With so many data reporting services and marketing tools increasingly at your disposal, one thing never changes: Google is still king.
Using Google’s online tools is basically a necessity for any modern website’s success. Without proper monitoring and analysis, your website may be lost in the sea of competition and traffic.
Learn more in our Local SEO Tools guide.
So, how do you make sure your website stays competitive? Two powerful tools can help: Google Search Console (GSC) and Google Analytics (GA).
In this guide, we’ll compare Google Analytics and Search Console (GSC vs GA), explain their key differences, and show how to use them together for maximum insights.
What Is Google Search Console?
Short answer: Google Search Console is a free tool provided by Google that helps you monitor and maintain your site’s presence in Google search results.
Also once called “Google Webmaster Tools,” it was designed to help users understand how a search engine interacts with their website.
What information does Google Search Console provide you with? When you engage with the tool, you’ll be able to find:
- Crawl rate monitoring
- Keyword monitoring
- Sitemap submission
- Website speed reports
- & more!
But that’s not the only Google tool at your disposal, and it’s not the only one you should be using either. Enter: Google Analytics.
What Is Google Analytics?
Yes, there’s more than one tool to keep track of.
Google Analytics is a free reporting service offered by Google to track your website traffic. Since its release in 2006, Google has also released a few other versions of the platform (Google Analytics 360 and Google Analytics 4).
Don’t worry, as it’s not all as overwhelming as it sounds. All you really need to know are the services Google Analytics provides:
- Custom reports
- Trend visualizations
- Goal monitoring
- Audience monitoring
Helpful, right? But despite being a free tool offered by Google, this handy platform isn’t the exact same as Google Search Console.
Google Search Console vs. Google Analytics: What’s the Difference?
Ultimately, these powerful tools help you accomplish different things.
Knowing which one is best for your brand and business’ objectives is essential, but you have to start with understanding what they do differently first.
Let’s explore the key differences between Google Search Console and Google Analytics (GSC vs GA):
1. Metrics & Measurements
Ask yourself: what kind of data do you want to see?
Knowing the answer to this question will also help you know when to use Google Search Console and when to use Google Analytics.
- Google Search Console will show you “pre-click data”, or the organic results that a user sees while searching for your website. Basically, pre-click data is information about your site (examples: clicks, keyword queries, and backlinks).
- But Google Analytics will show you “post-click data”, or user data and activity once they’ve already entered the site. And post-click data is information about your audience (examples: conversions, demographics, session time).
Depending on your goals, you can prioritize the set of data that seems most relevant to your marketing needs.
2. Ownership Verification
What is ownership verification? This is just Google’s way of validating that you actually own your site.
You’ll need to verify ownership of your property with either platform, but they accomplish this in slightly different ways.
- Google Search Console supports a few verification methods. For example, you can upload a file to a specific URL of your site, add a meta tag to a specific page, or add a Google Tag Manager snippet to your site’s homepage.
- Google Analytics requires you to follow a set of prompts to connect data sources individually, usually involving a tracking code.
Make sure that you execute both verification methods properly, not just one or the other.
3. Data Reporting
These two Google platforms also handle data reporting in a slightly different way.
Don’t worry, there’s only a few key differences. First: a single Google Search Console account can only report data for one domain, whereas a Google Analytics account can handle multiple domains.
Second, Google Analytics can report data from redirected URLs, but Google Search Console treats the traffic as a canonical URL.
Simple enough, right?
4. Daily Record
The amount of data you receive will also be different per Google tool.
Google Analytics can report on an unlimited amount of URLs, but Google Search Console has a daily record limit of 1,000 URLs per website.
Typically, this isn’t relevant to the average user or website owner. However, it’s good to keep in mind if your marketing sights and needs are set high.
How to Use Google Search Console & Google Analytics Together Effectively
Believe it or not, all of these differences don’t have to be a chore to deal with.
In fact, Google Search Console and Google Analytics offering different services means that you now have two complementary tools that can work together.
But how?
Google Search Console and Google Analytics can actually be linked and integrated. This way you don’t have to switch between platforms, and you can view reports simultaneously. This is also why knowing the differences between both tools is so important.
Now you’ll be able to differentiate between the sets of data and identify which reports are best to view for your needs, rather than be overwhelmed with the platforms all at once.
Conclusion: Maximizing Insights With Both Tools
You’ve officially been briefed on the key differences between Google Search Console vs. Google Analytics.
However, your digital marketing and website management journey is only beginning. The next steps include actually using these tools, implementing their data effectively, and discovering how they can benefit your specific needs.
In order to execute this properly, you may need to experiment with some trial and error.
Keeping up with today’s changing internet landscape means staying adaptable and paying attention to how data changes, and even how tools like Google Search Console and Google Analytics change too. Stay alert, be proactive, and tailor Google’s tools to your needs!
So, how will you be using these tools to your advantage?