How to Create a Simple Dashboard in Google Analytics
Tired of clicking through a dozen different Google Analytics reports just to check your basic traffic numbers? A custom dashboard puts all your essential metrics on one screen, helping you see what's important at a glance. This guide will walk you through, step by step, how to build a simple and effective dashboard right inside Google Analytics.
What Is a Google Analytics Dashboard?
Think of a Google Analytics dashboard as your website's command center. It’s a single page that collects and displays your most important metrics and reports as customizable "widgets" or "cards." Instead of digging through menus to find your traffic sources, top pages, and conversion rates separately, you can arrange them all on one screen for a quick, high-level overview.
The primary benefit is saving time and maintaining focus. By curating your key performance indicators (KPIs) in one spot, you can get a snapshot of your site's health in 30 seconds instead of 30 minutes. It turns data-checking into a simple daily habit rather than a dreaded chore.
In Google Analytics 4, this feature is handled by creating a custom "Overview Report," which functions exactly like a traditional dashboard. You get to pick the data snapshots you care about and arrange them just the way you like.
Before You Start: What Metrics Should Go on Your Dashboard?
Before you jump in and start adding widgets, take a moment to think about what you actually need to see. A dashboard filled with random vanity metrics is just as useless as no dashboard at all. The goal is clarity, not clutter.
Ask yourself one simple question: What is the primary purpose of my website?
Your answer will determine which metrics are truly important. To get you started, here are a few examples based on common website goals:
For a Blogger or Content Creator:
Your goal is likely to grow your audience and keep them engaged. Your dashboard should reflect that.
Views by Page Title: Instantly see which articles are getting the most traffic.
Traffic by Session Source/Medium: Know where your readers are coming from (e.g., Google search, social media, email).
Users by Country: Understand your audience's geographic distribution.
Average Engagement Time: A key metric showing if people are actually reading your content or bouncing away immediately.
User Activity Over Time: Track the daily, weekly, and monthly trends of your site traffic.
For an E-commerce Store Owner:
Your focus is on sales and revenue. Your dashboard needs to be bottom-line-oriented.
Total Revenue: The most important number, right at the top.
Transactions & E-commerce Conversion Rate: See how many people are buying and what percentage of visitors are converting to customers.
Purchases by Item Name: Find out which products are your best-sellers.
Sessions by Channel Group: Understand which marketing channels (Organic Search, Paid Ads, Social) are driving the most revenue-generating traffic.
Add to Carts: A good leading indicator for user purchasing intent.
For a Lead Generation Website (e.g., a Service Business or SaaS):
Your goal is to capture contact information or sign-ups. Your dashboard should track conversions relentlessly.
Goal Completions (Conversions): Track how many people fill out your contact form, download a guide, or book a demo.
Traffic by Source/Medium: See which channels are sending you the most valuable, converting traffic.
Top Landing Pages: Know which pages are most effective at capturing user attention on their first visit.
Form Start & Form Submit Rates: If you've set up custom events, you can see if users are abandoning your intake forms partway through.
Start with 4-6 key metrics. You can always come back and add more later. A simple, focused dashboard is far more effective than an overwhelming one.
How to Create Your First Google Analytics 4 Dashboard
Google Analytics 4 has changed how dashboards work compared to the old version (Universal Analytics). You'll be creating a custom "Overview Report" instead of a "Dashboard," but the end result is the same: one page with all your go-to data.
Step 1: Navigate to the Reports Library
Once you're logged into your Google Analytics account, look at the navigation menu on the left side of the screen. Click on Reports. Then, at the very bottom of that report menu, you'll see a folder icon labeled Library. Click on that. The Library is where all saved and custom reports are stored.
Step 2: Create a New Overview Report
Inside the Library, you’ll see a button that says + Create new report. Click on it, and from the dropdown menu, select Create overview report. This is your blank dashboard canvas.
Step 3: Add Cards (Your Widgets)
Now for the fun part. You’ll see a prompt to + Add cards. A "card" is simply a data visualization - a chart, table, or scorecard showing a specific metric. This is GA4's version of a widget.
When you click it, a panel will slide out from the right showing all the available cards, neatly organized into categories like Acquisition, Engagement, and Monetization. You can search or scroll through to find the ones you need.
Let's pretend we're building the dashboard for a content creator. We would find and click on the following cards:
Views by Page title... in the Engagement section
Sessions by Session medium... in the Acquisition section
Conversions by Event name... to track newsletter signups
User activity over time (already on the canvas by default)
As you check the boxes, the cards will appear on your dashboard canvas. You can then drag and drop them to rearrange their order. Put your most important metrics at the top!
Step 4: Save and Name Your Report
Once you are happy with the cards and their layout, click the blue Save button in the top right corner. You'll be asked to give your new report a name. Be descriptive! Something like "My Content Marketing Dashboard" or "E-commerce Daily Snapshot" works great.
Step 5: Make Your Dashboard Easily Accessible (Crucial Step!)
This is the most important - and most often missed - step. After you save your new report, it exists in the Library, but it won't appear in your main left-hand navigation menu. You have to add it manually.
From the Library homepage:
Find a "collection" you want to add it to. A collection is just a folder of reports. Most people add their custom reports to the default "Life cycle" collection.
Click Edit collection on the collection card.
On the next screen, you’ll see your new custom report in a list on the right. Find it, then drag it over to the menu structure on the left. You can place it wherever you like within that folder's structure.
Click Save, and then "Save changes to current collection."
Now, when you go back to your main Reports view, you'll see a link to your new dashboard right there in the navigation menu, making it accessible with a single click every time you log in.
Sharing Your Google Analytics Dashboard
Sharing your finished dashboard is straightforward but has some limits. Because the report is part of the GA4 property, anyone on your team with at least "Viewer" level access can see the collections you configure and access your custom dashboard.
However, if you want to share a snapshot of the data with someone who doesn't have access (like a client or a manager), you'll need to export it.
While viewing your dashboard, look for the "Share this report" icon in the top right corner (it looks like a little arrow leaving a box). Clicking it gives you two options:
Get Link: This provides a direct link to the report, but again, the person who clicks it must already be logged in and have access to your GA4 property to view it.
Download File: This lets you export a static version of the dashboard as a PDF or CSV file. This is perfect for emailing weekly updates or including in presentations.
Limitations of Google Analytics Dashboards
While extremely useful, the built-in GA4 dashboards aren't a perfect solution for every scenario. It's good to be aware of their limitations:
Limited Data Sources: Your dashboard can only show data from one place: Google Analytics. If you want to see your Facebook Ads spend next to your site revenue to calculate ROI, you can't do that here. You'll have to pull data from Facebook separately.
Basic Visualizations: The types of charts and tables are pre-set. You can't create highly customized visualizations like you would in a dedicated business intelligence tool.
Slightly Clunky Setup: As shown in the steps above, the creation and management process, particularly adding a new report to the main navigation, isn't as intuitive as it could be.
Final Thoughts
Building a simple dashboard in Google Analytics is an invaluable way to stay on top of your website's performance without getting lost in data overload. Taking the time to create a custom report focused on your specific business goals will save you hours in the long run and help you make smarter decisions faster.
Of course, we know that building reports is just the first step. The real challenge is bringing all your marketing and sales data together from different places, which is why we built Graphed. We connect directly to your Google Analytics, Shopify, Facebook Ads, Salesforce, and other tools, bringing all your data into one place. From there, you can just ask questions in normal language and get automated, real-time dashboards in seconds, freeing you up to focus on the insights in your data instead of the process of finding them.