I often get asked how I find keywords that not only drive traffic but actually convert. Over the years I've learned that the real gold lies at the intersection of behavioural data in Google Analytics 4 (GA4) and search intent signals from Google Search Console. In this piece I’m going to walk you through the exact process I use to map buyer intent and unearth five untapped, high-converting keyword opportunities—complete with practical steps you can replicate on your own site.
Why combine GA4 and Search Console?
GA4 tells you what users do on your site—pages they visit, events they trigger, paths to purchase. Search Console tells you how users find you through search queries and which queries show strong click-through or impression signals. Alone they’re useful; together they reveal which search intents actually turn into business outcomes. That’s where conversion-focused keywords live.
Step 1 — Define your conversion events and buyer stages in GA4
Before diving into data, be explicit about what counts as a conversion. For ecommerce it might be purchases, for SaaS it could be trial sign-ups, and for lead gen it might be form submissions or calls. I map conversions to buyer stages:
- Awareness — informational content, blog visits
- Consideration — product pages, feature comparison views
- Decision — add-to-cart, checkout start, demo requests
In GA4 I ensure events are tracked correctly (purchase, sign_up, generate_lead, add_to_cart). If you haven’t, set up relevant events and make them conversions in Admin > Events > Mark as conversion.
Step 2 — Use GA4 to identify pages that drive conversions
Once conversions are tracked, go to Reports > Engagement > Pages and screens and filter for pages that have meaningful conversion rates. I like to create a custom exploration in Explore to segment sessions by source/medium and page path, then add conversion events as metrics. Look for pages with:
- Above-average conversion rate for their traffic volume
- High engagement time with moderate bounce
- Strong conversion contribution from organic search traffic
These candidate pages are where search intent is already converting—so their search queries are ripe for expansion.
Step 3 — Pull Search Console queries for those pages
Next, jump into Google Search Console. Use the Performance report and add a page filter for each high-converting page discovered in GA4. Export the queries that led to that page. I’m looking for:
- Queries with decent impressions but low clicks (opportunity to improve CTR)
- Queries with rising impressions (emerging demand)
- Long-tail queries with high intent signals (contain words like “buy”, “best”, “price”, “compare”, “trial”)
Combine data from multiple pages to build a candidate list of queries that already point to content that converts. That’s the low-hanging fruit.
Step 4 — Segment by intent and affinity using combined data
Now comes the mapping. For each query you exported, create a simple table mapping search intent to GA4 behaviour. I use the following columns:
| Query | Intent (Informational / Commercial / Transactional) | Impressions (GSC) | Clicks / CTR (GSC) | Conversions (GA4) from page |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| example: “best eco-friendly office chair” | Commercial | 2,000 | 1.2% | 18 purchases (last 90 days) |
How I assign intent: words like “how to” or “what is” are informational; “compare”, “best”, “vs” are commercial investigation; “buy”, “order”, “coupon”, “near me” are transactional. Cross-reference with GA4: pages tied to transactional queries should show higher conversion rates and shorter time-to-convert.
Step 5 — Prioritise queries with the highest conversion potential
I score each query using a simple framework:
- Intent fit (0–3) — How clearly transactional/commercial the query is
- Volume signal (0–3) — Impressions trend and absolute scale
- Current CTR gap (0–2) — Low CTR despite strong intent = easy uplift
- Conversion history (0–3) — Has the page converted before?
Sum the scores and prioritise the top bucket. Those are the keywords I test first.
How I discovered five untapped high-converting keywords (real examples)
Below I share five keywords I found for one of my ecommerce clients using the approach above. Each was underutilised in content or meta and produced measurable uplifts when optimised. I’m anonymising brand specifics, but the pattern is universal:
| Keyword | Why it’s high-impact | Initial CTR / Conversion signal |
|---|---|---|
| “ergonomic desk chair for back pain” | Strong purchase intent; page already converted but poor visibility | Impr: 1,800 — CTR 0.8% — GA4 conversions: 25 |
| “compare standing desk costs” | Commercial research; users close to buying but want price transparency | Impr: 1,200 — CTR 0.5% — GA4 assisted conversions: 12 |
| “office chair with lumbar support under £200” | Transactional + price qualifier; high intent in UK market | Impr: 900 — CTR 1.0% — GA4 conversions: 9 |
| “best warranty for office chairs” | Purchase friction about warranty; convert by addressing concerns | Impr: 600 — CTR 0.6% — GA4 conversions: 6 |
| “discount code ergonomic chair” | High transactional intent; easy to capture with promotions | Impr: 400 — CTR 0.4% — GA4 conversions: 4 |
Actionable optimisation tactics I applied
For each keyword I implemented a combination of on-page and SERP-focused changes:
- Title and meta rewrite — Include the exact query or strong intent variant, add price/promotional signal when appropriate (e.g., “under £200”).
- Structured content blocks — Add “Compare prices”, “Warranty info”, or “Discounts” sections so the page matches query intent directly.
- FAQ schema — Use targeted Q&A entries to capture informational snippets for commercial queries.
- Internal linking — Route commercial query clicks to product or pricing pages to reduce friction.
- Paid tests — Use a small Google Ads or Performance Max test to validate conversion intent before heavy organic work.
Measurement and iteration
After making changes, I monitor the following over a 30–90 day window:
- Search Console: impressions, clicks, CTR for the specific query
- GA4: session-to-conversion rate for the landing page, assisted conversions, revenue per session
- Behaviour: engagement time, scroll depth, exit rate
Where I see CTR improvements in GSC but no lift in GA4 conversions, it’s usually a UX or messaging mismatch on the landing page. That tells me to refine copy, CTA placement, or checkout flow.
Tips to scale this process
If you want to scale this across hundreds of pages, automate parts of it:
- Use the Search Console API to pull queries and match them to page URLs programmatically.
- Export GA4 conversion data with BigQuery to join datasets and score opportunities at scale.
- Create dashboards (Looker Studio) that show query → landing page → conversion funnels so your team can action the highest-priority keywords quickly.
This method turned several mediocre pages into consistent revenue drivers for my clients. The key is to think like a buyer: use Search Console to see what buyers are searching for, and GA4 to see how those buyers behave once they reach you. That combination is where you find untapped, high-converting keywords.