Creating Custom Reports on Google Analytics: Complete Guide

Google Analytics is an essential tool for anyone who manages a website or an online platform, because it allows you to monitor the progress of the traffic, understand user behavior and improve your strategy. In addition to the predefined reports, Google Analytics offers the possibility to create custom reports, adapting them to your specific needs. Here’s how to do it.

Why Create Custom Reports?

The personalized reports of Google Analytics allow you to focus on metrics and dimensions relevant to your business, reducing the time needed to navigate among the numerous statistics offered by generic reports. Using custom reports, you can:

Display only relevant metrics;
Examine specific traffic sources;
Analyze user behavior on certain pages or segments;
Improve decision making based on precise and targeted data.

Prerequisites for Creating a Custom Report

In order to create a custom report on Google Analytics, you must have access to the Google Analytics account of the site or platform of interest. It is also advisable to have a basic understanding of Google Analytics metrics and dimensions, as these concepts will be key to setting up useful and comprehensive reports.

Steps to Create a Custom Report on Google Analytics

Log in to Google Analytics and select “Custom Reports”

After logging in to Google Analytics, in the left menu, select the Custom Reports section. If this is the first time you are accessing this section, you will not find any reports yet, but you will be invited to create a new one.

Start Report Creation

Click + New Custom Report to start creating a new report. Here you will be asked to name the report. Be sure to choose a clear, descriptive title, such as “Social Media Traffic Analysis” or “Product Page Performance,” to make it easy to manage multiple reports.

Set the Report Structure

At this point you can choose the type of report. Google Analytics offers three main types of custom reports:

Explorer: This is the most common type, with interactive tables and charts showing aggregated data for selected metrics.
Flat Table: ideal for those who want to view data in a table structure, without the need for exploration.
Geographical Map: allows you to view data based on the location of users.

Choose the type of report best suited to the type of data you want to analyze.

Add Metrics and Dimensions

Custom reports are based on two fundamental components: metrics and dimensions. Metrics are numerical values that represent data, such as the number of sessions, the conversion rate, or the average time spent on a page. Dimensions are descriptive attributes, such as where the traffic comes from, the device used, or the language of the users.

Add metrics: Click on “Add metrics” and select the metrics you are interested in. If, for example, you want to analyze the performance of organic traffic, you could choose metrics such as “Sessions”, “Average session duration” and “Bounce rate”.
Add dimensions: Click on “Add dimensions” and choose the relevant dimensions for your report. You can select dimensions such as “Source/Medium” to know where users are coming from or “Landing Page” to analyze specific pages of the site.

Add Filters (Optional)

Filters allow you to further refine your data, excluding certain metrics or dimensions or focusing on just some. For example, if you only want to analyze traffic from social media, you can add a filter that excludes all other traffic sources.

Configure the Report View and Name

Once you’ve selected your metrics, dimensions, and filters, name the individual report “tabs” so you can easily switch between views within the same report. This feature is very useful when you want to analyze multiple dimensions or metrics in a single report.

Examples of Custom Reports

To give you a concrete idea, here are some examples of custom reports that might be useful:

Example 1: Social Media Traffic Report

Metrics: Sessions, Average session duration, Conversions.
Dimensions: Source/Medium.
Filter: Only include traffic sources such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.

Example 2: Product Page Performance Report

Metrics: Page views, Average time on page, Conversions.
Size: Landing page.
Filter: Exclude non-product pages.

These reports help monitor the progress of social campaigns or identify the products that generate the most interest and conversions.

Report Optimization: Segments and Secondary Dimensions

Add Segments

A very powerful feature of Google Analytics is the ability to apply segments to custom reports. Segments allow you to filter users or sessions based on specific criteria, such as users who have visited more than once or who come from a certain geographic area.

Apply Secondary Dimensions

Secondary dimensions allow you to add an additional level of detail to the report. For example, if you’ve already created a report for organic traffic, you can add a secondary dimension like “Device” to see whether users are primarily accessing mobile or desktop.

Save and Share the Report

When the report is complete, you can save it and access it at any time from the Custom reports section. Furthermore, Google Analytics allows you to export the report in various formats, such as PDF or CSV, or to schedule the automatic sending of the report via email to certain recipients. This feature is especially useful for sharing data with your team or clients.

Tips for Creating Effective Reports

Keep reports simple: Don’t include too many metrics or dimensions, to avoid confusion.
Choose relevant metrics: Focus on the metrics that support your business decisions.
Update reports regularly: Data analysis is a dynamic process, so be sure to review and update reports periodically to reflect your current priorities.

Conclusions

Creating custom reports in Google Analytics is a process that requires attention and a basic understanding of metrics and dimensions, but it offers great value in better understanding the performance of your site or campaigns. Thanks to this feature, you can create targeted and relevant analyses, saving time and increasing the effectiveness of your data-driven decisions.

Experimenting with customized reports is the best way to fully exploit the potential of Google Analytics and obtain valuable insights for your business.