How do I view basic SEO and traffic reports in Shopify?

How to View Basic SEO and Traffic Reports in Shopify (2026 Guide)

Shopify provides built-in analytics tools to help you track your store’s traffic and SEO performance. Below is the complete and accurate guide based on the current 2026 Shopify admin interface.

1. Analytics Dashboard – Your Main Hub

How to Access

1. Log in to your Shopify admin
2. Click Analytics in the left sidebar

Traffic Metrics

• Total sessions – Number of visitors to your store
• Sessions over time – Traffic trends with comparisons
• Sessions by source – Google, social, direct, etc.
• Sessions by device type – Mobile, desktop, tablet
• Sessions by location – Geographic visitor data

Conversion Metrics

• Online store conversion rate
• Total sales
• Total orders
• Average order value

Tip: Click any metric card to open a detailed report and compare date ranges.

2. Analytics Reports – Detailed Traffic Data

How to Access

Analytics > Reports

Important Traffic Reports

• Sessions by Referrer – See exactly where traffic comes from (Google, Facebook, direct, etc.)
• Sessions Over Time – Identify growth trends and seasonal changes
• Sessions by Device Type – Analyze mobile vs desktop traffic
• Sessions by Location – View geographic visitor distribution

Use the search bar inside Reports to quickly find any report by name.

3. Web Performance Reports (Core Web Vitals)

How to Access

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Analytics > Reports
2. Use the search bar to find web performance reports:

• Type : to display all web performance reports
• Type contentful for Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) reports
• Type next for Interaction to Next Paint (INP) reports
• Type cumulative for Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) reports

Click the report name to open and review detailed performance data.

Core Web Vitals Metrics

Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) – Loading Speed

• Measures how fast the largest visible page element loads
• Good: Under 2.5 seconds
• Needs Improvement: 2.5 – 4 seconds
• Poor: Over 4 seconds

Interaction to Next Paint (INP) – Responsiveness

• Measures how quickly your website responds to user interactions
• Good: Under 200ms
• Needs Improvement: 200 – 500ms
• Poor: Over 500ms

Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) – Visual Stability

• Measures unexpected layout shifts while a page is loading
• Good: Under 0.1
• Needs Improvement: 0.1 – 0.25
• Poor: Over 0.25

These Core Web Vitals metrics directly impact SEO rankings because Google uses real user experience signals as ranking factors. Improving these scores can enhance both search visibility and conversion rates.

4. Marketing Page – Channel Overview

How to Access

From your Shopify admin, click Marketing in the left sidebar.

What You’ll See

Summary Metrics (Top Row)

At the top of the Marketing page, five key performance metrics are displayed horizontally:

• Total sessions – Total visitors attributed to marketing efforts
• Total sales from marketing – Revenue generated through marketing channels
• Total orders – Number of purchases from marketing traffic
• Conversion rate – Percentage of sessions that resulted in a purchase
• Average order value – Average revenue per order

Top Marketing Channels Table

Below the summary metrics, you’ll see a detailed performance table by traffic source.

The table includes the following columns:

• Channel name and type
• Sessions (visitor count)
• Sales (revenue generated)
• Orders (number of purchases)
• Conversion rate (percentage)
• ROAS, CPA, and CTR (for paid campaigns only — shows “—” if not applicable)

Marketing App Activities

This section lists connected marketing apps, active campaigns, and the last recorded activity date. It helps you monitor campaign performance across integrated platforms.

Note: The Marketing page provides a high-level overview of channel performance. For detailed traffic analysis, filtering, and advanced reporting, use the Analytics section instead.

5. Live View – Real-Time Visitors

How to Access

Analytics > Live View

What It Shows

• Visitors currently browsing
• Pages being viewed
• Visitor locations

6. Custom Reports

How to Create

1. Go to Analytics > Reports
2. Open a report
3. Click New Exploration
4. Add filters or metrics
5. Click Save as

Useful SEO Custom Reports

• Traffic by landing page
• Conversion rate by source
• Sessions by search engine
• Mobile vs desktop conversion rates

7. Google Analytics 4 (Recommended)

For advanced SEO insights, integrate Google Analytics 4 (GA4).

Benefits

• Detailed traffic source analysis
• User behavior tracking
• Bounce rate & engagement metrics
• Keyword insights (with Search Console)

Setup

Go to Settings > Apps and sales channels and connect the Google channel with your GA4 Measurement ID.

8. Google Search Console (Essential for SEO)

Google Search Console helps you monitor search queries, CTR, rankings, indexing issues, and Core Web Vitals.

Connect by:

• Verifying your domain
• Submitting your sitemap: yourstore.com/sitemap.xml

Key SEO Metrics to Track

Traffic

• Total sessions
• Organic sessions
• Sessions by source
• Landing pages

Engagement

• Conversion rate
• Pages per session
• Average session duration
• Bounce rate (via GA4)

Performance

• LCP
• INP
• CLS
• Mobile performance

Summary

To view SEO and traffic reports in Shopify, use the Analytics Dashboard for an overview, Reports for detailed traffic data, Web Performance for Core Web Vitals, Marketing for channel insights, and Live View for real-time monitoring. For deeper SEO analysis, connect Google Analytics 4 and Google Search Console.