The bulk of my traffic comes from just a few broad phrases. How can I dissect these phrases into specifics? Is it just a guess or check thing with brackets and quotation marks around sub-phrases of my top phrases? In other words, what is everyones suggestion on how to find out which specific phrases people are using?? I've heard about "logs" where this can be checked. Could I serioulsy see exactly what terms people are typing into google to get to my site? This seems too good to be true. But if it is indeed true, tell it to me!
Yes, in your web server logs the HTTP referer field will tell you the URL from where your traffic came, and for traffic from Google it will usually show the query. You can also run a Search Query Performance Report, but Google has chosen not to show the details of all queries in that report. So many of them will be lumped into one item called something like "All other queries". But try it out, and you may find it useful.
There's an easy way to create 2 custom filters using google analytics. Any cpc|ppc referrer will be filtered and you'll get the bidded keyword along with the search query in your paid keyword report. The end result is a bit strange but you'll quickly know if you need to adjust your match types. Here's a good overview of the set-up apollosem.org/nude-create-dynamic-landing-pages-in-15-minutes-or-less/
Not only can you see the exact term, but you can reproduce the exact search experience by clicking. Oh yeah, it's in real-time as the search hits come in, so you can see it moments after the visitor reached your site.
Alternatively, for a quick solution, run a Search Query report. It won't tell you about searches with no or low clicks, but it'll tell you the main search terms...