How to Create a Complete SEO Dashboard in Google Data Studio

Author's avatar Analytics UPDATED Apr 12, 2023 PUBLISHED Jun 9, 2022 18 minutes read

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    Peter Caputa

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    Ranking first on Google’s SERP is everyone’s wish. Some may even think it’s easy—you create high-quality content, and voila! One day, you wake up in a featured snippet.

    However, SEO requires a lot of skill, time, and data-tracking to make that wish come true. It’s a long-run game that doesn’t give you instant results, and it’s critical to make data-driven decisions to make the most out of your efforts.

    But how do you make informed decisions when there’s so much data to track and analyze, and so many SEO tools that collect that data? You need a tool that gives you a simple, quick overview of your activities so you can come up with ways to perform better with the limited resources you’ve got.

    Google Data Studio may be the solution you’re looking for. In this guide, we’ll help you set up your very first SEO dashboard in Google Data Studio, for easy monitoring of all your relevant data in one place.

    ga_seo_dashboard_template_databox

    What Is Google Data Studio?

    Google Data Studio is a data visualization and analytics tool. It helps users display their data as informative, shareable, customizable reports and dashboards for marketing and SEO campaigns. The tool displays the raw data strategically, which makes it easy to read and interpret, so the user can easily draw conclusions and make data-based decisions.

    Google Data Studio is loved by many because of the opportunity to create and customize your own dashboards and make the data digestible and visually appealing. Moreover, Google Data Studio allows you to use your brand identity with the dashboards, so the reports you create truly represent your business in every way.

    It’s worth mentioning that Google Data Studio is free and belongs to the Google Marketing Platform toolkit, a useful set of marketing tools for companies of all sizes.

    SEO Use Cases for Google Data Studio Dashboards

    In terms of SEO, Google Data Studio is an effective tool for creating SEO reports. It allows the user to get strategic insight into their data and create a compelling narrative around it, tailored to their audience.

    With an SEO dashboard, Google Data Studio helps you see the whole picture of your campaign or project and plan the future actions accordingly. Here are a few examples of what you can do:

    1. Examine the performance of your target keywords and identify new keyword opportunities: an efficient SEO dashboard in Google Data Studio will allow you to track important metrics such as clicks and impressions from Google Search Console, so you can evaluate what keywords deserve your attention and effort.
    2. Track your traffic and measure new keyword traffic potential: to enable steady growth for your website, you need to track organic traffic, sudden spikes, and drops in traffic, and determine how much traffic new keywords could bring and how many leads or conversions you could get from that traffic.
    3. Identify if you’re addressing the right search intent: if you have an ecommerce website, for example, it’s important to target the transactional search intent as the keywords behind this intent are used by people ready to make a purchase.
    4. Improve SEO reporting: with Google Data Studio’s simple interface, you can improve SEO reporting and data storytelling by pulling data from different sources, visualizing multiple data combinations, and allowing collaborators without SEO knowledge to obtain strategic insights.

    How to Build an SEO Dashboard in Google Data Studio?

    All it takes to get started is to create a free account. When you do so, you can start telling stories with your data—we’ll show you how.

    1. Start a Project
    2. Determine Your KPIs and Metrics
    3. Add Preferred Visualizations
    4. Mix & Match Your Visualizations, Change Themes and More

    1. Start a Project

    When starting a new project in Google Data Studio, you’ll face a blank page that you need to build from scratch. Here’s how to access this page:

    1. Open your Google Data Studio account and select Blank Report.
    Google Data Studio account overview
    1. Choose a connector to pull the data from. You’ll see various options, such as Google Search Console, Google Ads, Google Analytics, and YouTube Analytics.
    Choose a connector to pull the data from
    1. When prompted, select domain property, site-wide vs. page-specific data (site vs. URL impression), and search type (web, image, video, news), then click on Add to complete.
    select domain property
    1. You’ll be taken to a blank page where you can start building the report.

    Note: To add more data sources, click on the Resource tab at the top and choose Manage Added Data Sources from the drop-down menu. You can connect new data sources here or modify the parameters you previously selected.

    To start adding visualizations, you need to choose one dimension and one metric at least. You can do it by clicking on the Data tab and selecting what you need for the report, for example, total URL Clicks by Device category.

    2. Determine Your KPIs and Metrics

    The ultimate proof that your SEO efforts are working is, of course, the amount of organic traffic you gain. However, there are more relevant SEO KPIs and metrics to follow if you want to see how much your SEO efforts are paying off.

    • Keywords: Identify what keywords you’re ranking for and which ones are valuable for you or easy to rank for (high search volume and low keyword difficulty)
    • Average position: The more Google evaluates your content as relevant and high-quality, the better your average ranking will be. Positions from one to four usually mean you’ll be found on the first page of SERPs
    • Impressions: A high number of impressions means that your website is appearing in the search results, even if it may not be driving actual traffic just yet.
    • Total clicks and CTR: As you keep ranking for relevant keywords and appearing to your target audience, your number of organic clicks and CTR will also increase and signal to Google that you’re creating quality content.
    • Device Type: Insights you gain from tracking the device type your website visitors typically use can help you to optimize your website to drive even more traffic, clicks, and conversions from a specific device type.
    • Country: if your website isn’t location-specific, you also want to track where your users come from so you can adjust your future content accordingly.

    Related: 15 Tips for Setting Realistic Website Traffic Goals

    3. Add Preferred Visualizations

    To let you build a customized SEO dashboard, Google Data Studio offers many data visualizations so you can choose what suits the best the data you want to display.

    Google Data Studio visualizations

    You can add:

    Line Charts

    To add a line chart, suitable for metrics like total unique visitors over time or organic traffic over time, follow these steps:

    1. Select Add chart in the toolbar and choose Line from the drop-down menu.
    2. Drag and drop the chart where you want it on the page.
    3. Select the desired metric from the bar on the right.
    Line Chart example
    1. Navigate to Default date range and add the date you want to create a comparison for.

    Bar Charts

    If you want a bar chart, appropriate for comparing the performance of two pages or more pages, for example, follow the steps below:

    1. Click on Add chart in the toolbar and choose Bar.
    2. Place the bar chart where you deem suitable on the page.
    3. Choose the metrics you want to display through the bar chart.
    4. For a more detailed view, choose the Breakdown Dimension and add a preferred field.
    Google data studio bar chart example

    Geo Charts

    For a geo chart, which is great for representing your website visitors by country, do the following:

    1. Click on Add chart and find Geo chart.
    2. Place the chart in the desired area.
    3. Click on the Style tab in the right sidebar to adjust the colors of the chart, if necessary.
    Google data studio geo chart example

    Device-Type Pie Charts

    If you want a device-type pie chart, which can help you optimize your website for the device that gets you the most visits and clicks, follow the steps below:

    1. Select Add chart and click on Pie. Alternatively, click on Insert, then Pie Chart.
    2. Drag the chart and drop it in the desired area.
    3. Choose Device Category in the right sidebar.
    Google data studio device type pie chart example

    Time Series

    To add a time series chart, which is helpful for displaying how your metrics have grown over time (like organic traffic, for example), follow the steps below:

    1. Click on Add chart and choose the chart style you want under Time series. You can also click on Insert, then Time series.
    2. Choose the desired data range (Google will automatically set it to 28 days, but you can modify if necessary).
    3. Select the desired metric you want to display.

    Tables

    If you want to add a table, suitable for displaying high-level metrics of your SEO performance at-a-glance, do the following:

    1. Either click on Insert and choose Table, or select Add a chart and choose Table from there.
    2. Place the table in the desired area on the page.
    How to add a table visualization in google data studio?
    1. Select the desired dimension and metric from the right sidebar and drop them in the table.

    Scorecards

    If you need a scorecard, which can help you track metrics like bounce rate, organic visitors, average time on page, and more, follow the steps below:

    1. Click on Insert in the toolbar at the top and select Scorecard from the drop-down menu.
    How to insert a scorecard in Google data studio report?
    1. Place it on your dashboard.
    2. From the right sidebar, choose the metric you want to display and the desired data range.

    Date Slicers

    To add a date slicer, suitable for comparing your performance in different periods, follow these steps:

    1. Select the date range icon located in the toolbar at the top.
    2. Drag and drop the icon on your dashboard.
    3. Choose the default date range under the Data tab.

    4. Mix & Match Your Visualizations, Change Themes, and More

    Other than a large number of different data visualizations, Google Data Studio allows you to “brand” your reports by adding your company logo to the report, or choosing among a wide range of themes, colors, and text options.

    Choose visualizations and themes that suit the story you want to tell with the data and help you tell it in the most effective way possible, especially if your audience is made of those with limited SEO knowledge.

    PRO TIP: Looking for ways to track your organic search, and learn which keywords and landing pages are ranking best? This Databox dashboard can help you decide which topics and keywords to focus on for content marketing.

    How to Share a Google Data Studio SEO Dashboard?

    Especially in remote and distributed teams, it’s critical for you to be able to share your reports easily. Even more if several people are working on the same report—sending it back and forth would be too complicated and time-consuming. Thanks to Google Data Studio, you can simply create a collaborative SEO dashboard and share it with your team in a few clicks.

    The steps are straightforward:

    1. Click on the Share button in the upper right corner of the screen.
    2. Add email addresses of people you want to share the dashboard with.
    3. Click Share to confirm and you’re done!

    With Databox, you can share any report easier than ever before. It’s super easy to get started. Try Databox for free now.

    how to share databox reports

    Limitations of Making SEO Dashboards in Google Data Studio

    Despite offering a wide range of practical features, Google Data Studio isn’t all-powerful—there are several limitations to this tool, which you may want to consider.

    • You can’t use all custom metrics you may need for your reports, such as keyword search volume.
    • You can’t display year-over-year trends in Google Data Studio.
    • When combining data from multiple data sources, you will most likely experience some data discrepancy issues.
    • You can’t manipulate data within the native Google Data Studio platform. To do this, you would have to connect a separate spreadsheet through the GDS File Upload connector.

    Benefits of Using Databox for Building SEO Dashboards

    Is there a way to overcome the limitations of using Google Data Studio for building SEO dashboards? You may want to try Databox. Databox dashboards and templates come with multiple benefits you may appreciate. Here are a few examples of what you can do in Databox:

    Databox top features

    Free SEO Dashboard Templates

    Databox offers over 25 free SEO dashboard templates that you can start using instantly and save your time. You can see a few examples in this section, but make sure you visit our website to find more use cases and learn how you can create an even deeper analysis with various dashboard templates.

    Google Analytics KPI Dashboard

    With our simple Google Analytics KPI dashboard template, you can have a streamlined overview of the most relevant website engagement analytics and other SEO performance indicators. Discover your top-performing keywords, track the number of returning visitors, identify the channels that drive the most traffic, and more.

    Google Analytics KPI Dashboard

    Available metrics:

    • Pageviews
    • Top pages by pageview
    • Pages per session
    • Average session duration
    • Bounce rate, and more.

    Google Analytics Acquisition Snapshot Dashboard

    The Google Analytics Acquisition Snapshot dashboard template enables you to examine your traffic sources on a deeper level. Tracking the metrics included in this dashboard will help you identify your top-performing campaigns, paid and organic keywords, top traffic sources, and more.

    Google Analytics Acquisition Snapshot Dashboard

    Available metrics:

    • Sessions by source
    • Bounce rate
    • % new sessions
    • Sessions by social network, and more.

    Google Analytics Landing Page SEO Dashboard

    With our streamlined Google Analytics Landing Page SEO dashboard template, you can discover your top-performing landing pages, find out the total number of sessions, and whether those landing pages are successful in generating goal completions.

    Google Analytics Landing Page SEO Dashboard

    Available metrics:

    • Organic sessions by landing page
    • Organic goal completions by landing page
    • Top organic landing pages
    • Organic clicks by page, and more.

    Google Analytics Traffic Growth Dashboard

    This simple Google Analytics Traffic Growth dashboard template helps you dig deeper into your website traffic. With a streamlined overview of your most important metrics, you can easily discover which traffic sources, referrers, and social media platforms drive the most users to your website, and which devices they use to engage with your pages.

    Google Analytics Traffic Growth Dashboard

    Available metrics:

    • Sessions by referring domain/social network
    • Sessions by device category
    • Sessions by geo location
    • Mobile traffic bounce rate, and more.

    Google My Business Dashboard

    With our Google My Business dashboard template, you can learn if your SEO efforts are paying off in terms of bringing traffic to your website through organic search. By tracking useful metrics available in this dashboard, you can answer important questions like which sources drive the most searches for your business or how many people in total viewed your listing.

    Google My Business Dashboard

    Available metrics:

    • Number of views
    • Number of phone calls
    • Searches by source
    • Views by listings, and more.

    Google Analytics Content Analysis Dashboard

    This Google Analytics Content Analysis dashboard template allows you to track and measure content performance and gain insights that will help you to improve your content strategy. By learning how your visitors engage with your content, you can discover your top-performing pages and find out where your most active visitors are located.

    Google Analytics Content Analysis Dashboard

    Available metrics:

    • Pageviews by page
    • Pageviews by country
    • Sessions by landing page
    • Goal completions by landing page, and more.

    Google Search Console Dashboard

    With this Google Search Console dashboard template, you can track your average Google search position by page on your website, as well as the number of impressions and clicks. That will help you determine which page has the best chance to rank at the top position, so you can come up with an actionable plan to make it happen.

    Google Search Console Dashboard

    Available metrics:

    • Positions by pages
    • Average search position
    • Google search impressions
    • Google search clicks, and more.

    Free SEO Dashboard Setup Service

    If you’re not sure which metrics you should add to your SEO dashboard, have no time to build it from scratch, or want to recreate old reports in your new Databox dashboard, we’re here to help.

    Databox offers a free SEO dashboard setup service—our expert will build you a free, customized dashboard in 24 hours, while highlighting the key functionalities you may want to use to examine your SEO performance. You’ll get invaluable guidance on what KPIs and metrics to track and advice on how to structure your dashboard, tailored to your industry and provided by our team of professionals.

    Free SEO Dashboard Setup Service

    How to get started?

    1. Create a free account and connect the dashboard with a data source.
    2. Share an existing report or make a wishlist of metrics you want to include in the dashboard and share it with our support team.
    3. Get your dashboard within 24 hours, all set up in the most streamlined way possible.
    4. Book a call with an expert from our support team and get tips on how to make the most out of your new SEO dashboard.
    ga_seo_dashboard_template_databox

    Bring Your SEO Reporting to the Next Level with Databox

    Tired of chasing your data through several dashboards and never knowing where’s what? Spending hours choosing the appropriate visualizations to make the dashboard neat and understandable? Stressing about what metrics to choose, but always feeling like something’s missing?

    Not anymore. We mastered the art of building beautiful and digestible dashboards so you can skip right to the part where you analyze your data and draw conclusions that will help you improve your SEO strategy.

    Connect your Databox dashboard with over 70 data sources and use pre-built templates and customization to bring your SEO reporting to the next level and easily gain valuable insights into your keyword ranking, traffic, and more.

    Want to rank better? Create your free Databox account and get started right away.

    Author's avatar
    Article by
    Stefana Zaric

    Stefana Zarić is a freelance writer & content marketer. Other than writing for SaaS and fintech clients, she educates future writers who want to build a career in marketing. When not working, Stefana loves to read books, play with her kid, travel, and dance.

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