Under the Hood of your Google Analytics: setting up a simple dashboard (video included)!

I like to highlight configurations in Google Analytics that can impact your business and also dummy proof to set up. They are all settings that will make your life easier when it comes to using Google Analytics.

Dashboards definitely fall in this category; this functionality will not only ensure you get more information from your GA reporting, but also lead you to actually spend less time in the tool (which I’m sure many of you wouldn’t mind).

What exactly is a dashboard? Here is my simplified definition:

A dashboard is a collection of custom reports, organized in one view inside a desired format.

And, what are the benefits of using dashboards? Let me list them out:

Easily glance reports in one view instead of having to dig around to each individual report every time you open up the tool.
Export report to PDF to include in presentations or just keep on file.
Share reports with others easily, without having to create an additional user (for example, VAs, collaborators, your mom, anyone!).
Set up automatically recurring emails to yourself and others with attached dashboards (instead of logging into the tool when you happen to remember you even have Google Analytics set up on your site).

Setting up dashboards builds a positive relationship with Google Analytics, instead of getting frustrated when you get lost or overwhelmed in the tool.

Watch the following video to see the basics of setting up your first dashboard.

[video width="1552" height="888" mp4="http://digmorphosis.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Dashboards_GoogleAnalytics_BlogPost.mp4"][/video]

Pretty easy, right? If you are feeling a bit daunted about creating your own dashboard (so much power at your fingertips!) and really have no idea what reports to use, you can use the Google Analytics Solutions Gallery. It is a very large crowd sourcing library where you can actually bum off dashboards from experts.

When clicking on New Dashboard, click on Import from Gallery.

Here you can search different dashboards, depending what you are looking for.

One final thought: even though it is way more comfortable to use a pre-made report, I do recommend creating your own dashboard, even if it is a tiny one.