{"id":4635,"date":"2020-06-19T13:44:16","date_gmt":"2020-06-19T17:44:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/isynergy.io\/?p=4635"},"modified":"2020-07-09T13:44:45","modified_gmt":"2020-07-09T17:44:45","slug":"google-analytics-vs-google-search-console-whats-the-difference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/isynergy.io\/google-analytics-vs-google-search-console-whats-the-difference\/","title":{"rendered":"Google Analytics vs. Google Search Console: What\u2019s The Difference?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Planning your next move in <\/span>digital marketing<\/span> (or any online business really) requires that you look at the KPIs and see what’s working. Mastering<\/span> Google Analytics<\/span><\/a> is one piece of the puzzle, but you also want to install<\/span> Google Search Console<\/span><\/a>, formerly known as <\/span>Google Webmasters<\/span> Tools. Both of these are free and provide you with tons of valuable data and reports on your website’s performance – including traffic, <\/span>bounce rates<\/span>, indexed pages, and so forth.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While both are recommended, many people wonder what’s the difference between <\/span>Google Analytics<\/span> and <\/span>GSC<\/span>? Here’s why both of these platforms are important for your business,<\/span> content marketing strategy<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>SEO<\/span>, and so much more.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Google Analytics<\/b> vs. <\/b>Google Search Console<\/b>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Both of these tools provide endless opportunities to measure performance and optimize your site.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To get the most out of tracking and traffic data, you’ll want to install both GA and <\/span>GSC<\/span>. Here’s some more information about what each platform does for your site.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tracking with GA<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

There are over 10,000 metrics that GA can track. This data tracking platform helps you analyze the performance of your site to the smallest granular metric you can find, thanks to multiple filters and customizable reports.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It’s particularly important for measuring organic traffic and seeing where your visitors come from. However, there are so many other metrics and tools that you can use within GA as well.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For example, it’s an amazing tool to analyze audience demographics and see who’s visiting your site or even making purchases. You can also measure conversion goals and individual page performance through <\/span>pageviews<\/span>, <\/span>bounce rate<\/span>, and more.<\/span><\/p>\n

When you need to see traffic reports and analyze your online customer’s experience, GA is the tool to use.<\/span><\/p>\n

Optimizing with <\/b>GSC<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While you could simply install Analytics to track metrics, you would be missing out on valuable information to improve your rank and optimize the technical performance of your website without <\/span>Google Search Console<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

GSC<\/span> gives you more information on <\/span>backlinks<\/span>, who is sharing your website, and shows you technical errors on your site that prevent you from ranking higher. You can also get more in-depth information about keyword queries.<\/span><\/p>\n

What Can You Track with Analytics?<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

With <\/span>analytics data<\/span>, you can track all kinds of metrics to see if your <\/span>digital marketing<\/span> and <\/span>SEO<\/span> efforts are successful. Some of the most popular metrics to track with GA include:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Acquisition<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Much of <\/span>digital marketing<\/span> is about customer acquisition. You want to attract people to your site through your<\/span> SEO strategy<\/span><\/a>, paid marketing campaigns, <\/span>social media<\/span> and more. GA helps you see where customers are coming from.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

You can measure different types of visits, such as direct visitors that enter your domain directly into their browser, or maybe you want to measure by different referral sites or <\/span>social media channels<\/span>. All of these (and more) are possible within GA.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Audience Demographics<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

While it’s not extremely granular tracking information, you can see a large array of audience demographics and compare to your other audience insights. The “Demographics” tab on GA can break down your traffic by age and gender.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Landing Page<\/b> Performance<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

If you have multiple campaigns with different <\/span>landing pages<\/span>, you can view which ones are most successful, breaking down performance by sessions, <\/span>bounce rate<\/span>, new visitors, and average session time. You can see exit pages and drill down into customer journeys to see what pages get the most traffic or lead to the highest rate of abandonment.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Dwell Time<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Dwell time metrics (average time on page, average session duration, etc.) are used to describe how much time people spend browsing your website. Dwell time has been discussed by many <\/span>SEO experts<\/span>\u00a0as a definitive ranking signal for <\/span>search engines<\/span>. Basically, if people spend long amounts of time on your website, then it must mean they are enjoying your content and it’s relevant to a query.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

You can use GA to look at page session time, time on site, and <\/span>bounce rates<\/span> to judge your site\u2019s content and <\/span>user experience<\/span>. If you\u2019re seeing abnormal or low engagement, it\u2019s possible that you need to adjust your pages to either make them more visually appealing or engaging.<\/span><\/p>\n

Other GA Metrics<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

As we mentioned before, there are over 10,000 metrics to track, as well as some pretty amazing tools. For example, you can also use GA for:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n