How to Create a Metrics Dashboard in Google Sheets

Building a powerful metrics dashboard doesn't require expensive software. You can create a surprisingly robust and dynamic dashboard using a tool you probably already use every day: Google Sheets. This guide will walk you through the entire process, step-by-step, from organizing your raw data to creating interactive charts that give you a clear view of your business performance.

First, Organize Your Data

Before you can visualize anything, you need a solid foundation of clean, organized data. The quality of your dashboard is directly tied to the quality of your source data - a concept often called "garbage in, garbage out." Taking a few minutes to structure it correctly will save you hours of headaches later.

The "Raw Data" Tab

The best practice is to keep your raw data on its own dedicated sheet. This separates your source of truth from your calculations and visualizations, making your workbook much easier to manage.

1. Create a new Google Sheet and name your first tab "Raw Data."

2. Import or paste your data here. If you're manually exporting CSVs from platforms like Google Analytics, Facebook Ads, or Shopify, this is where that information will live.

Your data should be structured in a simple, tabular format. This means:

• One Header Row: The very first row should contain clear, descriptive headers for each column (e.g., "Date," "Campaign," "Clicks," "Spend," "Conversions").

• Consistent Columns: Each column should represent a single dimension or metric. Don't mix dates and text in the same column.

• No Blank Rows or Columns: Keep your data contiguous. Formulas and charts work best with a solid block of data.

• No Merged Cells: Merged cells are the enemy of data analysis. They break formulas and make sorting and filtering a nightmare. Avoid them completely in your "Raw Data" sheet.

The "Dashboard" Tab

Next, create a second tab and name it "Dashboard." This is where you'll build your visualizations and summary metrics. Keeping it separate prevents you from accidentally messing up your source data and gives you a clean canvas to work with.

Your workbook should now have at least two tabs: "Raw Data" and "Dashboard." With this structure in place, you’re ready to start crunching some numbers.

Summarize Your Key Metrics

Your dashboard’s goal isn't to show every single data point, but to highlight the most important ones. This is done by creating a summary table of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that pull information from your "Raw Data" sheet. In your "Dashboard" tab, create a small section for these calculations - you can hide it later or place it off to an organized side.

Here are some of the most useful Google Sheets functions for this:

For Simple Summaries: SUM, AVERAGE, COUNT

These are the basics. If you want to know your total ad spend, total clicks, or average session duration, these functions are perfect.

For example, if your ad spend data is in column D of your "Raw Data" tab, your formula for total spend would be:

=SUM('Raw Data'!D:D)

For Conditional Summaries: SUMIFS and COUNTIFS

Most of the time, you’ll want to summarize data based on certain conditions. For example, what was the total revenue just from your "Facebook Ads" campaign? This is where SUMIFS and COUNTIFS shine.

The syntax for SUMIFS is: =SUMIFS(sum_range, criteria_range1, criterion1, [criteria_range2, criterion2, ...])

Imagine your data is set up like this in the "Raw Data" sheet:

• Column A: Campaign Name

• Column B: Clicks

• Column C: Spend

To calculate the total spend for a campaign named "Summer Sale 2024," you would use:

=SUMIFS('Raw Data'!C:C, 'Raw Data'!A:A, "Summer Sale 2024")

This formula tells Google Sheets to sum up the values in column C only when the corresponding row in column A contains "Summer Sale 2024."

For More Powerful Analysis: The QUERY Function

The QUERY function is arguably the most powerful function in Google Sheets. It lets you use SQL-like language to select, filter, and organize your data all in one single command. It might look intimidating, but it’s easier than it seems.

The basic structure is: =QUERY(data_range, "query_statement").

Let's use our previous example. To find the total spend from "Facebook Ads", you could use:

=QUERY('Raw Data'!A:C, "SELECT SUM(C) WHERE A = 'Facebook Ads'")

This formula tells Google Sheets to look at the data in columns A through C, select the sum of column C, but only for rows where column A is 'Facebook Ads'. The result is a single calculated number.

Where QUERY really becomes useful is creating entire summary tables. For example, what if you want a table showing the total spend for every campaign? You can do this without writing dozens of SUMIFS formulas:

=QUERY('Raw Data'!A:C, "SELECT A, SUM(B), SUM(C) GROUP BY A")

This single formula will generate a beautiful summary table with every unique campaign name from Column A, the total sum of clicks from Column B, and the total sum of spend from Column C.

Bring Your Data to Life with Charts

Now for the fun part: visualizing your summary metrics. A well-designed chart can convey information in seconds that would take minutes to understand in a table.

Choosing the Right Chart for a Metric

The key to effective visualization is picking the right chart for the job.

• 📈 Line Chart: Perfect for tracking a metric over time. Use it to show website traffic per week, daily revenue, or lead growth month-over-month.

• 📊 Column/Bar Chart: Ideal for comparing values across different categories. Use it to compare revenue by marketing channel, sales per product, or conversion rates by campaign.

• 🥧 Pie or Donut Chart: Use these to show a part-to-whole relationship, like the percentage of traffic from each source (e.g., Organic Search, Social, Direct). Be cautious - they are hard to read if you have more than 5-6 categories.

• 🔢 Scorecard Chart: Excellent for displaying a single, standalone KPI. Use this for your most important numbers like "Total Revenue This Month" or "New Users."

Creating and Customizing Your Charts

Google Sheets makes this part easy.

1. Select the data from your summary table that you want to visualize. For example, your table of campaigns and their total revenue.

2. Go to the menu and click Insert > Chart. Google Sheets will suggest a chart type, but you can change it in the Chart Editor that appears on the right.

3. In the Chart Editor, head to the "Customize" tab. Here you can tweak everything to make your chart clear and professional:

   • Chart Style: Change background colors and fonts.

   • Chart & Axis Titles: Give your chart a descriptive title that a teammate could easily understand like "Ad Spend by Campaign." Label your X and Y axes.

   • Series: Adjust the colors of your bars or lines to match your brand or highlight key data points.

   • Legend: Position the legend where it’s easiest to read (usually top or right).

Arrange these charts neatly on your "Dashboard" tab to create your visual masterpiece.

Make Your Dashboard Interactive

A static dashboard is useful, but an interactive one is truly powerful. By adding user-controlled filters, you empower your team (and yourself) to slice and dice the data without ever needing to touch a formula.

Method 1: Using Drop-down Menus (Data Validation)

You can create a drop-down menu that allows a user to select a product, a campaign, or a team member, and have your charts update automatically. This requires linking your SUMIFS or QUERY formulas to the cell with the dropdown.

1. Choose a cell on your dashboard for the filter (e.g., cell A1).

2. Go to Data > Data validation.

3. In the "Criteria" dropdown, select "List from a range" and choose the range in your "Raw Data" sheet containing the values you want to filter by (e.g., the column with all your unique campaign names).

4. Click "Save." You now have a drop-down menu in cell A1.

Now, adjust your summary formulas to reference this dropdown. For example, modify your QUERY formula:

=QUERY('Raw Data'!A:C, "SELECT SUM(C) WHERE A = '"&A1&"'")

Did you see the change? Instead of hardcoding "Facebook Ads", we are now referencing the value in cell A1. Whenever someone changes the value in that dropdown, the formula recalcualtes, and any chart linked to it will update instantly.

Method 2: Using Slicers

Slicers are a more modern and user-friendly way to add filters. A slicer is a floating button-based filter that can control multiple charts and tables at once.

1. Click anywhere inside one of your charts or a Pivot Table.

2. Go to the menu and choose Data > Add a Slicer.

3. In the Slicer editor that appears on the right, for the "Column," choose the field you want to filter by (e.g., "Campaign" or "Country").

4. You can move this slicer anywhere on your dashboard tab and use it to filter all objects connected to that dataset.

Place your slicers at the top of your dashboard for an intuitive, pro-level user experience.

Final Thoughts

Building a dashboard in Google Sheets is an incredible skill that puts the power of data directly in your hands. By separating your data, summarizing it with powerful functions, choosing the right visualizations, and adding interactive filters, you can turn a lifeless spreadsheet into a command center for your business.

While Google Sheets is an amazing and endlessly flexible tool, we know that the manual process of exporting CSVs from dozens of different platforms is its biggest limitation. At Graphed, we've felt the pain of spending Monday mornings manually updating reports from HubSpot, Google Ads, and Salesforce. That’s why we automated it. We built a tool that connects to all of your data sources and keeps your dashboards updated in real time. Better yet, you can create reports using plain English instead. If you're ready to get your time back and go from question to insight in seconds, check out Graphed.