How to See Traffic Sources for a Specific Page in Google Analytics (Without Losing Your Mind)

The simple question everyone asks

At some point, almost every site owner asks this:

“I can see traffic increased on this page….. but where did those visitors actually come from?”

Organic search? Social? A referral? A campaign?
In older versions of Google Analytics, this used to be relatively straightforward. In modern Google Analytics, answering this question feels unnecessarily difficult.

Why this is confusing in Google Analytics

Google Analytics separates pages and traffic sources into different reporting areas.

• Page performance lives in Pages / Landing Pages

• Traffic sources live in Traffic Acquisition

• Combining the two is not the default behavior

This forces you to mentally stitch together data that your brain expects to see in one place.

The result:
You can clearly see that a page got more visits, but not why….. without extra steps.

The “official” way to do it in Google Analytics

If you want to see traffic sources for a specific page, Google Analytics expects you to do the following:

1. Go to Reports → Engagement → Landing Pages

2. Find your page in the list

3. Click it (this applies a hidden filter)

4. Then switch reports or add dimensions

5. Change the primary dimension to Session source / medium

Even when done correctly, the UI gives no strong visual confirmation that:

• you are filtered correctly

• the data you’re seeing applies only to that page

This creates doubt…. which is deadly when you’re making decisions.

The most common mistakes people make

Because the workflow isn’t obvious, people often:

• Look at Traffic Acquisition without filtering by page

• Filter by page path in the wrong report

• Use “Page path” instead of “Landing page” and get misleading data

• Compare two reports that aren’t scoped the same way

The end result is uncertainty:

“Am I reading this right… or is this wrong?”

Why this matters more than people admit

This isn’t just a reporting issue… it affects behavior.

When you can’t confidently answer:

• “Did this traffic come from SEO or Reddit?”

• “Did my blog post or my tweet cause this?”

• “Should I double down on this channel?”

You either:

• stop trusting the data

• or stop checking analytics altogether

Both outcomes are bad.

The deeper problem: Google Analytics optimizes for analysts, not builders

Google Analytics is incredibly powerful… but power comes with cost.

The tool assumes:

• you’re comfortable switching dimensions

• you understand sessions vs users vs events

• you don’t mind context switching between reports

Most founders, marketers, and solo builders don’t want that.
They just want clarity.

What people actually want instead

When someone asks this question, what they really mean is:

“Show me this page, and show me exactly where its visitors came from.”

No report-hopping
No dimension gymnastics
No second-guessing

This gap between what users want and how Google Analytics works is why so many people start looking for simpler alternatives.

Why simpler analytics tools resonate here

Lightweight tools (like SimpleTrack) don’t try to be everything.

They answer the question directly:

• Page → Traffic sources → Clear breakdown

No hidden filters
No delayed confidence
No analyst mindset required

This is especially appealing if:

• you’re testing content

• running Reddit or SEO experiments

• or just want fast feedback without friction

The takeaway

If you’re struggling to see traffic sources for a specific page in Google Analytics, it’s not because you’re inexperienced…. it’s because the tool wasn’t designed around that mental model.

Google Analytics can do it, but it makes you work for the answer.

And for many people, that’s the moment they realize:

“I don’t need more data. I need clearer data.”