If you’re just getting started with Google Looker Studio, you’ve probably experienced blank-page syndrome. You get your data source connected, open up a new file, and you have no idea what to do next. There are no instructions. No guide rails. Just you and an empty page to fill. And while you can start with a template (Google Looker Studio Report Gallery has several), it’s still tough to know how to customize it to perfectly fit your needs. Here are some tried-and-true elements to include in PPC dashboards and reports that will banish blank-page syndrome and give your stakeholders the insights they crave. 1. Titles, subheads and contextWhen you add a chart in Google Looker Studio, you select the data source, dimensions, metrics and date range from the Data Panel to populate your visualization. But your reader doesn’t see the Data Panel and won’t know what your chart is about unless you take an extra step to include it in your dashboard. The two graphs below show identical data visualizations. Figure A includes only the chart, while Figure B includes written titles and context. Figure A leaves questions in your reader’s mind that Figure B answers. You can make your graphs and tables easier to understand at a glance with these tips:
How to do it:
It’s worth the small manual effort it takes to add a text box and include context! 2. KPI scorecardsYou don’t need an article to tell you that your dashboard should include your key performance indicators (KPIs). But while you’re planning out your dashboard, pay special attention to where to include them. Your KPIs matter most in your report and deserve top billing. That means showcasing your KPIs with scorecards like so: Not as afterthoughts at the end of a table: Not only do tables make it hard to identify KPIs, for languages that are read left to right, tucking KPIs on the far right of the table tells your reader these metrics are low priority. Keep your reader focused on your key growth metrics like lead volume, revenue, or return on ad spend (ROAS), rather than vanity and traffic metrics like impressions and clicks. How to do it:
Having KPIs appear in tables and other charts isn’t a problem, but give them added attention by using scorecards. 3. Goal pacingSome advertisers use fixed monthly or annual marketing budgets with no room for adjustments. Others have sales or efficiency goals they need to hit with flexible budgets. No matter what the approach, your dashboard should answer the question: Are we meeting our objectives, and how do we know? Account objectives aren’t standardized, and neither is the approach for including goal pacing in your dashboard. Fortunately, Looker Studio gives you many options for adding objectives and pacing, from literally charting against a goal to adding a written description of the target. Here are some examples of how you might anchor performance to a goal: How to do it:
Including goal pacing gives your reader confidence in how to interpret performance data. 4. Trends and historical comparisonsTrends and historical comparisons let your reader know if things are improving – or need improvement – over time. Maybe you fell short of the goal, but you always miss it because it’s unrealistic. Maybe you hit your goal, but you’re down compared to last year, and you need to take corrective action. Don’t make your reader wonder whether current performance is average, down or “best month ever.” Snapshot (single-metric) comparisonsTables and scorecards give you an easy way to show your reader how performance for this period compares to another, using color-coded arrows to indicate the direction of the change (delta). How to do it:
Line chartsYou can get a complete picture of performance trends using time series charts. Rather than just comparing this period to the last period, you’ve got an entire history revealing trends in seasonality, market impact and more. You can use a continuous Time series chart (shown above) or designate a comparison time period. Here’s how that same data looks as a Year over Year (YoY) Time series chart. Note that the comparison year will show as a lighter shade of this period’s line: Another way to show historical performance is with a line chart that uses a time period as a breakdown dimension. This Line chart is from a report comparing CPCs before and during the Covid-19 pandemic: How to do it:
A few important notes for trends and historical comparisons –
5. Categorical tablesOkay, so tables aren’t that glamorous. But if your Looker Studio dashboard doesn’t have a table, something’s probably missing. Why? Because there are times when your audience needs to compare multiple categories across multiple metrics. And nothing does that more efficiently than a table. Tables are great for comparing default categories like:
And depending on the complexity of your PPC dashboard, you can create tables for:
How to do it:
It’s easy to build tables and add metrics, and it’s easy to get carried away. Exercise some restraint and limit the number of metrics in your table, so it remains useful to your reader. Bonus: Shiny chartsOur list constrained us to five categories, but here’s one bonus for making it to the end: Shiny charts. What are shiny charts? Shiny charts are visualizations that your audience loves and gets excited about, even if they’re not super actionable. Your readers may not learn anything new, but they’ll feel like they learned something new. Maps are a great example. Many dataviz experts say not to use map charts; there are better ways to communicate location data. But try to find a client or stakeholder who doesn’t love to see performance data on a map. Go ahead. I’ll wait. Sure it’s a bit counterintuitive when you’re trying to build out an actionable dashboard. Maybe even a bit controversial. And you don’t have to do it. But a chart that makes your audience feel good just for seeing it has its own merit. Putting it all togetherWhile your Looker Studio dashboard can technically include whatever you want, it should at a minimum include:
These don’t need to (and can’t) all be discrete sections. One scorecard can include a title, KPI, pacing, and time comparison. There are many other charts and visualizations that can take your PPC dashboard from good to great. Getting started with this list will set you up for success and give you a dashboard worth the time it took to build. The post 5 things your Google Looker Studio PPC Dashboard must have appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/2huezWK
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