Dimensions: city, region, country, and user location (if available).
• Metrics: Sessions, Users, Engagement Metrics (e.g., Bounce Rate, Average . Session Duration), and Conversions (if applicable to your local business).

Going Beyond Traffic: Unveiling User Behavior

• Local SEO isn’t just about attracting visitors and understanding their intent.
• Look for metrics that show user engagement on your site—high avg. The session duration for users from a specific city indicates they’re finding relevant content.

Customizing Reports for Conversions (if applicable):

Source: Search Engine Land

• If your site has conversion goals relevant to your local business (e.g., online purchases and appointment bookings), add conversion metrics to your reports.
• See which locations convert better and tailor your local SEO strategy accordingly.

4. Traffic Acquisition And User Acquisition

This report offers a comprehensive view of where your website visitors originate, including organic search, paid advertising, social media, and more. It utilizes cross-channel dimensions for a unified analysis.

Organic Search Traffic (The Bread and Butter):

• Apply an organic search filter: 

In most SEO service provider GA4 reports, the “Add filter” function isolates organic traffic.

Choose “Session default channel group” or “First user default channel group” based on your preference (sessions vs. users). Select “exactly matches” within the filter and choose “Organic Search” to apply.

• Analyze keywords with city or location intent: 

Dive deeper into organic search queries to identify keywords with local intent. Look for terms that include city names, zip codes, or phrases like “near me.”

This helps you understand how local users are searching for your business.

• Track local ranking performance (indirectly): 

While GA4 doesn’t provide direct local ranking data, you can indirectly gauge performance by monitoring organic traffic trends for location-specific keywords.

• Leverage the “user location” dimension (if available): 

If enabled in your GA4 setup, this dimension provides user location data at various granularities (country, region, city).

Analyze user concentration by geographic location to identify areas with high local interest.

Consider supplementing with external tools. Since GA4’s location data might be limited due to privacy regulations, explore integrating external tools for more precise geolocation tracking.

• Segment by location (if applicable): 

“If you compare  2-3 user segments, then it may cause overlapping.”

So, always segment your user base geographically to compare engagement metrics (session duration, bounce rate, conversion rates) for local users versus overall traffic.

This helps you tailor content or CTAs (calls to action) to resonate better with local audiences.

5. Explore:

Explore addresses deeper GA4 questions that cannot be answered with an out-of-the-box report. It is less of a dashboard in GA4 and more of a data platform; each Explore report is a custom configuration.

For example, Explore is useful if we want to pull a report comparing demographic location data to our organic location pages.

Conclusion

Undoubtedly, the GA4 dashboard is an indispensable tool for organizations aiming to boost their local SEO efforts. Offering local SEO services, the website’s metrics and features provide insights and make navigating easy, enabling businesses to optimize their online presence effectively.

It ranges from user engagement patterns to lucrative geographical areas with the knowledge needed to refine and optimize their local SEO strategies.

Read more: A Comprehensive Guide to Session Timeout in Google Analytics.

FAQs:

• What are the metrics of GA4 SEO?

GA4 SEO metrics encompass a range of key indicators, including organic search traffic, impressions, clicks, click-through rates (CTR), average position, and more. These metrics offer valuable insights into your website’s performance and visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs).

• Does GA4 affect SEO?

While GA4 doesn’t directly impact SEO rankings, it provides crucial data for optimizing your website’s performance in search results. By analyzing user behavior, traffic sources, and engagement metrics within GA4, businesses can refine their SEO strategies to improve visibility and attract more organic traffic.

• What is GA4 data for SEO?

GA4 data for SEO comprises information about website traffic, user interactions, and conversions originating from organic search sources. This data helps businesses assess their SEO efforts’ effectiveness, identify improvement opportunities, and make data-driven decisions to enhance their search engine visibility.

• What is insights in GA4?

Insights in GA4 refer to actionable observations and recommendations derived from analyzing data within the platform. These insights help businesses understand user behavior, identify trends, and make informed decisions to optimize their marketing strategies, including SEO efforts, for better performance and results.

• Can you create a dashboard in GA4?

Yes, GA4 allows users to create custom dashboards tailored to their specific needs and objectives. With various widgets and data visualization options, users can design comprehensive dashboards to monitor key metrics, track performance, and gain deeper insights into various aspects of their online presence, including SEO.