Google Data Studio is an incredible tool for creating interactive, web-based data visualizations that help businesses make data-driven decisions. It's free, user-friendly, and integrates seamlessly with Google Analytics and other Google products.
To get the most out of Google Data Studio, it's essential to understand its core features and best practices. In this tutorial, we'll cover the basics of setting up a Google Data Studio project, creating custom visualizations, and publishing reports.
Google Data Studio allows you to connect to various data sources, including Google Analytics, BigQuery, and spreadsheets. This flexibility makes it an ideal choice for businesses with diverse data needs.
Getting Started
To start creating reports in Looker Studio, you'll need to create your first blank report. Looker Studio will ask if you want to add the new data source to the report, so confirm by clicking ADD TO REPORT.
If you're new to Looker Studio, you might want to know that it creates a random table based on the fields in your data source, which you can delete later.
Renaming your report title is a good idea, so click on Untitled Report and type a new title, such as Online Sales – Dashboard.
If you're already familiar with Google Data Studio, the process to sign up for Looker Studio is similar.
Looker Studio offers team workspaces with specific permissions depending on the user's role, such as Manager, Content Manager, or Contributor.
You can also link your Google Cloud project, which helps protect data by belonging to the organization rather than individual users.
The free version of Looker Studio offers everything you need to create engaging reports, unless you need the additional features of team workspaces and Google Cloud project linking.
Creating a Dashboard
Creating a dashboard in Google Data Studio is a collaborative process that starts with defining the goals, target group, and functional requirements. This ensures that the dashboard is tailored to your specific needs.
To begin, you'll work with a team to define the goals and requirements for the dashboard. This is a crucial step as it sets the foundation for the entire project.
You may need to grant access to data sources to ensure that all necessary connections can be made. This will allow the team to create a first draft of the dashboard, which you can review and provide feedback on.
The dashboard can be customized to meet your specific needs, and you can even add a scorecard to display key metrics, such as total sales. To add a scorecard, click the "Add a chart" icon and select Scorecard.
Here are the steps to add a scorecard:
- Click Add a chart icon in the toolbar, then select Scorecard.
- Drag the scorecard where you want it (ideally in the top-left corner of the report).
- Change the default metric to the one you want to display, such as OrderTotal.
Once you've added a scorecard, you can customize its appearance by ticking the "Compact number" checkbox in the Style tab.
If you're using Looker Studio, you can create a report from scratch or use a template to speed up the process. To create a report from scratch, click the "Create" button and add data to your report using Google or partner connectors.
Here are the steps to create a report from scratch:
- Click the "Create" button.
- Add data to your report using Google or partner connectors.
- Delete any unnecessary tables or elements.
- Add a scorecard or other visualizations to display key metrics.
When working with Looker Studio, you can also use templates to create a professional-looking report easily. Templates have everything you need to create your report already in place, and you can customize them to fit your specific needs.
To name your report, click on the name of the template in the top left of the screen. This will make it easier to find in your "Owned by me" folder.
Here are some key tools to keep in mind when working with the report editor:
- The Share dropdown lets you share your report in several different ways.
- The View button switches between Edit mode and View mode.
- The kebab menu icon (the three vertical dots) lets you refresh data or make a copy of your report.
- The editing toolbox has various functions, including adding a page, undoing and redoing changes, and selecting elements.
By following these steps and using the report editor tools, you can create a dashboard that meets your specific needs and provides valuable insights to your audience.
Data Sources
Looker Studio, a key component of Agence Google Data Studio, requires you to create a data source to build a report. A data source is not your original data, but rather a connection to your data, such as a Google Sheets spreadsheet or a MySQL database.
To create a data source, you'll need a data connector, which links your report to the dataset. This connector maintains the connection credential and tracks the fields involved. You can use multiple data sources connected to a dataset, making it easy to collaborate with team members.
You can connect to over 1,000 Partner Connectors, including LinkedIn, PayPal, and Facebook, in addition to the 24 Google Connectors. To get started, simply click on the Create button and select Data source from the menu, or add a data source directly from an existing report by clicking Add data in the report toolbar.
From CRM or Email Marketing
Your CRM, shop system, or email marketing tool holds valuable customer data that can be a game-changer for your business. We can help you visualize this data in addition to Google Analytics, Ads, and Search Console data to create a more comprehensive business intelligence tool.
We use Google BigQuery, Google's data warehouse, to import very large amounts of data from these sources. This allows you to bring together data from the sources that are most important to you.
With the power of your marketing insights at your fingertips, you can build vibrant reports and dashboards with just a few clicks. This is made possible by reusable templates that generate fast and professional visualizations.
Here are some examples of how you can leverage your CRM or email marketing data:
- Collect, analyze, and activate customer data with Marketing Analytics solutions.
- Get usage recommendations for Google Cloud products and services with Recommender.
- Streamline workflow orchestration for serverless products and API services with Workflows.
Accessing a Source
To create a report in Looker Studio, you'll first need to create a data source. This is not your original data, but rather a connection to it.
A data source is created by linking a report to a dataset using a data connector. You can use multiple data sources connected to a dataset, which can be helpful when collaborating with team members.
You can add a new data source by clicking the Create button and selecting Data source from the menu. Alternatively, you can add a data source directly from an existing report by clicking Add data in the report toolbar.
There are 24 Google Connectors (native) available, including BigQuery to Looker Studio. Partner Connectors are third-party options that let you pull data from both Google and non-Google apps and sources, with over 1,000 options available.
Some popular Partner Connectors include LinkedIn, PayPal, Facebook, Twitter, and HubSpot.
Data Visualization
Data visualization is a powerful tool in Google Data Studio, and Looker Studio is no exception. You can connect your data, create visualizations, and share your insights with others.
To get started, you can explore BigQuery data using Looker Studio, which allows you to connect your data, create visualizations, and share your insights with others. This can be done by following the steps outlined in the tutorial on BigQuery data visualization in Looker Studio.
To add a chart in Looker Studio, you can click on the "Add a chart" icon in the toolbar and select the type of chart you want to create. You can also drag and drop dimensions and metrics from the data panel to create a chart. For example, you can create a line chart with "Date" and "New Users" data, or a bar chart with "Age" and "New Users" data.
Some common types of charts you can create in Looker Studio include scorecards, line charts, bar charts, and tables. You can customize these charts by changing the type of chart, adding dimensions and metrics, and styling the chart to match your theme.
Here are some common types of charts you can create in Looker Studio:
Remember, the key to creating effective data visualizations is to keep it simple and focused on the key message you want to convey. With Looker Studio, you can create a wide range of visualizations to help you tell your story and drive smarter business decisions.
How to Chart
To create a chart in Looker Studio, you can add a new chart by clicking the "Add a chart" icon in the toolbar and selecting the type of chart you want from the list.
There are 14 types of charts available in Looker Studio, each serving its own purpose. The right chart can make a big difference in communicating the meaning behind your data.
To add a line chart, for example, you can select the "Line chart" option from the chart list and drag the time series under the scorecard, resizing it as needed.
If you want to break down a metric into different order types, you can add a breakdown dimension, such as "OrderType."
To change the data type of a field, you can hover over the dimension and click the pencil icon, then change the field's data type to "Month" and name it "Month."
If you want to make changes to your chart's style, you can click the "Style" tab to tweak color, text, axis, and background.
Here are the 14 types of charts available in Looker Studio:
- Table: For displaying data in rows and columns
- Scorecard: For displaying single metrics related to your report
- Time series: For showing how data changes over a period of time
- Bar chart: For comparing a bigger set of data, highlighting categories, or showing changes over time
- Pie chart: For showing relative proportions and percentages of a small dataset
- Google Maps: For showing the distribution of metrics across the world
- Geo chart: For showing the distribution of metrics in a general way
- Line chart: For showing continuous data that changes over time
- Area chart: For comparing data trends over time
- Scatter chart: For showing the relationship between two metrics for up to three dimensions
- Pivot table: For displaying data relationships in a cleaner way
- Bullet chart: For showing how well a specific metric is performing against target benchmarks
- Treemap: For showing the percentage of multiple categories
- Gauge chart: For showing how well a metric is performing against a target goal
By choosing the right chart, you can make your data more understandable and engaging for your audience.
How to Set a Table
Setting a table in Looker Studio is a straightforward process. You can start by clicking the "Add a chart" icon in the toolbar, then select "Table".
To customize your table, drag the "ProductCategory" field into the "Dimension" section, replacing "OrderType". You can then resize the table as needed to make it look nicer.
If you want to sort your table based on "ProductCategory", scroll down to the "Setup" tab and change the sort metric to "Product Category". You can then select the sort method: ascending or descending.
To add a metric to your table, drag the "Total" field into the table as a metric.
Level Controls
Controls in Looker Studio are filters that let users change the view as they analyze data. They help keep dashboards concise and give viewers autonomy over how they consume the information.
There are two levels of controls you can add to your reports: Report-Level Controls and Chart-Level Controls.
Report-Level Controls change every chart on your dashboard at once. You can add a date range control or a data control to your reports. A date range control lets you or your audience set a date range for all the data on a report, while a data control lets you display the same charts for different uses.
You can add Report-Level Controls by clicking "Add a control" in the toolbar and selecting the control type from the list. You can also customize the control in the properties panel.
Chart-Level Controls change a single dimension or metric within charts rather than the dashboard as a whole. There are six chart-level controls you can add to reports: Drop-down list, Fixed-size list, Input box, Advanced filter, Slider, and Checkbox.
Here are the six chart-level controls you can add to reports:
- Drop-down list: Use a drop-down to let users view specific data within a chart
- Fixed-size list: Identical to a drop-down list, except it already appears open so the user doesn’t have to open the list
- Input box: Use input boxes to let users type the value they want to view
- Advanced filter: Use this option to let users build a custom filter
- Slider: Use the slider to let users establish a range or limit for the metric in your chart
- Checkbox: Use a checkbox if you want to let the audience select all true or false values
Demographics
Demographics are a crucial aspect of data visualization, and understanding your target audience is key to making informed decisions.
The Demographic explorer is a tool that plots targetable age ranges with Google Ads vs. gender, allowing you to filter the data to display only males or females.
By analyzing this data, you can spot trends that inform your age and gender bids adjustments.
The Demographic explorer provides context of the demographic make up of your Google Ads account, as well as diving into first and third party audience data.
This information can be used to tailor your advertising strategy to better reach your target audience.
Using this data, you can make data-driven decisions to optimize your ad campaigns and improve their effectiveness.
Audience Performance
Data visualization can help you uncover hidden patterns and trends in your data, but it's only as good as the insights you can draw from it.
To get the most out of your data, you need to visualize it in a way that makes sense for your specific needs. In the case of audience performance, a bubble chart is a great way to visualize how different audiences are performing.
The bubble size reflects conversion volume or revenue, making it easy to see which audiences are driving the most conversions or revenue.
Audience performance data can be filtered to segment the data and make it more insightful. For example, you can exclude brand or look at a specific subset of campaigns to get a clearer picture.
This is particularly useful for uncovering audiences that result in a higher return on investment to inform your bid adjustments.
To get started with audience performance data, you need to have audiences added to your Google Ads campaigns. If you're seeing an error in this section, it's likely because you don't have audiences added yet.
Competitors
Data visualization can be a game-changer for businesses, and one crucial aspect is analyzing competitors.
The first chart can offer some great detail on your competitive share of the market over time - even going down as far as hour of day. This level of granularity can help you identify trends and patterns that might be evading you.
Your ad schedule bid adjustments can significantly impact your competitive edge. Are your competitors beating you on certain days of the week or certain times of the day? This is where competitor analysis comes in.
Competitor trends over the last 6 months can be a valuable resource. You'll see an overview of your domain's performance, a summary of your top competitors, and an analysis of your competitors' impression share over time.
Customizing Dashboards
To create a Google Data Studio dashboard that meets your specific needs, it's essential to work with a team to define the goals, target group, and functional requirements of the dashboard.
Before you start building your dashboard, take some time to design the layout of your report. A rough sketch using a pen and paper is better than nothing and will help you avoid staring at a blank report for too long.
The Looker Studio editor is the same whether you're editing a template or a new report, with the only difference being that a template already has elements in place to customize. You can start with a template to get a feel for how everything works.
To make changes to your theme, click the "Theme and layout" option in the toolbar. In the Theme tab, you can choose from a selection of preset themes or customize any of these to match your brand.
You can also import your brand colors by choosing an image from your computer or a URL, and Looker Studio will automatically generate themes from the colors therein.
To format your Looker Studio dashboard, use conditional formatting to highlight specific cells, such as formatting OrderTotal cells to red for values under 1,000,000 so that you can quickly see which ones are low in sales.
To customize your dashboard, you can add new pages, data sources, images, text boxes, lines, shapes, charts, and controls from the toolbar. You can also make changes to your theme, such as choosing a preset theme or customizing your report size and orientation.
Here are some common tools you can find in the toolbar:
- New pages
- Data sources (connectors)
- Images
- Text boxes
- Lines
- Shapes
- Charts
- Controls
By using these tools and features, you can create a customized dashboard that meets your specific needs and provides easy-to-digest information about primary metrics.
Sharing and Collaboration
Sharing your Google Data Studio report is easy, just click on the Share dropdown in the header toolbar. You can share it in real time with members of your team, or schedule email delivery to stakeholders or clients.
To share your report, you can invite people, schedule email delivery, get the report link, embed the report, or download the report as a PDF. You can also set permissions for who can view or edit the report.
If you're inviting people to view a live report, check the share settings to choose what they can and can't do. You can set each person as a "Viewer" or "Editor." Viewers can look at interactive reports, but access to editing tools is removed. Editors can use the toolbar and navigate the report, but you can set usage parameters to limit their access.
Here are the different link sharing options:
- Restricted: Only people you have shared the report with can open the link
- Unlisted: Anyone with the link can view or edit the report (depending on the permissions)
- Public: Anyone can find and view or edit the report
How Can We Help?
We create individual KPI dashboards for different people and teams in your company, which present the right information very clearly.
Our Data Studio experts will help you establish the necessary data connections and bring together data from all the sources that are critical to your KPIs.
You can see the performance of your data at a glance, which is essential to know how successful it is.
With Google Data Studio, we make important data from web analytics easily accessible to everyone in your company, even to those without a deeper understanding of web analytics.
We take care of the data connections for your Google Data Studio, so you can focus on making quick decisions with clear data.
You can start on your own and only need professional input, in which case our workshops and consulting offers will help you get ahead.
Our data analytics experts can provide faster tracking with the Tag Manager, which is just one of the ways we support you as a Google Data Studio agency.
Partner Connect
Partner Connect is a powerful tool for sharing and collaboration in Looker Studio. You can access a wide variety of data sources through the more than 600 partner connectors, which enable you to connect virtually any kind of data without coding or software.
Partner Connectors are third-party options that let you pull data from both Google and non-Google apps and sources, such as LinkedIn, PayPal, Facebook, Twitter, and HubSpot. Currently, there are more than 1,000 of these connectors available.
To create a data source using a partner connector, follow three simple steps: authorize your source app, specify the dataset to load, and complete any additional setup required by the connector.
You can use multiple data sources connected to a dataset in Looker Studio, which is especially useful when collaborating with different team members. This allows you to share data sources with different connection capabilities for different team members.
Here's a brief overview of the types of connectors available:
- Native Google Connectors: There are 24 of these, including BigQuery to Looker Studio.
- Partner Connectors: These are third-party options that let you pull data from both Google and non-Google apps and sources.
Keep in mind that most partner connectors are not free, so be sure to check the pricing before using one.
Sharing Your Dashboard
Sharing your dashboard is a breeze in Looker Studio. To share your report, click on the Share dropdown in the header toolbar. This will give you a list of different ways to share it.
You can invite people to view your report in real-time by clicking on the Add people tab. Enter the email addresses of those you want to share with, and you can even add them as viewers or collaborators.
If you want to share your report with a wider audience, you can schedule email delivery or get a report link to copy and paste. The report link can be set to restricted, unlisted, or public, depending on your preferences.
You can also embed your report on a webpage by ticking Enable embedding. A few options will appear, allowing you to choose Embed mode and sizing. Some web authoring systems may require a full code, so be sure to copy both the URL and code to a text file.
To control who can access your report, check the share settings. You can choose what the recipient can and can't do when they open the report. Each person you add can be set as a "Viewer" or "Editor."
Here are the different options for sharing your report:
- Invite people: Share the report in real time with members of your team (they must have a Google account)
- Schedule email delivery: Send the report to a stakeholder or client’s email address at a specific time and date
- Get the report link: Get a report link to copy and paste to share via email or message
- Embed report: Get an embed code to add your live report to a webpage
- Download report: Save the report as a PDF. It can be password protected and downloaded with or without a link and background color
To add an extra layer of security, you can set the report link to restricted, which means only people you have shared the report with can open the link.
Templates and Connectors
Looker Studio offers a robust library of report templates to help you visualize your data in minutes. You can choose from various templates, including those for Google Analytics, BigQuery, Google Sheets, and more.
With over 600 partner connectors, you can access a wide variety of data sources without any coding or software. This includes Google-based data sources, such as BigQuery, as well as third-party options like LinkedIn, PayPal, and Facebook.
To connect your data, you'll need to create a data source, which is not your original data but rather a connection to it. Looker Studio makes this process easy with native Google connectors, such as the Google Sheets connector, which allows you to connect your Google Sheets data to Looker Studio.
Here are some of the key data sources and connectors available in Looker Studio:
- Google-based data sources: BigQuery, Google Sheets, Google Ads, and more
- Third-party options: LinkedIn, PayPal, Facebook, Twitter, HubSpot, and over 700 other partner connectors
These connectors allow you to sync your data from various marketing tools and customer relationship management (CRM) tools, making it easy to create reports and analyze your data.
Sources and Connectors
Looker Studio allows you to connect to a wide variety of data sources through over 600 partner connectors.
You can access a dataset, such as data in a Google Sheets spreadsheet, MySQL database, or LinkedIn, and then link a report to it using a data connector.
Data sources are not the original data; they're a connection to it. Think of it like a pipe that connects your report to the underlying data.
To create a data source, you'll need to select a Google or Partner connector to load your dataset to Looker Studio.
There are two types of connectors: native Google connectors and partner connectors. Native Google connectors are free and allow you to connect to Google products like Google Analytics and Google Sheets. Partner connectors, on the other hand, are third-party options that let you pull data from non-Google apps and sources, but most of them are not free.
Some examples of partner connectors include LinkedIn, PayPal, Facebook, Twitter, HubSpot, and Salesforce.
You can purchase APIs for single data connectors for a monthly fee or purchase them in bundles to use across your reports. Developers set pricing.
Here are some Google native connectors:
- Google Analytics
- Google Sheets
- Google Ads
- BigQuery
You can also add more connectors at any time by clicking “Create,” then “Data source” from your homepage.
There are over 800 data sources available in Looker Studio, including Google products and partner connectors.
Here's a breakdown of the two categories of fields in your data source page:
- Dimensions (green): attributes of data, such as Country, Age, Product ID, Date, and Campaign Name
- Metrics (blue): quantitative measurements of data, such as Number, Percentage, Duration, and Currency
By clicking on a dimension or metric name, you can also edit what it's called, which might be useful if you're importing data from Excel or Google Sheets and accidentally use column headings as data labels.
Templates
Templates are a great way to get started with creating reports in Looker Studio. You can find a robust library of report templates to choose from.
These templates are fully customizable, so you can edit the data and play around with layouts and colors to create something clear and comprehensive. You can even change the name and replace sample data with your own.
To view the Looker Studio Template Gallery, click “Templates” from your homepage menu. You'll find templates for various Google tools, such as Google Analytics and BigQuery.
Here are some examples of templates you can find in the gallery:
- Google Analytics
- BigQuery
- Google Sheets
- YouTube Analytics
- Google Ads
- Search Console
- Display & Video 360
- Search Ads 360
You can filter options to find a suitable template by clicking on the “Category” drop-down menu.
BigQuery Solutions
BigQuery Solutions are a game-changer for data analysis. BigQuery is a cost-effective data warehouse that brings big data into valuable insights.
You can use BigQuery with Looker Studio to develop solutions that make the most of your data. This powerful combination allows you to connect your data, create visualizations, and share your insights with others.
Datasets from various sources, including Google, public, and commercial providers, can be used to enrich your analytics and AI initiatives. This is especially useful for businesses looking to make data-driven decisions.
BigLake is a storage engine that enables you to query multi-format and multimodal data. This means you can work with a wide range of data types and formats, making it easier to get the insights you need.
To view and export Google Cloud carbon emissions reports, you can use the Carbon Footprint Dashboard. This is a useful tool for businesses looking to reduce their environmental impact.
Here are some key features of BigQuery Solutions:
- Data from Google, public, and commercial providers to enrich your analytics and AI initiatives.
- BigLake storage engine to query multi-format and multimodal data.
- Carbon Footprint Dashboard to view and export Google Cloud carbon emissions reports.
Pricing and Updates
Google Data Studio is a powerful tool for creating interactive and visual reports, and its pricing is designed to be flexible and scalable. It's free to use, with optional paid features.
Google Data Studio offers a range of features, including advanced editing and collaboration tools, but these require a Google Workspace account, which starts at $6 per user per month. This cost is in addition to the cost of any paid data sources used.
Google regularly updates Data Studio with new features and improvements, which are often announced on the Google Data Studio blog.
Pricing
Pricing is a crucial aspect of any product or service, and it's essential to get it right to attract and retain customers.
The article highlights that prices can vary greatly depending on the industry, with some companies charging as low as $0.99 per unit and others as high as $999.99.
Getting the price too high can lead to a significant drop in sales, as seen in the example of a company that lost 75% of its customers when it increased its prices by 20%.
On the other hand, prices that are too low can lead to a loss of profit, as demonstrated by a company that had to sell over 10,000 units just to break even.
Prices can also be influenced by factors such as production costs, marketing expenses, and competition, which can fluctuate over time, requiring companies to regularly review and adjust their pricing strategies.
A company that was able to reduce its production costs by 30% was able to lower its prices and increase sales by 25%.
Get the Latest News and Updates
To stay up-to-date with the latest news and updates, sign up for the monthly Looker Studio newsletter. You'll get product updates, release notes, and tutorials on how to create reports with Looker Studio.
You can also learn about the next evolution of Looker, your unified BI platform, by clicking the "Learn more" button.
Here are some recommended resources to get you started:
- Government: Data storage, AI, and analytics solutions for government agencies.
- Security Foundation: Recommended products to help achieve a strong security posture.
- Google Threat Intelligence: Know who's targeting you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Google Data Studio still a thing?
Yes, Google Data Studio is still available and actively maintained. You can access and create reports, including new ones, with its latest features.
Is Google Data Studio for free?
Historically, Google Data Studio (now Looker Studio) was free to use, but its evolving status raises questions about its current cost-effectiveness. As of 2024, its pricing model is uncertain, making it essential to explore alternatives for marketing agencies.
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