Google Data Studio tutorial - Building a dashboard in Google Data Studio
The Google Data Studio tutorial to create a simple dashboard, as well as discover basic concepts, such as data sources, connectors, metrics, and dimensions
Building a dashboard in Google Data Studio
Now that you have a basic understanding of Google Data Studio, let's use it to create a dashboard that visualizes online sales data. Our finished dashboard will look something like this:
To build a dashboard in Google Data Studio, follow these steps:
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Sign in to Google Data Studio with your Google account and navigate to the home page.
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Click on the "Create" button in the left menu and select "Report" from the dropdown menu.
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Choose a template or create a blank report. If you choose a template, you can customize it to fit your needs. If you create a blank report, you will start from scratch.
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Connect your data source. To do this, click on the "Data" tab in the top menu and select "Add a Data Source." Select your data source from the list of available connectors and follow the prompts to create the connection.
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Add charts and visualizations to your dashboard. To do this, click on the "Insert" tab in the top menu and select the type of chart or visualization you want to add. Then, select your data source and choose the metrics and dimensions you want to use to populate the chart.
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Customize your charts and visualizations as needed. You can change the appearance and formatting of your charts and visualizations by clicking on them and using the options in the right-hand menu.
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Arrange and layout your charts and visualizations on your dashboard. Use the options in the right-hand menu to resize, move, and align your charts and visualizations as needed.
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Preview and publish your dashboard. Once you are satisfied with your dashboard, click on the "View" tab in the top menu to preview it. When you are ready to share your dashboard, click on the "File" tab and select "
How to add a Google Sheets data source in Data Studio?
To add a Google Sheets data source in Google Data Studio, follow these steps:
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Sign in to Google Data Studio with your Google account and navigate to the home page.
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Click on the "Create" button in the left menu and select "Report" from the dropdown menu.
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Choose a template or create a blank report. If you choose a template, you can customize it to fit your needs. If you create a blank report, you will start from scratch.
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Click on the "Data" tab in the top menu and select "Add a Data Source."
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In the "Connect to a Data Source" window, select "Google Sheets" from the list of available connectors.
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You will be prompted to select the Google Sheets file that you want to use as your data source. Click on the "Select a Google Sheets file" button and choose the file from your Google Drive.
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Click on the "Connect" button to create the connection.
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Once the connection is established, you can use the data in your Google Sheets file to create charts and visualizations in your report.
Note: If you want to use a specific sheet or range of cells within your Google Sheets file as the data source, you can select those options in the "Connect to a Data Source" window before clicking on the
How to add a scorecard in Google Data Studio?
A scorecard is a great start as it’s like choosing a headline. To add a scorecard that shows the total sales to your report:
- Click Add a chart icon in the toolbar, then select Scorecard.
- Drag the scorecard where you want it (ideally in the top-left corner of the report).
- It will show the default metric: Record Count. So, click the metric and change it to OrderTotal.
- Hover over the first column of the metric until you see a pencil icon. Click it to open a pop-up to edit the metric. Give your new metric a name: Total Sales. Then, click anywhere outside the pop-up to close it.
- Now you will see the scorecard with the Total Sales label:
- Since the number looks too long, customize the scorecard to display a compact number by ticking the Compact number checkbox in the Style tab in the right panel.
