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What to Track in GA4 When No One’s Clicking Anymore

Your SEO team says you’re ranking. Your analytics tool shows impressions are up. But your dashboard says conversions are down, and your CEO just asked, “Why are we still spending money on content if no one’s clicking?”

Welcome to the new world of zero-click search.

AI overviews, featured snippets, and People Also Ask boxes are turning Google into an answer engine instead of a traffic driver. That doesn’t mean your content isn’t working. It means your measurement strategy needs to level up.

At Hard Refresh, we help CMOs and marketing teams move beyond shallow traffic counts and into the kind of data that proves brand impact and informs smarter decisions. Here’s what to track in GA4 to understand real user behavior, even when the clicks don’t show up like they used to.

1. Landing Page Quality Over Traffic Volume

Your best landing pages might be seeing fewer visits, but the ones that do arrive are higher intent. In a zero-click world, every session counts more.

What to track:

  • Session Conversion Rate by Landing Page
  • Engagement Rate on high-ranking pages
  • Average Engagement Time per landing page
  • Session Start Events per page

This helps you prioritize quality over quantity and defend your content budget with actual behavior data.

2. Scroll Depth and On-Page Behavior

You are no longer just measuring who lands on a page. You need to measure what they do once they’re there.

What to track:

  • Scroll Depth (via GTM or custom events)
  • Click Events on calls to action, internal links, or menus
  • Form Interactions or Video Plays that signal meaningful engagement

When someone stays, interacts, and shows curiosity, that’s value. Even if they never hit “Buy Now.”

3. Micro Conversions That Show Intent

Not every visitor will convert immediately. But their behavior still reveals where they are in the buying journey.

What to track:

  • Custom Events like email clicks, guide downloads, or product demo views
  • Traffic source! Knowing where your audience is coming from can tell you a lot about what’s performing on which platforms or referral links
  • Event Count by Source or Medium, especially organic vs. paid
  • Engaged Sessions per Page to highlight content that builds trust

These signals help you show early-stage engagement that may convert later.

4. Conversion Paths Instead of Last-Click Thinking

Marketing attribution is not linear. GA4 can show how search, email, social, and direct work together to influence outcomes over time.

What to track:

  • Conversion Paths under Attribution Reports
  • Source and Medium across longer windows like 30 to 90 days
  • First User Source or Medium to credit early-stage influence

This is how you give organic search credit for starting the journey, even if email or retargeting finishes it.

5. When Clicks Decline but Value Increases

Your content might be answering questions so effectively that users don’t need to click anymore. That’s not failure. That’s influence.

What to compare:

  • Search Console: Impressions vs. Clicks (high rank, low CTR often means zero-click wins)
  • Brand Search Volume over time
  • Returning Users in GA4
  • Time Between Visits to understand research behavior

These are the metrics that help CMOs walk into executive meetings with answers, not excuses.

6. Segment Your Users for Smarter Insights

Different users behave in different ways. GA4’s event model gives you new ways to break down who’s doing what and why.

What to track:

  • User Lifetime Reports to understand new versus returning visitors
  • Engaged Sessions per User by campaign, audience, or channel
  • Daily Active User to Weekly Active User ratios to show retention and interest

When you segment well, you reveal where your site is actually delivering results and where it needs support.

Bonus: Pair GA4 with Google Search Console

One shows behavior on the site. The other shows how you got there. Together, they help you uncover hidden wins.

What to look for:

  • High Impressions and Low Clicks in Search Console (zero-click indicators)
  • On-site Engagement for those same URLs in GA4
  • Click Through Rate trends over time that reflect AI overview disruptions or improved brand recall

30-Minute Action Plan

Choose one high-ranking blog post. Build a GA4 report that focuses just on that URL. Look at:

  • Scroll depth or average engagement time
  • Micro conversion events like downloads or contact clicks, or where users go after they visit that page
  • Returning user activity and referral traffic

Then review Search Console:

  • Is the page showing up in snippets or AI overviews?
  • Are impressions steady while clicks are declining?
  • Are users returning later via direct or branded search?

If so, your content may be creating influence and trust without traditional click metrics.

Final Thought

Search is changing, but your strategy doesn’t have to suffer. When you start tracking behavior that reflects curiosity, trust, and intent, you give your marketing team the data it needs to grow. And you give your leadership team the clarity they expect.

At Hard Refresh, we help marketing leaders interpret their data, optimize their systems, and make better strategic decisions—especially in moments where old metrics fall short.

If you’re navigating this shift, let’s talk.