Google Data Studio: A Beginner’s Guide to Creating Smart Dashboards and Report
If you’re looking for a tool that can help you transform your data into insightful and visually appealing reports, then Google Data Studio is the perfect solution for you. This powerful dashboarding tool is designed to help you create engaging and interactive dashboards that can be customized to meet your specific needs. In this article, we’ll be providing you with a beginner’s guide to creating smart dashboards using Google Data Studio.
Introduction to A Beginner’s Guide to Creating Smart Dashboards Using Google Data Studio
In today’s data-driven world, businesses and organizations need to have the ability to collect and analyze large amounts of data quickly and accurately. However, data is only useful if it can be presented in a way that is easy to understand and interpret. This is where Google Data Studio comes in.
Google Data Studio is a powerful tool that allows you to turn raw data into visually appealing and interactive reports. With Data Studio, you can create custom dashboards that provide insights into key metrics and KPIs, helping you make better-informed decisions.
In this article, we’ll be taking a closer look at Google Data Studio and providing you with a beginner’s guide to creating smart dashboards.
What is Google Data Studio?
Google Data Studio is a free data visualization tool that is designed to help you create custom dashboards and reports. The tool allows you to connect to multiple data sources, including Google Analytics, Google Sheets, and Google Ads, among others.
Data Studio offers a range of visualization options, including charts, graphs, and tables, that can be customized to meet your specific needs. The tool also allows you to create interactive reports that enable you to drill down into your data and gain deeper insights.
Why use Google Data Studio?
There are several reasons why you might choose to use Google Data Studio. Here are just a few:
Easy to use: Google Data Studio is designed to be user-friendly, even for those with little or no experience in data visualization.
Customizable: The tool offers a range of visualization options that can be customized to meet your specific needs.
Flexible: Google Data Studio allows you to connect to multiple data sources and create custom reports that provide insights into your data.
Collaborative: Data Studio allows you to share your reports with others, making it easy to collaborate with team members and stakeholders.
Free: Best of all, Google Data Studio is completely free to use.
Step by Step Guide on How to Create Report with Google Data Studio
Getting started with Google Data Studio is easy. Here’s what you need to do:
1. Sign in to Google Data Studio using your Google account.
2. Click on “Create” to create a new report.
3. Choose a data source to connect to (e.g. Google Analytics, Google Sheets, etc.).
4. Select the data you want to include in your report.
5. Choose a visualization type and customize it to meet your needs.
6. Add additional pages and visualizations as needed.
7. Share your report with others.
Creating a Report in Google Data Studio
It’s easy to make a report in Data Studio.
By clicking on the “+” sign, you can make a report with a new page. Clicking “all models” will show you the standard versions. “Report Gallery” has more report themes to choose from.
Choose Data Sources
The first step is to make sure that all of your data sources use the same names. We suggest that you list at least the data source and the site in question. Google uses more than 120 different data sources, including around 20 of its own services and more than 100 partner data sources (like SEMrush, Adobe Analytics, Facebook Ads, Mailchimp, Twitter, etc.).
At the very least, you should use data from Google Search Console and Google Analytics to get a good idea of how visible a site is. Then, based on the sectors and sites, it might be interesting to add Digital Marketing Data or Social Media Data (Facebook Ads, Twitter, etc.). Once you’ve made a data source in Google Data Studio, you can use it in more than one report without making a new data source.
If the data source has already been made, all you have to do is link this source to your report. Once each source has been made, we’ll look at how to put them together.
Structure the Data in Google Data Studio
Google Data Studio has found your data sources and knows where to find them. Now, you need to tell it what data to show on your reports and how to show it.
There are 11 different types of data visualization styles you can use to show off your data:
- Time sequence
- Bar graph
- Combo chart
- Pie chart
- Painting
- Summary of where things are
- Data table
- Spread chart
- Bullet charts
- Area map
- Pivot table
This may not seem like much, but they can be changed however you want and can hold a lot of information. Once the style is chosen, you just need to frame the part of the report where this data will show up. Once you have all of your data on your sheet, you just need to choose the different groups that are most important to how your data is shown.
For Google Analytics, for example, it’s a matter of choosing the related number (or metric).
- Choosing a source of data
- Choosing the stat to focus on
- You can make the data more useful by choosing a filter, a dimension, and organizing them.
The automatic pick of the date range will be based on the “date range” feature of Google Data Studio, which will be added to a sheet, and will come to change the data from all your sources if you make a change.
This is a good idea if the screen is used by people who don’t know much about data but want to see it quickly.
There’s also no need to make a distinction between different data ranges if the spot being looked at doesn’t change with the seasons.
It can be interesting to look at the same facts in different ways.
On this sheet, we can see that the traffic data for “sessions”, “clicks”, “bounce rate”, and “impressions” are shown in “data range”, “time series”, and “table” formats. So, the sheet makes it possible to compare the amount and the amount of time.
There are several “pages” in a report:
We suggest that when you first start using Google Data Studio, you use a page per data report from your sources. This will make it easier for you to get started. For your first report, for example, you could use Google Analytics, Search Console, and AdWords to fill out the slips like this:
- Audience
- Acquisition
- Behavior
- Conversions
You can add specific pages around these sheets, which are the “central core” of your study, such as:
- Adobe Analytics
- Social Media
- AdWords
Now We Will Step in to Personalization
The way data is shown is one of Data Studio’s strong points. To format your data, you can arrange both the pages of your reports and the data they contain.
Formatting a report in Google Data Studio
Adding a menu banner is a simple way to make it look better. SEO for Journalists can use text locations, the insertion of pictures (including.png files), and the insertion of geometric shapes to achieve this formatting. There is a lot of room for customization with these tools.
We can add the date range selector to the navigation features. This will change your data based on the date range you choose, and it will take precedence over the date range you choose for each part of your report.
Data Formatting
Each of the forms being considered has formatting parts.
It’s very easy: use the tab key to change the data and the tab key to format it. Here are the things that were chosen in the above case to get to the final rendering.
Finishing the report and sharing it
Different features make it possible to share files and work on them as a group.
Since October 2018, you can get the report in PDF file.
Make a copy of the report, which lets you do things like make copies of it and use it as a model.
Share this report without getting permission to change it. This includes sharing the URL of the report and letting people see it.
Because of this, Google Data Studio is a must-have for any web worker who wants to make reports quickly and easily. Contact our e-marketing experts if you want advanced data training and help making smart dashboards.
Steps To Create Your First Dashboard in Google Data Studio
Creating your first dashboard in Google Data Studio is easy. Here’s what you need to do:
1. Sign in to Google Data Studio and click on “Create” to create a new report.
2. Choose a data source to connect to (e.g. Google Analytics, Google Sheets, etc.).
3. Select the data you want to include in your report.
4. Choose a visualization type and customize it to meet your needs.
5. Add additional pages and visualizations as needed.
6. Share your report with others.
When creating your dashboard, it’s important to think about the key metrics and KPIs that you want to track. These will vary depending on your industry and business goals, but might include metrics such as website traffic, conversion rates, or revenue.
Customizing your dashboard
Google Data Studio allows you to customize your dashboard to meet your specific needs. You can choose from a wide range of visualization options, including charts, graphs, and tables, and customize them with your own branding and style.
Here are some tips for customizing your dashboard:
– Choose a color scheme that matches your brand.
– Use fonts and typography that are easy to read.
– You should Use visuals (e.g. icons, images) to help communicate your message.
– Use filters and controls to enable interactivity and allow users to drill down into their data.
Best practices for creating effective dashboards
Creating effective dashboards requires more than just connecting data sources and choosing visualization options. Here are some best practices to keep in mind:
– Start with a clear objective: Before creating your dashboard, think about the key questions you want to answer and the insights you want to gain.
– Keep it simple: Don’t overload your dashboard with too much information. Focus on the key metrics and KPIs that matter most.
– Use visuals effectively: Visuals should help communicate your message and make your data easier to understand. Use them sparingly and purposefully.
– Enable interactivity: Use filters and controls to allow users to drill down into their data and gain deeper insights.
– Keep it up to date: Make sure your data is up to date and refresh your dashboard regularly.
Sharing your dashboard with others
Google Data Studio makes it easy to share your dashboard with others. Here’s how:
1. Open your dashboard in Google Data Studio.
2. Click on the “Share” button in the top right-hand corner.
3. Choose the access level you want to grant (e.g. view-only, edit, comment).
4. Enter the email addresses of the people you want to share your dashboard with.
5. Click “Send”.
Advanced features of Google Data Studio
Google Data Studio offers a range of advanced features that can help you create even more powerful and insightful dashboards. Some of these features include:
– Advanced filtering options
– Data blending (combining data from multiple sources)
– Calculated fields
– Custom visualizations
To access these features, you may need to have some technical expertise
or seek help from a data analyst or developer.
Conclusion
Google Data Studio is a powerful tool that can help businesses of all sizes make sense of their data. Whether you’re tracking website traffic, monitoring social media metrics, or analyzing sales data, Google Data Studio makes it easy to create customized dashboards that meet your specific needs.
By following the steps outlined in this beginner’s guide, you can get started with Google Data Studio and start unlocking the insights hidden in your data. Remember to keep your dashboard simple, use visuals effectively, and focus on the metrics that matter most to your business.
FAQs
1. Is Google Data Studio free?
Yes, Google Data Studio is free to use. However, some data sources (such as Google BigQuery) may have associated costs.
2. Can I connect to data sources outside of Google?
Yes, Google Data Studio allows you to connect to a wide range of data sources, including MySQL, PostgreSQL, and others.
3. How often is data updated in Google Data Studio?
Data is updated in real time for some data sources (such as Google Analytics), while others may have a delay of up to 24 hours.
4. Can I collaborate with others on my dashboard?
Yes, Google Data Studio allows you to share your dashboard with others and collaborate in real time.
5. Do I need technical expertise to use Google Data Studio?
While some features may require technical expertise, Google Data Studio is designed to be easy to use for beginners. Google also offers a range of resources and tutorials to help you get started.
