How to Create an SEO Report in Google Analytics

Tracking your SEO performance shouldn't feel like searching for a needle in a haystack, but in Google Analytics 4, it often does. Important organic traffic data is scattered across different reports, making it difficult to get a clear picture of what’s actually working. This article will walk you through exactly how to find the data you need and build a saved, custom SEO report in GA4 that you can revisit anytime.

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First, Why Build a Dedicated SEO Report?

While Google Analytics has default reports, they show you everything all at once - paid ads, social media referrals, direct traffic, and more. A dedicated SEO report cuts through the noise and helps you answer the essential questions about your organic performance, such as:

• Which pages are driving the most organic traffic?
• Are visitors from search engines engaging with our content?
• Which search terms (from Google Search Console) bring people to our site?
• Is our organic traffic leading to actual conversions or revenue?

Creating this single source of truth makes your weekly or monthly analysis faster and far more effective. You stop wasting time hunting for data and start spending that time making decisions with it.

Finding Your Core SEO Data in GA4

Before building a custom report, it's important to know where your organic search data lives. The primary location is the Traffic Acquisition report.

Here’s how to get there and filter it for SEO:

1. From your GA4 dashboard, navigate to Reports > Acquisition > Traffic acquisition.
2. This report shows all traffic sources grouped by the Session default channel group. You'll see things like Direct, Paid Search, and Display. We only want Organic Search.
3. To filter, click the Add filter + button at the top of the report.
4. In the builder, set the condition to: Session default channel group > exactly matches > Organic Search.
5. Click the blue Apply button.

Voilà! The report now exclusively shows data for sessions that started from an organic search click. This filtered view is the foundation for our custom report. But what metrics should we actually be looking at?

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Key Metrics for Your SEO Dashboard

A good report shows you the right metrics, not all of them. Here are the most valuable ones to focus on for evaluating SEO performance.

Traffic and Engagement Metrics

• Users: The total number of unique individuals who have visited your site via organic search. This helps you gauge your overall audience reach.
• Sessions: The number of visits to your site. A single user can have multiple sessions. This metric tells you how often people are returning via search.
• Engaged sessions: A session that lasted longer than 10 seconds, had a conversion event, or had at least 2 page views. This replaces the old "Bounce Rate" metric and is a much better indicator of quality traffic. You want to see sessions that are engaged.
• Engagement rate: The percentage of sessions that were engaged. A higher engagement rate (typically over 60-70%) means your content is resonating with your search audience.

Outcome Metrics

• Conversions: The number of times users completed a desired action (like submitting a form, signing up for a newsletter, or making a purchase). This is the single most important metric to prove SEO's value. (Note: You must have conversions configured in GA4 for this data to populate.)
• Total revenue: If you're an e-commerce or lead-gen site that assigns value to conversions, this metric directly shows the monetary impact of your SEO efforts.

Page-level Metrics

• Landing page + query string: The first page a user "lands on" when they arrive from a search engine. Analyzing your top landing pages tells you which content assets are your biggest SEO performers. Mixing this with conversion data shows you which pages not only attract visitors but also drive business goals.

How to Create a Custom SEO Report in GA4: Step-by-Step

Now that you know which metrics matter, let's build a dedicated, saved report so you don't have to reapply filters every time.

Step 1: Get into the Report Library

From the left-hand menu in GA4, find the Library link at the very bottom. This is where you can create and manage custom reports.

Step 2: Start a New Detail Report

In the Library, click the blue + Create new report button and select Create detail report from the dropdown.

Step 3: Choose a Template

You can start from a blank slate or use a template. It's much easier to start with a template. Select the Traffic acquisition template from the Acquisition section.

Step 4: Customize Your Report

Now you'll see a report editor. In the top-right panel labeled Report Customization, you can configure everything.

Set Your Dimensions:

Dimensions are what you pivot your data by. The default is Session default channel group. We want to see our data by landing page.

1. Click on Dimensions.
2. Click Set as default next to Landing page + query string.
3. You can reorder or add other useful dimensions here (like Device category or Country) by clicking + Add dimension. For now, let’s stick with Landing page as the primary one.
4. Click the blue Apply button.

Set Your Metrics:

Metrics are the quantitative numbers in your report. Let's make sure all the important ones we discussed are included.

1. Click on Metrics.
2. The default template has a good starting set, but you can click + Add metric to add any others you need, like Conversions or Total revenue.
3. You can drag and drop the metrics to reorder them in a way that makes sense to you. A typical flow is: Users > Sessions > Engagement rate > Conversions > Revenue.
4. Click the blue Apply button.

Now, your report preview will show all traffic sources broken down by landing page, using your chosen metrics. There's just one final step.

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Step 5: Add a Permanent Filter for Organic Search

At the bottom of the right-hand panel, find the Report Filter section and click + Add filter.

• Dimension: Find and select Session default channel group.
• Match Type: Select exactly matches.
• Value: Start typing Organic Search and select it from the list.
• Click the blue Apply button.

The report preview will now be filtered permanently for organic search traffic. You have successfully built your report!

Step 6: Save and Publish Your Report

Click the big blue Save button in the top right. Give your report a clear name, like "SEO Landing Page Performance". Add a description if you like. Click Save again.

You’ll be taken back to the Library. Your new report is saved, but it's not in the main navigation yet. Find an existing Collection (like "Lifecycle"), click the three dots, and select Edit collection. Find your new SEO report in the right column and drag it into one of the topics in the left column. Then, click Save.

Now, you will see your custom report right in the main GA4 sidebar, ready to access with one click.

What About Keywords? Connecting Google Search Console

You may be wondering, "Where are the keywords?" Years ago, Google stopped passing most organic keyword data directly into Google Analytics, which is why your GSC query data is so important. By linking GA4 to your Google Search Console account, you unlock that hidden data.

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How to Connect GSC to GA4

1. Navigate to the Admin section (the gear icon in the bottom-left).
2. In the Property column, scroll down to Product Links and click on Search Console Links.
3. If not already linked, click the Link button and follow the prompts to choose your Search Console property and web stream.

Once linked (it can take up to 48 hours for data to fully populate), you will have access to two new reports in the Library: Google Organic Search Queries and Google Organic Search Traffic. You can add these to your navigation just like you did with your custom report. The "Queries" report shows you which non-brand and brand keywords are driving clicks and impressions, adding a critical layer to your SEO analysis.

Final Thoughts

By building a custom report filtered for organic traffic and linking Google Search Console, you create a powerful, repeatable way to measure your SEO efforts in Google Analytics 4. This process consolidates the most important data into one accessible place, saving you time and empowering you to make smarter decisions based on what’s actually moving the needle.

Even with a custom report, the process inside GA4 can still feel pretty manual and rigid. We believe getting insights shouldn't require so many steps. At Graphed, we simplify this entire process by connecting directly to your Google Analytics and Search Console data. Instead of building reports click by click, you can just ask a question like, "Show me my top 10 SEO landing pages by conversions this month" and we instantly build the chart for you. We built Graphed to help you get answers in seconds, not hours, so you can spend your time on strategy, not configuration.