Understanding User Behavior by Google Ads Search Terms
Analyzing how users interact with your website based on the Google Ads search queries they used is crucial for optimizing your advertising spend and understanding user intent. This report in Google Analytics 4 helps you connect paid search performance with actual user behavior, allowing you to identify which search terms drive the most valuable traffic to your site.Basic Report Structure
- Primary dimension: Session Google Ads Query
- Secondary dimensions: User source and medium
- Key metrics: Users, Engaged sessions, Average engagement time
- Visualization: Table format with user metrics
- Segments: New vs Returning users
Steps to Create the Report
- Open GA4 and navigate to Explore section
- Click the Blank template to start a new exploration
- Under the Dimensions click the + button and search for Session Google Ads Query, Session source, and Session medium, check the checkboxes beside them and click Confirm
- Under the Metrics click the + button and search for Users, Engaged sessions, Average engagement time, and Engagement rate, check the checkboxes beside them and click Confirm
- Drag Session Google Ads Query to the Rows section
- Drag Users, Engaged sessions, Average engagement time, and Engagement rate to the Values section
- Add Session source and Session medium as secondary dimensions
- Create a filter to only show sessions where medium equals "cpc"
- Set your desired date range in the report settings
Important Dimensions and Metrics
- Session Google Ads Query: Shows the actual search terms users typed into Google
- Session source/medium: Confirms traffic is from paid Google Ads campaigns
- Users: Number of unique visitors from each search query
- Engaged sessions: Sessions lasting longer than 10 seconds
- Average engagement time: How long users from each query typically engage with your site
- Engagement rate: Percentage of engaged sessions per query
Actionable Insights
- Identify search queries with high engagement rates but low ad spend to optimize budget allocation
- Find queries with high user counts but low engagement to improve landing page relevance
- Use top-performing search queries to inform organic SEO strategy
- Adjust negative keywords based on queries showing poor engagement metrics
- Create custom landing pages for queries with high traffic but low conversion rates
Answers Similar Questions
- How to track Google Ads keywords in GA4
- View paid search query performance in Google Analytics
- GA4 Google Ads search term report
- Track PPC search queries in Google Analytics 4
- How to analyze Google Ads keywords in GA4
