Recently I hosted ‘Uncover ‘not provided’ Data & Translate It Into Actionable Website Optimization’ with the awesome Clayton Wood and Gaetano DiNardi. It was an absolute blast so check it out if you haven’t had a chance.

There was one section in particular that really resonated with the audience. Clayton discussed how you can use Keyword Hero to bring back ‘not provided’ keywords in Google Analytics. He also discussed how can you use SEMrush to also unlock the (not provided) data.

Whilst in the webinar and in the short time we had there were streams of messages asking to see the whole process of how to link Keyword Hero with your Google Analytics account. We didn’t have time (sad face). So here you are, a guide to using Keyword Hero and getting back the ‘not provided’ keywords in your Google Analytics account.

Not provided

For those of you not aware of some of the trials and tribulations SEOers and Digital Marketers have had to deal with, here’s a short history lesson.

Back in the day, life was good. You could open up your Google Analytics account. Jump into the view you want to report from and head to organic keywords. Boom! here you had everything. What keywords were driving traffic to your website, what URL this keyword was driving to etc. This was the dream. Then Google took that dream away.

In October 2011, Google changed the way it harvests data from search to protect users’ privacy.

This ultimately meant that if a users logged into a Google product when they are performing a search, this search will be performed over SSL (Secure Sockets Layer). This meant that the referral data for that search is hidden. The referral data includes information like keywords that were used for a search request.

Essentially overnight there became a huge hole in people’s Google Analytics reports. Increasing the challenges of knowing specific keyword ROI for organic search.

For anyone thinking but I can still see Organic Keywords in GA… You are right and wrong. This is still available in GA but you’ll notice that there is a hefty amount of keywords that will not be visible and represented by (not provided).

Keyword Hero

Don’t fret Keyword Hero is here to help save the day. For a full in depth piece on how Keyword Hero works head on over and read about how it’s done. In short, Keyword Hero helps connect the dots with the missing organic keyword data (not provided) in Google Analytics.

As the example image shows, from previously seeing (not provided) Keyword Hero will help unlock the actual keywords that are helping to drive traffic etc.

Setup

The first step you need to take is head over to Keyword Hero. In the top right hand corner you’ll see ‘sign in with Google’.

You’ll then be asked to enter your Google login details.

Then you need to confirm the Keyword Hero can have access to the following. Once you are happy with Keyword Hero having access click Allow.

Select the domain you want to associate with Keyword Hero. This will then link Keyword Hero with your Google Analytics Account.

You will need to select the property and view you want to associate. Once you have completed this stage you will see that you now have a new property entitled ‘Keyword Hero – property name’ and a new view ‘Keyword View’

Please note that there is a 3 day delay on the Keywords Hero property. This is due to it waiting and collecting data from other sources. Keyword Hero collects data from Google Search Console. Google Search Console take 3 days to populate data for you, before you can start to analyse it.

**Please note as I write this Google Search Console have announced that they will be changing the 3 day wait for data. You’ll now be able to get data as recent as less than a day old. This post will be updated once we’ve been updated from Keyword Hero**

Selecting Tracking

In this step you will be able to select the tracking you want to associate with the new property and view. You can select either no tracking or whatever you use. Simply click the drop-down menu below the View selection.

Using data

✅You’ve connected Keyword Hero with Google Analytics

✅You now have your new Property and View created

✅You have waited for the data to populate

Now that everything is connected correctly and data has populated. You can now jump into your new property and view and start to see your new keywords.

The only thing left to do is to start optimising your content.

If you have any questions on this setup or how to take action on optimising your content. Then get in contact with us today and speak to one of the team who will be able to discuss your content optimisation. Don’t wait to unlock those opportunities for more business.