Inside many companies, SEO reporting still relies heavily on mainstream metrics like keyword tracking, traffic graphs, etc., while the leadership side asks a different question: “How much revenue did this actually drive?”

Years ago, I used to think this was just a communication gap. Over time, I realized the issue wasn’t communication at all; it was measurement. Most SEO dashboards stop at visibility and traffic, so of course, decision-makers don’t see the true value.

Traditional metrics tell us only how users arrive. They reveal almost nothing about what happens after the click. However, we need to know if users find what they need, engage with content, move through key journeys, and ultimately convert.

Why Traditional SEO Reporting Falls Short

Most reports end at: Impression > Click.

But the real value-generating user journey continues beyond that:

Impression > Click > Landing > Engagement > Micro-Conversion > Conversion/Drop-off.

What I noticed is that SEO value isn’t missing, but it’s hidden in steps three to six. Once I started looking at the efforts we do through this perspective, opportunities that weren’t visible before became obvious. And many of the biggest wins came from improving how existing traffic behaved.

What Full User Journey Tracking Lets You See

When you track the full user journey, you can:

• Understand which organic sessions lead to business outcomes.
• See exactly where high-intent users drop off.
• Prioritize content or UX improvements with clearer reasoning.
• Identify which landing pages attract real buyers.
• Quantify the value of SEO more confidently.

The conversation shifts from “traffic grew” to “we removed friction from this journey and unlocked X conversions.” It’s a very different level of clarity for you and for stakeholders.

How To Set Up User Journey Tracking In GA4 In 4 Steps

You don’t need a giant analytics overhaul to start seeing better insights. A couple of simple steps are enough to learn where the story breaks.

Google Analytics 4 already gives you the tools; you just need a structured approach.

Here are the steps you can follow:

1. Start with Explore > Funnel Exploration

• Go to the Explore section located in the left panel.
• Find the Funnel exploration among other options and click on it.

Once the Exploration report page appears, a set of metrics will be pre-configured by default. To analyse a specific user journey the way you want, you must customize the metrics as explained in the second step.

2. Set Variables

• Give your Exploration report a name.
• Set the date range you want to analyze. GA4 allows you to compare different date ranges as well.
• You’ll see pre-defined Segments that show specific user types. However, if you want to create one from scratch/choose other segment options, click on the plus (+) icon located next to Segments. The opening modal lets you see other segments and create a new one.
• You’ll see pre-defined Dimensions to break your data down accordingly. If you need to select another dimension, click on the plus (+) icon located next to Dimensions.

3. Configure Tab Settings

• A key decision here is the open funnel option. If users can jump into your journey at different points, maybe they land straight on a product page from an ad, skipping the blog, you need an open funnel. A closed funnel assumes everyone starts at step one.
• Drag and drop the segment/s you want to analyse into the Segment Comparisons part in the Settings. With this step, you basically define the user types you want to understand the behaviors of. In the example above, I select Organic traffic only as I need to analyse users coming from organic channels.
• The most critical part is setting the Steps defining the user paths you want to analyse. To create steps, click on the pencil icon next to Steps and define steps using your events and parameters. Within each step, you can define the specific events and parameters. Steps can occur multiple times within the same session or across different sessions, depending on user behavior.

My example conditions in the Steps feature Designmodo products, the company I work for.

Important Note: I strongly recommend creating custom events, which are the biggest advantage of GA4, to track specific user actions. With this way, you can go beyond pre-defined events and uncover useful insights. For example, if you want to track signups or call-to-action button clicks, then creating custom events will save your life.

3. Use Breakdowns To Uncover Detailed Insights (Optional)

Once the funnel is working, drag the Dimensions you want from the Set Variables column and drop them into the Breakdown section. Breaking the data down by dimensions can help uncover some opportunities. For example:

• Device category reveals frictions based on devices (usually the biggest culprit).
• Country differentiates high-intent markets from low-intent ones.
• Gender highlights gender-related differences in behavior or conversion (requires Google Signals).

These breakdowns often explain patterns that traffic metrics can’t.

4. Save The Exploration As A Custom Report

Once you’ve built this perfect funnel, a really smart thing to do is to save it as a custom report in your GA4 library. It means it will be there in the left navigation, just as the default reports, whenever you want to check it. You can monitor that user journey consistently, spot trends, detect frictions, and react faster.

To save it as a custom report:

• Go to the Reports section in the left panel on your GA4 Dashboard, find the Library option at the bottom left of the Reports section.

• • Click on the “Create new collection” box and choose the Blank one.
  • Give a descriptive name to the collection.
• Create a new topic to define your custom report.

• Find your exploration report by searching in the right panel, and once you find it, drag and drop it into the topic box you’ve just created and click the Save button.
• Go back to the Library, find your latest collection, click on the three dots icon, and then click the Publish option to make your custom report live.

• Refresh the GA4 app, and now you can view your custom report in the left panel, just like GA4’s default reports.

Common Pitfalls To Watch Out For

These are issues I see frequently:

Chasing Low-Impact User Actions

Spending time on low-impact actions creates the illusion of progress but rarely drives meaningful results. Focusing on high-value action that is closely tied to business outcomes ensures effort actually turns into impact.

Complicated Naming

This makes long-term reporting harder than it needs to be. Use clear, descriptive, and short naming for your explorations and collections.

Not Watching For Drop-off Points

Sometimes, the biggest opportunity isn’t the step with the most volume, but the one closest to conversion. Therefore, when analyzing funnel drop-offs, I recommend that you look for:

• Largest absolute loss of users.
• The highest percentage drop between steps.
• Steps with the biggest potential revenue impact.

Skipping Team Education

Sharing knowledge is scaling, and not sharing is one of the quickest ways to slow a team down. Regular knowledge-sharing ensures everyone understands the “why” behind decisions, strengthens collaboration, and builds a culture where information flows instead of bottlenecks.

A Practical 4-Week Plan To Get Started

You don’t need to do everything at once. Here’s a simple 30-day approach:

Week 1:

• Audit existing tracking.
• Identify three key conversion-related events.

Week 2:

• Create one meaningful custom event in GTM.
• QA and test it to make sure your events are firing correctly.

Week 3:

• Build your first funnel exploration report.
• Identify the step with the largest drop.

Week 4:

• Share insights with your team.
• Apply one improvement.
• Track results.

The Path Forward

As soon as you start tracking full user journeys, you gain a completely different level of perspective. It becomes easier to prioritize improvements, justify recommendations, and show how your efforts contribute to business outcomes.

The biggest mindset shift for me was realizing that SEO efforts are not only for welcoming visitors but also for improving their experiences within the website once they get there.

But of course, you don’t need to build everything at once. Start small, then scale systematically.

More Resources:

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