How to Link GA4 with Google Search Console?

Google Search Console and Google Analytics are two important free site monitoring tools for every webmasters. Nowadays, almost every site on the web use Analytics and Search Console data. Though both of these tools are from Google, you still need to use two different places to view the relevant details. In order to simplify getting all the data in one place, Google allows to share the Search Console data to your Google Analytics account and vice versa. This helps webmasters to lookup all related data in a consolidated manner without logging into each account separately.

Requirements Before Linking

You should have done the following before linking your site data:

• Added and verified your site property in Search Console account
• Added and verified your site in Google Analytics (GA4) account
• You should be the administrator of these accounts

1. Link GA4 with Google Search Console

Though the process is similar to the old Universal Analytics, there are some difference in the way you connect you accounts. Follow the below steps for GA4:

1.1. Select GA4 Property

• Login to your Google Analytics account and click on the “Admin” gear icon showing on bottom left corner.
• Select your site from the “Account” dropdown and then select your GA4 property from “Property” dropdown.

1.2. Select Search Console Domain

• Scroll down under the “Property” column and click “Search Console Links” option.
• This will open a new section and shows any existing domain connected to GA4 property. The list should be blank since you did not connect any domain yet and click the “Link” button.

1.3. Submit Link Setup

You will see a “Link Setup” pop-up showing three steps to review and submit your Search Console domain.

• Choose Search Console property – click “Choose accounts” link to see the list of all your Search Console properties. Select the item you want to link and click on “Confirm” button.

• Select Web Stream – click “Select” button showing against the “Web Streams” and choose your GA4 property from the list.

• Review and submit – review the selected Search Console and GA4 properties and confirm by clicking “Submit” button.

• After submitting, you will see a “Link Created” message with the details.

1.4. Delete Search Console Property from GA4

Now that you have successfully connected Search Console domain and GA4 property, you can find the details under “Search Console Links” section.

If you have wrongly linked a domain or want to change to another Search Console property, then click on the connected item. This will show the details and click the three vertical dots icon showing on top right corner. Select “Delete” option to remove the linked Search Console property from GA4.

Now, you can link another Search Console property by clicking on “Link” button as explained above.

2. Link Search Console in Universal Analytics

Google announced the retirement of Universal Analytics from July 2023. So, you should migrate to GA4 and follow the above steps. If you want to know the old process, below are the steps to connect Universal Analytics to Search Console account.

2.1. Choosing Analytics Property

Follow the below steps to enable data sharing between Search Console and Google Analytics accounts. Login to your Google Analytics account and navigate to “Admin” tab. Select the site account you want to link and select the “Property” you want to share the data.

2.1. Choosing Search Console Property

You will see the new screen appears on the right side showing the details of the selected property. Scroll down and click on the “Adjust Search Console” button under Search Console section.

You will see the “Search Console Settings” as shown below and click on the “Add” link.

2.3. Linking Properties

Google will show all the available properties in your Search Console account. Here, find for the Search Console property of the same site. Ensure the property is already not linked to any of the existing Analytics account. If you mistakenly link the wrong the property, then the existing integration will be removed. This means you can only link one Search Console property to one Analytics account.

Select the correct property and save your settings. Google will prompt you to confirm the association, and click “OK” to confirm.

Now go back to Analytics account and refresh the page, you will see the Search Console property is connected to your Analytics account’s property.

2.4. Deleting Integration

Any time you can remove the association by clicking on the “Delete” link. After that again confirm the “Delete” option showing against the linked site.

2.5. Another Way to Link

There is also another way to link your Search Console account with Analytics account. Go to the “Admin” section in your Analytics account and navigate to the required property. Scroll down and choose “All Products” option under “Property” section.

From here, you can click on “Link Search Console” button and choose the Search Console property. The remaining steps are same as explained in the above method.

Where to View the Data?

Now that you know how to link the accounts, the next step is to understand about the data integration. For GA4 setup, go to your Analytics account and navigate to “Reports” section and check the “GA4″Acquisition” and “Engagements” sections to find relevant details your Search Console account. For Universal Analytics, go to “Acquisition > Search Console” section to see all the data pulled from your Search Console account like landing pages, countries, devices and queries.

Remember, the data will be available in both accounts only after the collection in Search Console. Also, you will only see the data in Analytics after the integration date and not before that.