Create professional, auto-updating analytics dashboards for your clients in under 30 minutes. Free forever with Google Looker Studio.
Google Looker Studio (formerly Data Studio) is a **free** tool that creates beautiful, interactive dashboards that update automatically with real-time data from Google Analytics, Search Console, and more.
Instead of manually creating reports every month, you build the dashboard once and share a view-only link with your client. The data refreshes automatically every day.
Visit lookerstudio.google.com and sign in with your Google account (the one that has access to your clients' Google Analytics).
Tip: Use a dedicated business Google account that you'll use for all clients. This keeps everything organized.
Click the "+ Create" button in the top left, then select "Report".
You can also use a template! Search for "Website Analytics" templates to get started faster.
Add your data sources when prompted:
Select "Google Analytics" → Choose the property/website → Click "Add"
Click "+ Add data" → Select "Google Search Console" → Choose the website → Click "Add"
Use the toolbar to add elements to your dashboard:
For big numbers like total visitors, leads, bounce rate
For trends over time, traffic sources, device breakdown
For top pages, keywords, referral sources
For traffic source percentages, device types
Make it look professional:
Click the "Share" button in the top right:
Click "Get report link" → Set access to "Anyone with the link can view" → Copy the link
✅ Easy to share via email | ✅ No Google account required | ✅ View-only access
Add client's email address → Set role to "Viewer" → Send invite
Requires client to have a Google account
GA4: Users metric
GA4: Events → form_submit or contact
GA4: Views metric
GA4: Page path and screen class
GA4: Session source/medium
Search Console: Queries with impressions/clicks
GA4: Bounce rate metric
GA4: Average engagement time
GA4: Device category
GA4: Country/City dimensions
Build one perfect dashboard, then for each new client: File → Make a copy → Connect their Google Analytics → Update the title. Takes 5 minutes per client!
Set the default date range to "Last 28 days" or "Last month" so clients always see recent data when they open the dashboard.
Enable "Compare to previous period" on your scorecards so clients can see if numbers are going up or down. Shows percentage changes automatically.
Add a filter to exclude your own visits when testing the site. In GA4, go to Admin → Data Streams → Configure tag settings → Define internal traffic.
Create folders in Looker Studio for each client to keep everything organized. Right-click in the main dashboard → "Create folder".
Follow this guide and you'll have a professional dashboard ready in 30 minutes. Your clients will love the transparency!