Hey there, I'm Benjamin from Loves Data!
In this video I'm going to show you how to get started with Looker Studio.
This is my Looker Studio tutorial for beginners.
We're going to cover the steps you need to follow to create your very first report.
We'll look at how to connect a data source.
We'll explore the different ways we can visualize our data
for our reports and dashboards.
And we'll also look at how you can begin to customize and style your reports.
Okay, so Looker Studio, previously called Google Data Studio, lets you present data
using a range of visualization options.
You can use it to create dashboards, multi-page reports and more.
Let's head to Looker Studio.
You can find Looker Studio by heading to looker studio, dot, google, dot, com.
And we can see here that we're presented with some templates at
the top, along with recent reports and dashboards we've created.
You can also connect different data sources to build your
dashboards and reports.
Today, we're going to connect Google Analytics, but as we'll see, there
are different options you can use depending on the data you want to use.
Okay, let's click 'Create'.
We can see there are options to create a report, a data source and an explorer.
Let's select the option to create a report.
The first thing we need to do is add a data source to our report.
To do this, we need to use a 'connector'.
This is simply the way we get data into our report.
We can see that all of the Google Connectors are listed first.
This includes the connectors for Google Analytics, Google
Ads, Google Sheets and more.
Scrolling down, you can find connectors from other partners.
This includes a range of connectors from Supermetrics and other third-parties.
You can use these if there isn't a Google connector available.
For example, if you wanted to include data from Facebook or Linkedin, you
would need to use one of these connectors since Google doesn't provide in-built
connectors for these platforms.
You can search for connectors and you can also select 'My Data Sources'
to use data sources that you have previously connected to other reports.
I'm going to select 'Google Analytics' as the connector for this report.
We can then select the Google Analytics account.
And the property we want to use for the report.
Today, we're going to use Google's GA4, Google Analytics 4 demo property,
but of course, you should use your own Google Analytics property, or other data
source, when you create your report.
Once we're happy, we just need to click 'Add'.
And then 'Add to report'.
We can see that a table is automatically added to our report, and we're
looking at the report 'canvas' which is where we build our report.
Across the top, we have a range of options.
For example, we can select 'insert' or 'add a chart' to add
visualizations to our report.
This includes time series charts, column charts, combo charts, pie
charts, tables, bubble maps, field maps, heat maps, line maps, geo
charts, score cards, scatter charts, bullet charts, stacked area charts,
pivot tables, tree maps, and gauges.
Since the table is selected, we can modify this chart using the
panel on the right hand side.
We can see there are two columns.
The first column lets us adjust the visualization.
This is where we can change the dimensions and metrics presented in the chart
and change the style of the chart.
And the second column shows us all of the fields that are available
for the data source, so this lets us view all of the available
dimensions and metrics we can use.
Okay, so we're going to create a dashboard that shows us how
people are finding our website.
We're going to include various elements from the Google
Analytics 'Acquisition' reports.
Let's start by changing the dimension from 'Event Name' so we
can see our marketing channels.
To do this we can click on the current dimension.
And then search for 'Session Default Channel Grouping'.
And select our new dimension.
We can then see the table updates.
Now let's change the metric that's presented in the table.
Let's select 'Views'.
And change this to 'Sessions'.
And now let's add another metric to our report.
We can either pull a metric from the column on the right.
Or we can click 'add metric'.
And then search for the metric we want to add.
I'm going to search for 'Engagement Rate'.
And add this to the chart.
We can now see the table shows us the different marketing channels
sending people to our website, the number of sessions for each
channel and the engagement rate.
This lets us quickly see our most important marketing channels and
if people are actually engaging with our website and content.
Now let's customize how the metrics are presented.
To do this, we need to make sure we have the chart selected.
And then, we need to select the 'Style' tab.
You will find a range of options for customizing your chart.
For this example, I want to customize the way the metrics are
displayed, so I'm going to scroll down and look for 'Column 1'.
Then I'm going to select 'Number' and change this to 'Bar'.
We can see our chart updates to show a visual comparison for the metric.
Now let's select 'Show Number', so that we can see the metric included in the table.
We now have the metric along with a simple visualization.
Okay, now let's repeat this for the second metric.
We need to look for 'Column 2'.
And then change 'Number' to 'Bar'.
And enable 'Show Number'.
That's it!
Now we're going to copy this table to present other data in our dashboard.
To do this, you can use keyboard shortcuts on your computer or you can select 'Edit'.
Then 'Copy'.
And then 'Paste'.
I'm going to modify this table to show all of the referring websites
that are sending traffic to our site.
To do this I'm going to change the dimension.
Lets select the 'Setup' tab.
And now let's select 'Session Default Channel Grouping'.
And change this to 'Session Source'.
Now we can see that this does include some referring sites, but it also
includes other traffic sources.
This means we need to apply a filter to the chart to only include referrals.
To do this, let's scroll to the bottom of the 'Setup' column.
And let's click 'Add A Filter'.
Let's name the filter 'Referrals Only'.
Let's leave the filter as an 'Include' filter.
Then we need to select a field.
Let's search for and select 'Session Medium'.
Then let's choose 'Equal To'.
And enter 'referral' as the value.
Now let's click 'Save'.
That's it!
We can see our table is updated to only include referral traffic.
Now we're going to copy our original table again.
We are going to use this table to present the custom campaigns we
are tracking in Google Analytics.
For example, our email campaigns and other custom inbound marketing.
To do this, we are going to change the dimension.
Let's select 'Session Default Channel Grouping'.
And change this to 'Session Campaign'.
Now we can see there are a number of rows that aren't for our custom campaigns.
We can see a row for 'organic'.
A row for 'direct'.
A row for 'referral'.
And one for 'not set'.
So we need to create another filter to remove these rows from the chart.
Let's scroll to the bottom of the 'Setup' tab.
And click 'Add A Filter'.
We can see the filter we just created, but we need to create a new one, so let's
select 'Create A Filter' at the bottom.
Let's name the filter 'Custom Campaigns Only'.
And let's change 'Include'.
To 'Exclude'.
Now we need to search for 'Session Campaign'.
Then select 'Regular Expression Match'.
Now I want you to enter 'carrot', 'backslash', 'opening
bracket', 'opening bracket'.
'Organic', 'pipe', 'direct', 'pipe', 'referral', 'pipe', 'not set'.
'Closing bracket', 'backslash', 'closing bracket', 'dollar sign'.
This will match any campaigns with a value of organic, direct,
referral, or not set inside brackets.
You might need to customize this regular expression, depending on
what you find in your GA4 reports.
So feel free to add additional values if needed.
I've included the regular expression I've used in the description below this video.
Okay, now let's click 'Save'.
That's it!
We can see our table is updated and the rows showing organic, direct, referral,
and not set traffic have been removed.
Let's copy our original table again.
We're going to use this table to present the landing pages on our website.
This will show us the pages people see first when they travel to our website.
To do this, we need to change the dimension.
Let's select 'Session Default Channel Grouping'.
And let's search for 'Landing Page'.
The landing page dimension from GA4 isn't currently available in Looker Studio,
so I'm going to show you how to create a filter to only include your landing pages.
So instead of 'Landing Page', let's search for and select 'Page Path'.
The table now includes all of the pages on our website, but this
doesn't mean people have landed on these pages, so let's scroll down.
And add a filter.
Now let's click 'Create A Filter' at the bottom.
Let's name the filter 'Landing Pages Only'.
Let's leave 'Include' selected.
And let's search for and select 'Event Name'.
Then let's select 'Equal To'.
And enter 'session', 'underscore', 'start' as the value.
This means we will only be including pages where the session start event occurred.
So this will let us view the first page people viewed in a session.
I imagine Google will add the landing page dimension to Looker Studio
soon, but this shows you how you can do it until the dimension is added.
Now let's click
'Save'.
That's it!
We can see the table now shows us the landing pages people
have viewed on the website.
And we could customize this further by adding a second dimension or
adjusting the metrics, but I'm going to leave this chart as it is.
Now let's add one more visualization to our report.
I want to add a stacked bar chart that shows the overall trend for
our top five marketing channels.
To do this, let's select 'Add A Chart'.
And choose the 'stacked column chart' option.
And let's resize the chart.
We can see that the chart is showing us the different marketing channels, but I
want to see the trend for the date range, so we will need to modify the chart.
Let's start by changing the dimension from 'Session Default Channel Grouping'.
To
'Date'.
Now we can see that the dates aren't in order, so let's change
the 'Sort' from 'Sessions'.
And change this to 'Date'.
And then we need to select 'Ascending'.
Okay, so now we can see the dates in order, but I want to view more days,
so let's select the 'Style' tab.
And change the number of bars from '10' to '28'.
Now the chart includes a lot of information, and I only want to see
the top 5 marketing channels, so let's change the series from '10' to '5'.
Finally, we need to change the dimension because the chart is
showing us custom campaigns, and I want to see marketing channels.
To do this, let's select the 'Setup' tab.
And change the breakdown dimension from 'Session Campaign'.
To 'Session Default Channel Grouping'.
That's it!
We can now see the overall trend for our top 5 marketing
channels and a daily breakdown.
Before we wrap up, I want to show you two more things as
you begin using Looker Studio.
First, you can adjust the names of dimensions and
metrics used in your reports.
To do this, we need to select a chart.
Let's select the chart we created for referrals.
You can then hover over the metric or dimension you want to rename.
And click on the edit icon.
I can now rename the dimension.
Let's name this one 'Referrals'.
And let's also repeat this for the landing pages table.
Let's change 'Page Path' to 'Landing Pages'.
Okay, finally, let's take a look at the default themes available in Looker Studio.
These allow you to quickly change the style of your report or dashboard.
To change the theme, let's click 'Theme and Layout'.
We can now see the default themes that are available.
This is a quick way to adjust the overall style of your reports.
We've now created a Looker Studio dashboard to understand how
people are finding our website using data from Google Analytics.
I recommend taking some time to explore the different visualization options you
can use in your reports and dashboards.
And to learn even more about Looker Studio, take a moment to
check out the extra resources in the description below this video.
What dashboards and reports are you going to create with Looker Studio?
I'd love to know!
Let me know in the comments below.
And if you found this video helpful, please like it, so I know
to make more videos like this one.
Thanks for watching and I'll see you in the next video!