Moz Q&A is closed.
After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.
On Google Analytics under search queries, the most popular query is "(not set)", how do I find out what this is?
-
I am trying to discover what users are searching for and what keywords drive traffic to our site.
-
If you wish to see performance of KWs or pags you can see few tricks from today post in Moz:
https://a-moz.groupbuyseo.org/blog/single-best-seo-tip-for-improved-web-traffic
Yes - SearchConsole is heavy involved in process. -
Thanks so much!
-
Thank you
-
Not set
The ‘keyword’ (not set) simply identifies traffic that doesn’t arrive via a particular keyword and hence may not come via any search at all. This includes traffic coming from email, referral sites, or even things like Google Images. The latter might be confusing, but it helps to know that visitors coming from Google Images and Google Maps are classified under referrals with the source google.com, not organic search. Because keywords are automatically set for search traffic, the (not set) keyword will never appear in your organic Search reports, so it is likely something you won’t have to worry about. Don’t consider this one in light of keyword performance!
Source: http://www.gravitatedesign.com/blog/not-set-not-provided-mean-google-analytics/
Not set
The ‘keyword’ (not set) simply identifies traffic that doesn’t arrive via a particular keyword and hence may not come via any search at all. This includes traffic coming from email, referral sites, or even things like Google Images. The latter might be confusing, but it helps to know that visitors coming from Google Images and Google Maps are classified under referrals with the source google.com, not organic search. Because keywords are automatically set for search traffic, the (not set) keyword will never appear in your organic Search reports, so it is likely something you won’t have to worry about. Don’t consider this one in light of keyword performance!
Source: http://www.whereoware.com/blog/not-set-vs-not-provided/2013/05/
This is in Acquisition, Campaigns, Organic keywords. If you're talking Acquisition, SearchEngineOptimization, Queries - this works different, see text in below.
So - in general Analytics can't figure keyword there. But this is not how GA should work. You should tracks your KWs in Google SearchConsole. There is "SearchTraffic" -> "Search Analytics" with all impressions, clicks, ctr and positions. There you can make report for web, image or videos. You can split traffic by countries, pages, devices (desktop, tablet, mobile) and much more. Here is link:
https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/search-analytics?hl=en
but there you must add your site and verify it. -
Hi,
If you see (not set), that means that the traffic coming to your site did not have keyword. It might be from an odd search engine that doesn’t pass that info, or perhaps you’ve manually tagged something as Organic and not supplied a keyword.
are you running any Google Adwords campaign or you are talking about organic search?
I'm sharing an article where you will find all the possible condition for appearing (not set) in analytics
http://www.lunametrics.com/blog/2015/06/25/11-places-google-analytics-not-set/
https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/2820717?hl=en
Hope this helps.
Thankls
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Solved How To Find Low Difficult Keywords own Topic Related.
how to find own topic related keywords like my topic is bbq related stuff... so how i find low difficult keywords.?
Keyword Research | | BBQVILLA0 -
How do I do keyword research when search volume is unknown
Hi Mozzers! I do a lot of work in niche areas, and one issue I often confront in keyword research is unknown search volume. That is, I'll be doing keyword research in Keyword Explorer or Gooogle Search Console, and for the most relevant keywords, I find either very low search volumes, null search volumes, or "Data not available." How do I make good keyword planning decisions when I can't find good data for search volume? Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Andy
Keyword Research | | AndyKubrin0 -
Google: Is There a Way to Find Your "Unknown Search Terms"
I believe Google stopped reporting search terms for privacy reasons. All my searches show as "unknown". I found a video that showed how to get around this but it's not current. Is there any way to get your Google terms search information? Thanks, Jo-Ann
Keyword Research | | VinJGirl0 -
How can I tell if Google considers two words to mean the same thing
For example, "wives" and "brides" They're often interchangeable, but given context they can still mean fairly different things. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks
Keyword Research | | CupidTeam0 -
Setting Up a Keyword Matrix
Greetings MOZ community!! My real estate web site contains about 500 pages with perhaps 70 pages targeting low volume, somewhat valuable but not very competitive keywords. Three to four URLs target very competitive terms. The following terms are among the most valuable: New York City office space,
Keyword Research | | Kingalan1
New York office space,
Manhattan office space,
NYC office space Such variants as: Office space in New York City,
Office space in New York,
Office space in Manhattan,
Office space in NYC
ETCETERA convert really well How would I match different terms to different URLs? For example I have just re-written the following two critical URLs: www.nyc-officespace-leader.com (home page)
http://www.nyc-officespace-leader.com/commercial-space/office-space (product page) Would it make sense to use "Manhattan office space" and variants on the home page while excluding "New York City office space" variants? At the same time I would use "New York City office space" variants on the "office-space" product page while excluding all mention of "Manhattan office space". Is this logical and does it conform to SEO best practices? For the "NYC office space" terms I would add them to http://www.nyc-officespace-leader.com/listings. This URL has almost no text but a strong potential to rent because of a high number of incoming internal links. Is this approach sensible? In general what measures should I take to prevent URLs from competing for the same keywords? Also, is there a software package or tools that I can use to come up with keyword variants? As a non SEO professional, can I create my own keyword matrix or is this really in the realm of a professional SEO consultant? Thanks, Alan0 -
KWs w/ no bids on Google AdWords
When using the Google Keyword Planner to research KWs, is it a correct assumption that if the KW doesn't have a suggested bid, there's probably not going to be a real impact in optimizing for it? Hypothetically, if I saw a high-volume, low-competition KW w/out a suggested bid I'd feel differently, but I'm just seeing it happen with low volume and competition. Thanks,
Keyword Research | | SSFCU
Sarah0 -
Where can I find data on growth in individual keyword search terms, over tiime?
I am operating in an emerging market, and want to understand the underlying growth in the relevant Google keyword search terms. I can use this as a proxy for market growth. I have checked out Google Trends, but this confusingly shows peak search volumes (out of 100) not search volumes. Are there any better tools out there? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Keyword Research | | JDog980 -
Where can I find lists of high probability of winning keywords
Keyword research can take a lot of time. Suppose you are not sure of what keywords you want to rank for but just want to see a list of phrases that have 500-5000 searches a day, low cost and low competition because you are looking for phrases that interest you for which it will be easier to rank close to #1 in google. Besides AdWords Keyword Tool, are there sites that specialize in this?
Keyword Research | | Darden0