Lesson 05
Analytics & Search
Your Website Is Live! 🎉 But… Can Anyone Find It?
Google Analytics + Google Search Console: What They Do, Why You Need Them, and How They Work Together
You designed your website. Connected your domain. Tested your buttons. And finally… YOU HIT PUBLISH. 🚀
But publishing your website is only the beginning.
- Website
- Internet
- Potential customer
So… how does Google know my website exists?
Let's start here
How Does Google Know My Website Exists?
Short answer: at first, it doesn't. 😅
Publishing a website doesn't mean Google instantly understands it, and it definitely doesn't mean your pages show up in search results that same afternoon.
Google first has to discover your pages, then crawl them (fetch them to see what's on them), then process them. Pages that are eligible may then be indexed — stored in Google's enormous library of pages it can show.
And that's the first place a free tool becomes genuinely useful.
🔎 What is Google Search Console?
Your window into how Google Search sees and understands your website.
It's a free tool from Google. It doesn't control your rankings and it can't make Google like you more. What it does is show you what Google Search has found, what it's showing, and what's getting in the way.
- Discover
- Crawl
- Process
- Index
- Potentially appear in search
Interactive graphic #1
How Do I Get My Website to Show Up on Google?
🔎 Google Search Console
Everything up to and including the click.
📊 Google Analytics
Everything that happens after they arrive.
- 01
Your website
Published and live on your domain.
- 02
Google discovers it
Through links, a sitemap or other signals.
- 03
Google crawls it
It fetches your pages to see what's there.
- 04
Google processes & indexes eligible pages
Not every page qualifies.
- 05
Someone searches
They type a question into Google.
- 06
Your website appears
That's an impression.
- 07
They click
The handoff moment.
The handoff - 08
They arrive
Now they're on your website.
Search Console
So… What Exactly Does Google Search Console Tell Me?
And beyond the four headline numbers
- The search queries people used
- Which of your pages are appearing in Google
- Indexing information for your URLs
- Sitemap information you've submitted
- Technical and search-related issues Google noticed
💡 Does Search Console help SEO?
“Are the pages I care about actually appearing in Google — and for which questions?”
Search Console doesn't improve rankings on its own. It gives you the visibility to make better decisions about your pages and content.
Indexing
If My Website Is Published, Is It Automatically on Google?
Your website exists
Beautiful storefront. Lights on. Products on the shelves. Ready for visitors.
But Google still has to find it
Your shop isn't on the map yet — so people searching the directory don't see it, even though it's open.
What is website indexing?
Imagine a library so big it has every book ever written. Being printed doesn't get your book on a shelf. A librarian has to find it, read enough of it to understand what it's about, and file it where it can be found again.
Indexing is that filing step. If a page isn't indexed, it can't appear in search results — no matter how beautiful it is.
How do I know if Google indexed my website? You check in Search Console, which reports what it knows about your URLs.
Sitemaps
How Can I Help Google Discover My Pages?
- yourwebsite.com
- /about
- /services
- /services/service-a
- /services/service-b
- /blog
- /blog/article-1
- /blog/article-2
- /blog/article-3
- /contact
yourwebsite.com/sitemap.xml
One tidy list of the URLs you'd like Google to know about — the same pages, written in a format built for crawlers instead of humans.
How do I submit a sitemap to Google?
Many website platforms generate a sitemap for you automatically — often at /sitemap.xml. You can then submit that address inside Google Search Console to help Google discover your URLs.
A sitemap is a helpful hint, not a command. It doesn't guarantee indexing — it just makes discovery a lot easier.
Tip
You don't have to build this by hand
If your platform creates the sitemap for you, your job is simply to know it exists, know where it lives, and submit it once.
The big moment
🔍 Okay… Google Found Me. Now What?
Small Business Accounting in Miami
They've landed. Search Console's job just ended — everything from this second onward is a story Google Analytics can tell you.
📊 Google Analytics starts here
What happens AFTER they click?
That's where 📊 Google Analytics comes in.
Analytics
What Is Google Analytics?
Where did they come from?
Which page did they visit?
What did they interact with?
Did they click my CTA?
Did they submit my form?
Did they purchase or register?
Do I need Google Analytics for my website?
If you'd like to know whether your website is doing its job — turning visitors into enquiries, bookings or sales — then yes. Without it you're guessing, and guessing gets expensive once you start paying for traffic.
Interactive graphic #2
The Digital Customer Journey
- Has a question
- Google search
- Sees your website
- Clicks
- Visits website
- Explores
- Takes action
🤝 The handoff
Search Console → Analytics. One journey, measured by two different tools.
🔎 Zone 1 · Search Console
Search → search result → click
What people searched, whether you appeared, and whether they clicked.
📊 Zone 2 · Analytics
Website visit → behavior → action
Where they came from, what they read, and whether they did the thing you hoped they'd do.
Side by side
What Is the Difference Between Google Analytics and Google Search Console?
🔎 Search Console
Before and around the Google Search click
- “What are people searching?”
- “Am I appearing at all?”
- “Which pages appear?”
- “Are people clicking?”
📊 Analytics
After they arrive on your website
- “Where did visitors come from?”
- “What did they do?”
- “Which pages did they visit?”
- “Did they convert?”
Two tools. One customer journey. Neither tells the whole story alone.
Interactive graphic #3
From Search Impression to Real Customer
0
Search impressions
Search Console
0
Google Search clicks
Search Console
0
Website visits
Google Analytics
0
Service page visits
Google Analytics
0
CTA clicks
Google Analytics
0
Bookings
Analytics / CRM
Now we're not measuring traffic. We're measuring a journey. 💜
Illustrative numbers — not real data.
Traffic sources
How Do I Know Where My Website Traffic Comes From?
Example report · Visitors by source
- Google Search420 visitors
- Instagram230 visitors
- Email180 visitors
- Facebook Ads150 visitors
Illustrative numbers — not real data.
But which traffic is actually valuable?
Interactive graphic #4
Traffic vs Business Results
😍 Vanity view
5,000
website visitors
“Look at all my traffic!”
💰 Business view
- 5,000 visitors
- 350 leads
- 80 calls
- 24 customers
Traffic tells you people arrived.
Conversion tracking tells you whether your website did its job.
Events
What Are Events in Google Analytics 4?
Button click
Mock website element — safe to press.
Event recorded
book_a_call_click
Someone pressed your main call to action. Interest, not yet a lead.
Press it and watch ↑
Form submission
Mock website element — safe to press.
Event recorded
generate_lead
They handed you their contact details. This one usually matters to the business.
⭐ Worth marking as a key event
Press it and watch ↑
Download
Mock website element — safe to press.
Event recorded
file_download
They took your lead magnet — a strong signal of intent.
Press it and watch ↑
Registration
Mock website element — safe to press.
Event recorded
sign_up
They registered for your webinar, event or account.
⭐ Worth marking as a key event
Press it and watch ↑
Checkout started
Mock website element — safe to press.
Event recorded
begin_checkout
They started buying. If lots of people stop here, you've found something to fix.
Press it and watch ↑
Purchase
Mock website element — safe to press.
Event recorded
purchase
Money changed hands. Definitely a key event.
⭐ Worth marking as a key event
Press it and watch ↑
GA4 measures interactions as events. Some are collected for you; others you decide to track because they matter to your business.
The ones that really matter — a lead, a booking, a purchase — can be marked as key events, so they stand out instead of drowning in a list of clicks.
What should you track on your website? Start small: the two or three actions that mean “this person is becoming a customer.”
Campaign tracking
What Are UTM Parameters?
- YouTube
🌐 The same landing page
Your link
yourwebsite.com/webinar
Same destination. More information about where the click came from.
Add a parameter on the left to watch the link change.
Content ideas
Can Search Console Tell Me What Content to Create?
| Search query | Impressions | Clicks |
|---|---|---|
| how to automate webinar registration | 1,240 | 46 |
| webinar automation | 820 | 31 |
| automated webinar registration | 610 | 18 |
One real question
“how to automate webinar registration”
- Blog article
- YouTube video
- Lead magnet
- Email lesson
- Service / offer
Stop guessing what people want. Start listening to what they're already searching for.
Interactive graphic #5
The Website Growth Loop
Data → Decisions → Growth
People search
There's demand out there already.
Search Console
What are they searching for?
Your website
Give them the answer.
Analytics
What did they do?
Conversion
Did they take action?
Learn
What worked?
Improve content
Do more of it, better.
More search opportunities
And the loop starts again.
It's a loop, not a launch. Every round teaches you something the next round can use.
Knowledge check
🧠 Quick Check: Which Tool Would You Use?
Scenario 01
I want to know what people searched before finding my website.
Final section
🧠 Remember These Two Questions
“How are people finding me through Google?”
Google Search Console
“What are people doing once they reach my website?”
Google Analytics
“Which visitors actually became customers?”
Conversion tracking + your CRM
- Search
- Traffic
- Behavior
- Leads
- Sales
Your website isn't finished when you click Publish.
That's when you start learning. 💜
Your turn
Website Launch Checklist
Website Tracking Setup: 0% complete (0/14)
Your ticks are saved in this browser only, so you can come back and pick up where you left off.
Keep Following Along
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Not Sure If Any of This Is Set Up Correctly on Your Website?
Let's Look at It Together.
Search Console, Analytics, events, key events, UTMs and a CRM that should all be talking to each other — it gets tangled fast, and you shouldn't have to untangle it alone.
You don't need the technical answer before reaching out. 💜