How to Create a Project Dashboard in Google Analytics
A focused project dashboard is your secret weapon for tracking success, but Google Analytics doesn't offer one out of the box. Instead of getting lost in generic reports, you can build a custom view that shows you exactly the KPIs that matter for your specific campaign or initiative. This tutorial will walk you through, step-by-step, how to create a tailored project dashboard directly within GA4.
Why Build a Custom Dashboard in Google Analytics?
The standard reports in Google Analytics 4 are designed to give a broad overview of your website or app. They're great for general health checks, but they often include metrics you don't need while burying the ones you do. When you're managing a specific project - like a website redesign, a new content marketing push, or a paid ad campaign - you need to cut through the noise.
A dedicated project dashboard solves this problem by focusing only on the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) related to your project's goals. Instead of clicking through five different reports to piece together a story, you get a single, consolidated view. This approach offers several clear advantages:
Saves Time: All your critical project data is in one place, updated automatically. No more manual data pulls or jumping between different screens.
Improves Clarity: By only including relevant metrics, your dashboard tells a clear, uncluttered story about project performance.
Facilitates Reporting: Sharing progress with stakeholders becomes incredibly simple. You can easily screengrab the dashboard or walk them through the live report.
Aligns with Goals: It forces you to define what success looks like upfront and ensures you're consistently tracking progress against those specific goals.
Before You Build: Define Your Project’s KPIs
A dashboard is only as good as the metrics it tracks. Before you even open Google Analytics, you need to clearly define your project's goals and the KPIs that measure them. Building a dashboard without this step is like starting a road trip without a destination - you'll get a lot of data, but none of it will tell you if you're on the right path.
The KPIs you choose will depend entirely on the nature of your project. Here are a few examples to get you thinking:
Example 1: Website Redesign Project
The goal of a redesign is usually to improve user experience, engagement, and conversions. Your dashboard should reflect that.
User Engagement: Engaged sessions, Average engagement time, and Views per user all indicate whether the new design is holding visitors' attention.
Conversion Rates: Track the completion of key goals, like form submissions, demo requests, or newsletter sign-ups. Comparing these before and after the launch is critical.
Traffic & Sourcing: Monitor metrics like New users and Sessions by source/medium to ensure the redesign hasn't negatively impacted traffic from important channels like organic search.
Example 2: New Content Marketing Campaign
For a content-focused project, you want to know if people are reading your content and if that content is influencing desired actions.
Content Performance: The most important dimension here will be Page path. Match that with metrics like Views, Users, and Engaged sessions to see which articles are resonating.
Audience Acquisition: Is the content bringing in new people? Keep an eye on New users by Landing page.
Attributed Conversions: Are readers taking the next step? Track Conversions (like a newsletter_signup event) on your content pages to measure ROI.
Example 3: Lead Generation Campaign
If you're running paid ads or other lead gen activities, your dashboard needs to connect campaign activity to results.
Campaign Effectiveness: Use Session default channel group or Session source/medium as your primary dimension. Track metrics like Sessions, Engaged sessions, and Users to see which channels are driving quality traffic.
Conversion Metrics: Focus on your lead generation events (e.g., download_ebook, contact_form_submit) and corresponding metrics like Conversions and User conversion rate.
Once you have a short, focused list of 5-7 KPIs, you're ready to start building.
Step-by-Step: Creating Your Dashboard in GA4 Reports
While GA4 doesn't have a classic "dashboard" builder like Universal Analytics did, you can create the same functionality by building a custom report in the "Library" and adding it to your main navigation. In effect, you're creating a permanent, one-click destination for your project data.
Here’s how to do it.
Step 1: Navigate to the Reports Library
In the left-hand navigation menu of your GA4 property, navigate to Reports. From there, select Library. This is command central for creating and organizing all the reports in your GA4 property, including the ones you build yourself.
Step 2: Create a New Detail Report
The Library page shows your existing "collections" (the top-level folders in your navigation) and the reports they contain. At the top of the main area, find and click the blue button that says + Create new report. You'll see two options, choose Create detail report.
A "detail report" is GA4's name for a standard report table with a primary dimension, multiple metrics, and a couple of charts up top.
Step 3: Start from a Template
You can start from scratch, but it’s much easier to begin with a template that’s close to what you need. GA4 provides several options.
For a content project, a good starting point is the Pages and Screens template.
For a campaign tracking dashboard, the Traffic Acquisition template is ideal.
Select the one that best fits your project, and GA4 will pre-populate a report with common dimensions and metrics for you to customize.
Step 4: Customize Your Dimensions and Metrics
This is where you tailor the report to your specific project KPIs. On the right side of the screen, you’ll see panels for Dimensions and Metrics.
Dimensions are the "what" you are measuring (e.g., Page Title, City, Session Source).
Metrics are the numbers you are measuring (e.g., Users, Sessions, Conversions).
Click on either panel to start customizing. You can drag and drop to reorder, click the "x" to remove anything irrelevant, and click "Add dimension/metric" to browse and include the KPIs you defined earlier. For instance, if you're building a content dashboard, you might remove "Page path and screen class" and add "Page title" as your primary dimension for a more readable report. Then you'd add metrics like "New Users," "Engaged Sessions," and your key conversion events.
Step 5: Configure the Charts
Above your report table are two visualization areas. By default, they are often a bar chart and a scatter plot. You can change these by clicking the dropdown menus on the top right of the edit panel. Choose visuals that best represent your most important KPIs. A line chart is great for showing changes over time, while a bar chart excels at comparing different categories. When you've configured everything, click Save at the top-right corner.
Step 6: Save and Add Your Report to a Collection
Now that you have your custom report, you need to make it accessible in the main navigation. Head back to the Library page again.
Create a New Collection: Click Create new collection and start with a blank. Give your collection a clear name, like "Project Dashboards."
Add Your Report: The left panel shows your new collection. The right panel shows the reports you've just created. Drag it over into the collection.
Publish: Click Save at the bottom of the page, then Publish the collection.
Your new dashboard will now appear in your main reporting navigation, providing one-click access to your project data.
Final Thoughts
Building a custom report is just the first step. To make these dashboards truly useful, keep testing different approaches and incorporating best practices. Use GA4's "Add comparison" feature at the top of reports to compare and segment your data. You can follow these steps to create informed strategies, ensuring every piece of data works towards your project's success.
This article walked you through how to create a focused project dashboard in Google Analytics, turning a once overwhelming data stream into a clear, concise view of your performance. By defining KPIs and adding them into your custom report, you gain clarity and enhance your ability to make informed decisions.