Keyword (Not Provided) in Google Analytics: What Does It Mean?

Google Analytics is one of the most effective resources you can use to track your website and understand your user base. Whether you have a personal or large business website, you can get information about visitor trends and behaviors with Google Analytics. You can also evaluate keywords in your Google Analytics management panel. An error such as the Google Analytics keyword not provided is common. As a Google Analytics user, when reviewing the organic search terms report, there may be listings titled “Not Provided” for some results. 

Since October 2011, Google has encrypted search data to ensure users’ search experience security. In this case, access to keywords coming to the website on Google Analytics is restricted. After this update, the website owner could no longer see the organic keywords that were driving the most search traffic to a particular page. Currently, 00% of the data in Analytics has a “Not Provided” query. 

With the update in 2021, Google changed the data collection method in search experiences. In this case, the search experiences made after logging in to Google or Gmail are made via SSL. In this case, search-related referral data is hidden. Under normal circumstances, referral data also includes information about the keywords used in the search. Although Google can access this information, Google Analytics account holders and website owners cannot see this information. In this case, users who log in to the Google Analytics account will receive a warning such as “Google Analytics not provided keywords.” 

What Does Keyword (Not Provided) Mean?  

Keyword (not provided) indicates that Google does not want to share keyword-related data with website owners and Google Analytics users. A user searching on Google may come to your website using certain keywords. But Google does not agree to give you these keyword groups. 

The reason why Google does not provide keywords for Google Analytics is to protect the privacy of search users. In the past, Google showed data about searches made on its search engine to website owners. However, in its announcement in 2010, it revealed that it would not share keyword data as a result of personalizing search experiences based on behavior and would not share it to protect the privacy of searchers. After the update in 2011, it stopped providing this information. 

We learned what the Analytics keyword not provided warning means. Website owners may consider this situation negatively because they cannot find the keywords used by their target audience. If you do not know this subject, you may not be able to establish your SEO strategy effectively. 

Google does not share these keywords with website owners in their Analytics account. Therefore, the “not provided keyword” warning appears as a result. We will explain in detail why keywords are not provided in Google Analytics and how you can fix keywords in the following headings. 

Why Is Keyword Not Provided in Google Analytics?  

There are various reasons why Google does not provide data to the Google Analytics platform. After a website owner logs into the Google Analytics console, they may receive a “Google Analytics not provided” warning. In this case, one wonders why the keywords cannot be provided. The main reason why Google does not provide keywords in Analytics is to protect users’ privacy. Google wants users to be safe while searching. It does not share certain information with any other platform to protect users’ data. 

Since Google does not provide the data, a “Not Provided” warning will appear in the Analytics profile. Some SEO experts say there is a financial purpose in Google doing this. According to these experts, Google does not share keywords and encourages website owners to pay for these keywords through Google Ads. Users advertise on certain words with Google Ads, and the website owner pays Google for each click. Paid keywords work differently than organic keywords. Google may not be sharing this data to make more money. 

How to Fix Keyword Not Provided in Google Analytics

When keywords are not provided in your Google Analytics panel, there are certain ways to fix this. As a website owner, when you cannot receive keyword reports through Google Analytics, there are other ways to detect these keywords. When a user logs in to your website, first use the methods we recommend to find keywords. Using these methods, you can easily see which terms a user searching on Google entered your website by searching for. 

There are many paid and free tools that you can use instead of Google Analytics. Now let’s tell you how you can access the keywords when you receive a warning that is not provided Google Analytics. 

Use Google Search Console  

One of the most effective ways to access keyword data you cannot access in your Google Analytics panel is to use your Google Search Console panel. This will be the most practical and reliable method you can apply. You can track your website’s performance on Google search results with Google Search Console. You can benefit from this service for free and track keywords that are not easily provided by connecting your Google Analytics account and Google Search Console account. 

The term “most used queries” on Google Search Console shows the most popular Google search queries that bring impressions to your website. This term includes keywords that include impressions from Google web search, video search, image search, and Google News. 

Clicks to your website refer to the total number of clicks to your website in organic search results. Paid Google Ads searches are not included at this point. A click that removes users from the search results page is considered a click in this report. If the user clicks on your website link from the search results page and returns, it is still seen as a click. 

Impressions refer to the number of times a URL on your website appears in search results. A user searching may view your website in the search results. However, this does not mean they logged into your website. Google may not show your data instantly. You can track your data after a few hours. You can also follow retrospective data over the last 16 years. By logging into the performance report, you can see information and dates, such as the URL of your page entered from the search result pages, the country and device type searched, and the grouped data in the search result. 

As you can see, you can use your Google Search Console account to find keyword not provided Google Analytics. When you integrate Google Analytics after registering with Google Search Console, you just need to wait for the data to arrive. 

Use SEO Tools  

You can choose some methods other than Google Search Console to find keywords that are not reflected and provided by Google in your Analytics data. Apart from this method, the most effective option you can use is to use different SEO tools. SEO tools can give you detailed information on many topics. These tools may be paid or free. 

There are many free SEO tools and plugins with which you can eliminate the problem of Google Analytics keywords not being provided. One of the most effective methods may be Ahrefs. This tool allows you to take action on many issues, such as keyword analysis, site audit, performance analysis, and backlink tracking. If you are going to use this tool, you can follow all the keywords ranked by Google from the Organic Keyword report by logging into the Site Explorer feature. In this tool, you can see keywords, keyword search volume, keyword difficulty, cost per click, traffic, location, and URL information that Google does not provide. 

If you are looking for SEO tools, you may be able to do this with the Semrush tool. This platform also has many tools to provide data about keywords. With the Rank Tracker feature in the Ahrefs tool, you have the opportunity to determine all the keywords you want to track on your website. This tool then gives you daily tracking results of the search terms on your website. 

Conclusion 

You have read our content to the end, and you can find keyword queries not shown on Google Analytics by using the two methods we explained to you. Google may not display this data for privacy reasons or to gain financial gain. However, do not be worried about not seeing this data in your Google Analytics panel. You can easily track keywords by choosing one of these methods. If you are going to choose a method, we recommend Google Search Console. Because this platform is the most reliable way to learn keywords not provided in Google Analytics, you can write to us if you want help finding keywords.