It can take years to properly understand Google Analytics and learn how to pull meaningful data from the reports, which can be super confusing for anyone starting out blind, without any formal training.
There are several online Google Analytics guides that teach you the basics - I specifically recommend the Simple Business Google Analytics Guide and the Moz Beginners Guide to SEO. But there is a much more useful tool that skips out the complicated and time consuming process of learning how to pull separate reports in order to compare data - and I’m going to share this with you.
Google Analytics Dashboard is your new friend.
Dashboards are made up of a collection of widgets that pull data automatically and provide you with an overview of the reports and metrics that are most important to you. Widgets are essentially mini-reports, presenting data and custom reports in various styles including numeric metrics, tables and charts. While custom reports are far more specific, dashboards can help you access the data at a glance.
You can create up to twenty dashboards, which you can build yourself or install pre-made reports - this is where things get more interesting and useful. Here are six custom dashboards I personally use on a regular basis and highly recommend using to monitor sales, traffic, and revenue.
Perfect Dashboard | Focused on revenue, pageviews, visits and sales
SEO Dashboard | Focused on keyword data, landing pages, and keywords that generate sales
Social Media Dashboard | Focused on understanding social media traffic
70 Facts About Visitors Dashboard | Focused on visitors
All-in-One Ecommerce Dashboard | Focused on eCommerce transaction metrics
Engagement & Loyalty Dashboard | Focused on pageviews, repeat visitors, and traffic sources
