Google Data Studio is a free reporting and visualization tool that helps you to create, share and embed data driven charts and graphs. It combines the best parts of Google Sheets and Google Slides with a powerful data engine so that you can visualize your data in ways that weren’t possible before. Learn how to create your own dashboard today!
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Data Studio offers many different templates for dashboards to choose from. However, it doesn’t offer some of the features that are offered in Google Sheets, such as merge cells or pivot tables.
For those features, you will need to export your table to CSV format. You can also use an existing table from a spreadsheet, but make sure it’s formatted correctly. Some formatting rules include:
- No specific number formatting (e.g., currency)
- No complex formulas
- Text should be in column A
- Formulas should go in column B
Choosing the type of dashboard you want
Once you have formatted your table, it’s time to choose the type of dashboard you want. Data Studio offers many different templates for dashboards to choose from. Some of the templates are more appropriate for a specific type of data set than others, so that might be something to consider when you’re deciding on which one to use.
For example:
- If you have a user-generated content blog with posts on the date they were published and the number of likes they received, then an Impression dashboard might be best suited for your needs. This dashboard will show how many impressions each post generated in Google Search or YouTube
- If you have a social media account with metrics like impressions, engagements, and click-through rates over a period of time, then an Engagement dashboard might be best suited for your needs. This dashboard will show the number of daily impressions, engagements (shares or retweets), and clicks through rate
Setting up your template
Now that you have your table fully formatted and ready to go, it’s time to set up your template. Select the “Insert” button on the left menu bar and then click on “Chart.” Choose the type of chart you want to create.
- Next, select a default preset that will be used for this data table. This will make it easier if you share this template with other people so they know what types of data to add.
- Select the “Edit Source Data” tab at the bottom of the page and choose your data source from Google Sheets or CSV file, whichever you chose before.
- Finally, click “Apply & Preview,” which will show you how your template will look once populated with data. If necessary, adjust anything in order to get it just right before clicking “Done.”
Adding rows to your Google Data Studio dashboard
To add a row to your Google Data Studio dashboard, follow these steps:
- From the top menu, click “Insert”
- Select “Data Table”
- Under “Browse for data source,” select the CSV file that you prepared in the last step.
- Next, insert a y-axis label for your table and set the title of the chart.
- If you want to add a title and subtitle to your chart, click on the “chart area” and choose the option from the top menu.
- Highlight all of the cells under A2 and drag them below row 1 to create a new column labeled B.
Creating charts in Google Data Studio
Once you have your table formatted correctly, you are ready to start creating charts in Data Studio.
The first step is to click “Create New” and then select the type of chart you want to create. There are many different types of charts to choose from, including line, bar, area, pie, column and scatter. You will also need to decide what kind of data you would like to analyze. Some common options include “Table,” “Unpivot,” and “Custom SQL.”
If you selected “Table,” then Data Studio will automatically pull the data from your sheet and construct the chart for you. If you selected “Unpivot,” then Data Studio will take all the rows in the table and turn them into columns, which might be useful if your data is organized by date or category instead of by row.
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The third option allows you to enter custom SQL queries that will be used in a query filter for your data set.
Linking your data to a chart or table
After you have created a table, you will want to link the data in that table to a chart. In Data Studio, go to the left-hand panel and click “Design.” In the right-hand panel, scroll down until you see “Data Table.” Select your table and drag it into this panel.
Now, go back to the left-hand panel and click “Design” again. This time, select “Chart.” Drag your chart over and drop it onto the right-hand side of the page.
Select the data table that is linked to your chart, then drag it onto the left-hand panel on top of your chart. You are now ready to customize your chart with different options such as colors or sizes for each column.
Additional formatting options for charts and tables
Once you’ve formatted your table, it’s time to start building charts! Select the “New Report” button on the left-hand side of the screen. Data Studio will take you to a blank report where you can start adding charts and tables.
If you want to insert a chart, click on the “Insert Chart” button and then select from a variety of different types of charts. You can also format the data for these charts by selecting from one of three options:
1) Raw data
2) Aggregated data
3) Custom defined data points
To insert a table into your report, click on “Insert Table” in the right-hand corner of the screen. Data Studio will give you a number of options for formatting your table. For example, you can choose to show or hide column headers or apply filters such as sorting by certain columns or hiding certain columns.
There are many different formatting options available so feel free to play around with them until they are just right!
Formatting charts and tables with colors, borders, or fill patterns
Now that you have the correct formatting for your table, it’s time to format your charts.
- Open Google Sheets
- Select chart type, such as column chart or line chart
- Select data from table in column A and choose chart type
- Add labels to X and Y axis (if applicable)
- Change date format if needed (can be found under ‘Number’ section)
- Format text if desired: add border, fill pattern, or color
Formatting tables with column widths and row heights
If you want to format your table with a specific column width and row height, you’ll need to adjust the formatting settings in the first row of your table.
- To adjust row heights, highlight the entire row and click “Format” then “Row Height”.
- To adjust column widths, highlight the entire column and click “Format” then “Column Width.”
What Is Google Data Studio?
Google Data Studio is a free reporting and visualization tool that helps you to create, share and embed data driven charts and graphs. It combines the best parts of Google Sheets and Google Slides with a powerful data engine so that you can visualize your data in ways that weren’t possible before.
Data Studio offers many different templates for dashboards to choose from. However, it doesn’t offer some of the features that are offered in Google Sheets, such as merge cells or pivot tables. For those features, you will need to export your table to CSV format. You can also use an existing table from a spreadsheet, but make sure it’s formatted correctly. Some formatting rules include:
- No specific number formatting (e.g., currency)
- No complex formulas
- Text should be in column A
- Formulas should go in column B
How To Create Your Own Dashboard
To start, click on the New Dashboard button in the top left. You will see a few options for templates to choose from. Once you have chosen one, you’ll be brought to a screen where you can customize your dashboard. All of the data sources and visualizations used in your template are listed on the left hand side.
Your first step is to create a new data source by clicking on “Create new data source”. You will then be able to enter a name for your data source and add columns. In this example, we’re creating a “Posts” data source with two columns: Post Title and Post Content. Next, we need to connect our data source with our visualization by clicking “your_data_source_name > Connections”. Once you’ve clicked on Connections, you’ll be shown all of the available connections for that particular chart type.
In this example, we’re connecting our Posts Data Source with an area chart visualization that’s showing total monthly impressions over time (similar to Google Analytics). To finish up, we need to set up some properties for our visualization as well as formatting for it.
In order for us to make readable labels on the x-axis of our chart, we’ll need to modify the Label settings at the bottom right corner of our visualization properties window.
We also want to change the Unit of Measurement from Monthly Impressions (millions) over Time (months) to Monthly Impressions (thousands) over.
Choosing a Template
There are six templates to choose from in Data Studio:
- Bar Graph
- Line Graph
- Pie Chart
- Table
- Scatter Plot
- Word Cloud
Each template offers different chart options and rows on the dashboard. For example, the Line Graph can show multiple lines on one chart while the Pie Chart can show multiple slices of a pie. Additionally, each template has an option for presenting data or just viewing it as a dashboard.
The Table and Bar Graph templates both offer filters for changing your data set. When choosing a template for your dashboard, be sure to consider what you want the end product to look like.
You may also want to consider how many rows of data you have since that will determine which template you should use.
Customizing your Dashboard
When you’re on the dashboard template selection page, select the “Customize this dashboard” option. This will let you customize the dashboard with your data.
A chart is a visual representation of data that is divided into two main components: data and presentation. For example, a pie chart will show you how many people responded to a survey question on “How would you rate this service?”
The total number of responses is used for the data and the percentage of each response is used for the presentation.
To create your own chart, go to “Insert –> Chart.” After selecting your desired type for the chart, enter in your data and click on “Create Chart.” You can also use Google’s pre-built charts online.
Along with creating charts from scratch, you can also insert images from Google Drive or YouTube videos as well as edit text boxes with text formatting or highlight certain cells with different colors.
If you have any questions about Google Data Studio dashboards or using them to visualize your own data, feel free to comment below!
How To Import A CSV Table To Google Data Studio
There are a few ways to import a table into Data Studio. One of the easiest is to use the Import Data menu, under the Share menu. Clicking that will open a menu and allow you to choose what type of file you want to upload. If it’s in CSV format, click “CSV.”
Next, you’ll need to navigate your browser to find the CSV file on your computer. Once you find it, select and open it.
Now that your data has been uploaded, you’ll be able to see what columns it has available. You can add column labels by clicking on Add Labels button at the top of the column header list.
You’re ready to create your first dashboard! To start from scratch or edit an existing dashboard, click Create or Edit from the dashboard’s dropdown menu in Data Studio. Choose which template you would like from the Dashboard Templates section.
From there, you can customize and rearrange your different charts and graphs until they look just how you want them.
Tips and Tricks for Creating a Dashboard
If you’re creating a dashboard, it’s important to have a well-designed table. To make sure your table is formatted correctly, follow these rules:
- No specific number formatting (e.g., currency)
- No complex formulas
- Text should be in column A
- Formulas should go in column B
Here are some ideas on what content to include in your dashboard:
- Company overview -Top content or web pages by engagement metrics -Social media performance by platform and content type (photos, videos, links)
- Top customers by revenue/profit/sales or sales cycle length
Exporting Your Table to CSV Format
To export your table to CSV format, on the menu bar, click “Data” and then “Get Data.” From there, click on “My Drive,” select the file you want to export from, select “CSV (Comma delimited)” and then press the blue button that says “Go to preview.”
Next, you will see a preview of the data that is about to be exported. You can edit or delete columns by clicking on them. At the bottom of the page, make sure you select a “Table” as your type and then click Next. Finally, name your file something memorable like “Table_Icons.”
Tips and tricks for formatting tables in Google Sheets
You may also want to include conditional formatting to certain cells in your table. Google Sheets doesn’t have an option for this, but there are a few other free tools that you can use that will help.
- Tableau Public
- Excel Online
- Data Studio’s conditional formatting feature
The easiest way to set up a conditional formatting is by using “Tableau Public.” It’s free, and it has many options for adding colors and gradients to cells based on different criteria. You can find the tool here: https://public.tableau.com/views/conditional_formatting/
Alternatively, you can use Excel Online or Data Studio’s conditional formatting features. Both of these are similar to Tableau Public, but they’re not as intuitive to use. To access Data Studio’s conditional formatting feature, go to “Dashboard,” then click “Edit.”
In the menu on the left side of the screen, select “Conditional Formatting” from the “Style” drop-down menu. From here, you’ll be able to add rules for specific cells in your table based on different criteria.
Create your own dashboard using a template
Once you’ve formatted your data, it’s time to create your own dashboard. Here are the steps:
- Open Data Studio and choose a template
- Click “Add Data” in the left sidebar
- Paste in the CSV or Google Sheet table
- Drag the fields you want to include on your dashboard into the columns of your data table
- Design a layout for your dashboard by adding charts, graphs, maps, gauges and other visualizations
- Publish your dashboard to share with others
Check out some of the dashboards that Data Studio offers
Here are a few dashboards that Data Studio provides so you can see what kinds of charts and graphs you can use.
- Brand Awareness Dashboard:
This dashboard includes a variety of graphs including the number of website visits, referral sources, and social media posts. It also features a scatter plot graph for web traffic by day.
- Customer Engagement Dashboard:
This dashboard has many different graphs that show key metrics from your business, including active customers and customer purchases. There’s also a chart for positive feedback from customers, who have rated their experience on your site as good or excellent.
- Product Performance Dashboard:
This dashboard offers many different graphs including sales revenue by product category, net profit by product category, and more. There’s also an area for displaying custom metrics like “goal conversions.”
Google Data Studio login
The first thing you need to do is login to Data Studio. If you have an account, you can simply sign in with your credentials. If not, then you need to create one by clicking on the “Sign Up” button in the top right hand corner of the screen.
Conclusion
Google Data Studio is a useful tool that can help you create and share reports, dashboards, and data visualizations. It’s easy to use and you can customize it to suit your needs.
Google Data Studio offers a variety of templates that you can use to create your own dashboard. The templates are divided into tabs that can help you find the right one for your project:
- Financial
- Marketing
- Analytics
- Other
As you create your dashboard, take a look at the tips and tricks in the sidebar: there are some great shortcuts to help you save time.