Google Data Studio is a free online tool that converts data into informative dashboards and reports. In March 2016, the technology company launched the tool and announced its free version for individuals and small teams two months later.
The tool can help you create, share, and read reports in minutes for absolutely free of cost, thereby saving time and money for your business. It accesses data from 12 different sources and consolidates them into an easy-to-edit, easy-to-read, and easy-to-share report. The tool also has charts, graphs, maps, and widgets to visualize your data and make faster decisions.
Since its launch, it has benefitted many businesses and digital marketing companies. It can benefit your business if you need to create and present reports to achieve better results. You may consider taking the help of a professional company to help you with this.
How to use Google Data Studio?
- Log in to Data Studio using your Google account
- In the top left corner, you will see a ‘Create’ button, click on it
- Select ‘Data Source’
- Link your data sources, such as CloudSQL
- Return to the Data Studio dashboard
- Click on the ‘Create’ button in the top left corner
- Select ‘Report’
- Choose your data sources from the right-hand side to import
- Edit your report’s color, theme, layout, and more
- Select ‘Share’ in the upper right corner to share the report
Benefits of using Google Data Studio
Here are the following benefits of using Google Data Studio:
- Create customizable report dashboards
Google Data Studio enables you to create customizable reports with a wide array of graphs, designs, styles, and formats. You can also choose from a wide range of pre-templated reports. Or you can create a unique one as per your preferred style and format.
The things you can customize are:
- Style elements
- Graphs Metrics
- Text
- Page layout
- Create interactive reports
Google Data Studio gives you the flexibility to create easy-to-read reports. You can customize your report’s layout and change colors, fonts, sizes, themes, and more to make it more interactive. The tool also enables you to break your reports down into one page or 20 pages, as well as add one to 10 widgets per page.
- Unlimited access to widget options
Google Analytics lets you include only 12 charts or graphs in a report. But Google Data Studio allows unlimited access to widgets. Using the feature, you can share and describe your data in many ways.
Widget options include:
- Time-series graphs
- Pie charts
- Heat graphs by region, state, or country
- And many more
It also enables you to change each of the widgets with a wide range of metrics.
- Draw data from multiple sources
Google Data Studio allows you to pull data from up to 12 different data sources that you can consolidate in your reports.
You can pull data from these platforms:
- Search Console
- CloudSQL
- YouTube
- Google Ads
- Google Analytics
- And more
- Engaging and interactive data visualizations
Using Google Data Studio, you can create engaging, interactive, and appealing data visualizations. Using the feature, you can:
- Select optional metrics
- Sort by different metrics
- Set different filters
- Control the date range
- Drill down into data
- Share reports easily
Uploading and sending bulky files (such as reports) take some time. When you seek quick feedback from some of your team members, they may be too busy to wait for a while. Using Google Data Studio, you can share the reports’ links and enable others to view and edit simultaneously, in real-time. You can also schedule email deliveries and give email permissions.
- Automated reports with real-time data
Manual export and formatting of data can take a lot of time. Using Google Data Studio, you can pull real-time data into your reports. The tool lets you update your reports and pack your widgets with the latest data automatically. The automated reporting dashboards with real-time data save a lot of time on reporting.
- Google Data Studio exports
After completing your report dashboard, you can export it to the following documents:
- Google Sheets
- Excel
- Learn with free Google Data Studio tutorials
If you are new to Google Data Studio, you can learn with free tutorials. Google provides data source tutorials, report tutorials, videos, and more. These resources can provide insights into Google’s innovations in the reporting domain and help you better understand different aspects of reports. You can access the Data Studio learning center using the help menu. You can also visit the Google Data Studio forums.
- Embed Data Studio reports on social media
Using Google Data Studio, you can embed your reports on social media platforms, including LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. You only need to embed the report link in your social media post and publish it using the tool.
- Filter tools
Using Google Data Studio, you will be able to refine your data based on any metric or dimension. Some of the most common filters are:
- Date range
- Location
- Account
- Campaign
You can apply report filters in several levels, including chart level, page level, or report level.
All in all,
Creating business reports and actionable insights can be extremely tasking and cumbersome if you don’t have the right tool, such as Google Data Studio. Using it, however, you can create as many automated and customized reports as you want. It comes with a wide range of features and offers several benefits for individuals and businesses. But if you want to remain focused on the thing(s) you are best at, and you may consider hiring a professional SEO services company to help you with this. At PeddleWeb, we leverage Google Data Studio to create all types of reports and insights for our clients.
