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Track visitor searches with Google Analytics
Track visitor searches with Google Analytics

Visitors can search for listings on your marketplace. You can keep track of their queries in Google Analytics, to discover opportunities.

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Written by Sharetribe
Updated over a week ago

Using Google Analytics, you can track what keywords people search for in your marketplace. This can be useful to learn more about your users' behavior and see if there is a demand for something that your marketplace doesn't offer.

Be aware that Google Analytics requires cookies and, in general, is seen as a service that is not privacy friendly. Some countries have clearly signaled that Google Analytics is problematic and you could consider using an alternative service such as Plausible or Matomo, which can be added with Custom script.

Before you proceed, ensure that you have created a Google Universal Analytics account and set it up for your marketplace.

Keep in mind that, in the Admin panel, there are also search fields (for example, to search for users, transactions, ...). They use the same query parameter: q. To filter out your queries done within the Admin panel, you should use the Google Analytics filters or create a segment in Google Analytics that excludes pages within the URL.

How to track search terms using Google Analytics 4

  1. Log in to Google Analytics at https://www.google.com/analytics/web/.

  2. Open the account that you created for your marketplace.

  3. From the bottom left, select "Admin".

  4. Click on "Data Streams" and open the data stream you want to configure.

  5. Make sure that "Enhanced Measurements" is enabled then click on the gear icon to access the additional settings.

  6. Make sure that "Site Search" is enabled.

  7. Click on "Show advanced settings" under "Site Search".

  8. In the "Search Term Query Parameter" field, add "q" (just the letter). If you use the Location Search feature, you can also track them by adding a second query parameter "lq" (you should add a "," between the two parameters, like "q,lq").

  9. Save your settings.

It might take up to 24 hours before Google Analytics shows any results. You can find the search results in the "Reports > Engagement > Events > view_search_results" report.

How to track search terms using Google Universal Analytics

  1. Log in to Google Analytics at https://www.google.com/analytics/web/.

  2. Open the account that you created for your marketplace.

  3. From the bottom left, select "Admin".

  4. In the "View" column (the third one, on the right), select the view where your want to track searches (you may have only one view).

  5. Select "View Settings" in that column.

  6. In the "Site Search Settings" part, switch "Site search Tracking" to "On".

  7. In the "Query parameter" field, add "q" (just the letter). If you use the Location Search feature, you can also track them by adding a second query parameter "lq" (you should add a "," between the two parameters, like "q,lq").

  8. Check the "Strip query parameters out of URL" checkbox.

  9. If you are using categories in your marketplace, you can also enable "Site search categories" and add category in the "Category parameter" field. You can also strip the query parameter.

  10. Save your settings.

It might take up to 24 hours before Google Analytics shows any results. You can find the search results in the "Behavior > Site Search > Overview" report. You can learn more details about that setup on Google Help pages.

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