{"id":10589,"date":"2025-08-19T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-19T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crazyeggblog.wpengine.com\/?p=10589"},"modified":"2025-09-23T09:01:37","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T16:01:37","slug":"build-google-analytics-dashboard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crazyegg.com\/blog\/build-google-analytics-dashboard\/","title":{"rendered":"Google Analytics Dashboards: How to Build, Customize & Use Them"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Digging out all the important website data from Google Analytics 4 can be challenging if you don\u2019t know what to look for or how to navigate the platform. Thankfully, new, custom, or external GA4 dashboards might be the exact<\/em> solution you\u2019ve been searching for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s how to cut through the noise and optimize your site around the most relevant web metrics effortlessly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Is a Google Analytics 4 Dashboard?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A Google Analytics 4 dashboard organizes your key website metrics and KPIs into a single, easily digestible view.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It helps you understand where visitors are coming from, analyze traffic channels, improve underperforming pages, A\/B test page variants, and create strategies to build your online presence. You can either use real-time data widgets or historical data with charts, maps, and pie graphs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There are three general types of GA4 dashboards:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. Ready-made Explorations<\/strong>\u2014These are existing GA4 dashboard templates available directly from within the GA4 platform. Explorations differ from Looker Studio<\/a>, which is a Google-hosted environment where real users can create and share GA4 dashboards for free.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Custom Explorations<\/strong>\u2014These are custom GA4 dashboards you can make entirely from scratch.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. External GA4 dashboards<\/strong>\u2014These are pre-made, GA4-compatible dashboards sourced from third-party platforms like Analytics Mates<\/a> and DashThis<\/a>. They come as either free or paid templates, and most are fully compatible with Looker Studio.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    In GA4, Dashboards<\/strong>, Reports<\/strong>, and Explorations <\/strong>are mostly synonymous, with Explorations offering a more in-depth data analysis<\/a> than the other two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    How to Create a Google Analytics 4 Dashboard (Step-by-Step)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Here\u2019s how to create a new exploration, which essentially serves as a dashboard equivalent in GA4:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. Sign in to your GA4 account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    2. Select your preferred property.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    3. Navigate to Explore<\/strong> from the left-hand menu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    4. Click the plus icon to create a blank exploration, or choose one from the available templates. According to the latest Google guidelines<\/a>, explorations support the following visual formats and techniques:<\/p>\n\n\n\n