What is Google Data Studio?

Google Data Studio is a free tool that transforms your data into something that is easy to read, share, and understand. The main goal of Data Studio is to tell a story through your data. People are more likely to remember and understand data if you present it in a creative way. For instance, creating charts or tables help people visualize the data, making it much easier to understand versus trying to interpret a set of numbers on a spreadsheet. 

In this article, you will learn all about Google Data Studio and how the tool can be used to transform, connect, and visualize data, how to easily share and collaborate data using Data Studio, how to use templates, and the importance of having visible data. 

benefits of using Google Data Studio

What is Google Data Studio?

Google Data Studio is a useful, free tool that allows users to create interactive dashboards and customize data reports. Google Data Studio has many different features that are user-friendly and simple to use. One of the greatest perks of using Google Data Studio is the fact that it is free to use. Typically, reporting software can cost thousands of dollars. However, Google offers this great service for free. Throughout this article, you will learn about the main functions in Google Data Studio.

How to Use Google Data Studio

First, you will need to visit https://www.Google.com/analytics/data-studio. You will need to log into your account using the same login information that you use for your Google Analytics account. 

After logging in, you will see a sample report, which gives you an idea of what the reports look like. You can go through the various sample reports in order to get a better feel for what kind of information you can choose to look at regarding your account. 

There will be a button saying, “Welcome to Data Studio! (Start here)”. Once you click on it, it will take you through an interactive tutorial that will give you step-by-step instructions on how Google Data Studio works and how you can start using the tool. 

After working through the quick tutorial, you should have a pretty good idea on how to use Google Data Studio. From there, you can actually start creating data reports. You do that by completing the following steps. First, click the “Create” button in the top left corner. Second, click “Data Source.” Third, link your data sources. For example, one of your data sources might be Google Analytics.

Fourth, go back to the dashboard and click the “Create” button in the top left corner. Fifth, click “Report.” Sixth, choose the data source from the right-hand side. Seventh, you can edit your report. For example, you can customize the theme, color, and layout of the report. Lastly, click the “Share” button in the upper right corner.

Google Data Studio templates 

Some Benefits of Using Google Data Studio

  • Endless amounts of widget options to choose from

Google Data Studio has so many different widgets available. Whereas Google Analytics only allowed you to have up to 12 graphs or charts in a single report. Some widgets include heat graphs by region, state or country, time series graphs, pie charts, and many other types of graphs and charts. 

  • Can get data from 12 different sources

You want to be able to pull data from a number of different sources versus relying on only one or two sources. With Google Data Studio, you can draw data from up to 12 different sources. By having a wider variety of data, you will have a better understanding of what your data is trying to tell you. 

  • Easily share Google Data Studio reports

Your data report will do you no good if you cannot easily share the report with your colleagues. Luckily, Google Data Studio makes it easy to quickly send and download files between different groups of people. 

  • Everyone can easily understand the reports

Most likely, you will be working with many different people who all come from different backgrounds and have various responsibilities. This means that not everyone will think the same way as you do. So, while you might understand a certain set of data, your colleagues might not. In order to make sure that everyone is on the same page, you can use Google Data Studio to break down your data reports. You can even customize the layout of the report. For example, you can easily change the font, theme, color, and size of the report, making it easy to read and understand. 

  • Free Google Data Studio tutorials

Like most things, you will not immediately be an expert in how to use this tool. It takes time and practice to be able to easily use a certain tool. There are many different tutorials that will train you on how to use Google Data Studio. 

  • Security

If you trust Google with any of your other data (Gmail, Google Sheets, Google Docs, etc.) you can trust Google with Google Data Studio, too. Data Studio is protected by all the same authentications. This means it is extremely secure.what is Google Data Studio

Data Transformation

One of the main ideas behind Google Data Studio is that it transforms your data into something that is easy to interpret and understand. In other words, it helps you tell a story through your data. According to Jerome Bruner, a cognitive psychologist, people are 22 times more likely to remember a certain fact if it is told through a story. The reason behind this statistic is because stories are more memorable than cold, hard facts. Essentially, Google Data Studio will allow you to easily interpret and connect your data in order to make it easy for others to understand what you are talking about. 

Data Connectors

Google Data Studio can pull data from multiple sources without having to do any of the complicated programming. So, in just a few short moments, you can connect your data sets. Here are some of the sources that you can connect various pieces of data from: 

  • You can connect data from the various Google Marketing Platforms, such as Google Ads, Analytics, Search Ads 360, and Display & Video 360. 
  • Also, you can connect data from social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit. 
  • Connect data from flat files using CSV file upload and Google Cloud Storage. 
  • Connect data from various databases, like BigQuery and MySQL. 

These platforms are just some out of the many data connectors available through Google Data Studio. 

Data Visualization

Google Data Studio allows you to visualize your data in a number of different ways. You can use the drag and drop report editor to do the following:

  • Tell a story through visual data forms like line, pie, bubble, and bar charts, geographic maps, paginated data tables, and many other forms of visual charts.
  • Add some color and style to your data visuals. By creating a common color and style theme, your data will shift from just being statistics into being a work of art.
  • Create interactive reports where viewers have control over the data. Data controls can take any data report and turn it into a flexible template where anyone can see their own data sets. 
  • Include links and images that people can click on in order to drive user engagement. 

Remember, that the ideas listed above are just some out of the many ways that you can make your data into something visually and aesthetically pleasing.

Data Studio Google

Sharing and Collaborating 

Of course, a very important part of being successful is being able to share your work and collaborate with others. Luckily, Data Studio is very accommodating, making it simple to share your insights with individuals or teams. And wait, it gets even better. Not only can you easily share your work, but the people that you share your work with can actually edit the content too. Through the tool, you can invite others to edit the information, making it a collaborative process. You can even work on the Data Studio file at the same time as other people on your team, making it feel like you are sitting right next to your fellow team members. 

Google Data Studio Templates

If you some help getting started with Google Data Studio, there are Data Studio marketing templates. You can even make different templates for different data categories. For example, categories might include advertising, email, SEO, social media, or web analytics. These templates are simple and easy to use. All you have to do is make a copy of the template and within minutes, your data will be filled in. 

Visibility 

It is imperative to have visible data that is easily accessible so that people can make well-informed decisions. You can think of having visible data as being the same idea of driving on a clear night. If you are driving at night when it is foggy, you will have a harder time seeing where you are driving. In the same way, if you do not have a good grasp on what your data is, you will have a harder time determining the next steps. 

Google data studio

Why Google Data Studio is the Way to Go

It cannot be stressed enough throughout this article the importance of having data that people can easily understand. Google Data Studio is an easy and free tool to use to transform your complicated data into something easy to understand. What more could you ask for? Who doesn’t like user-friendly tools that will help you succeed? And a bonus point is the fact that this tool is free to use! So, there are no excuses to not use it for your business. 

Now that you know all about Google Data Studio, it’s time to actually apply it to your business. If you struggle with getting started with interpreting your data, don’t even know how to go about it, or need help with other aspects of your company, don’t hesitate to reach out to SEO Design Chicago today!

FAQs about Google Data Studio:

  • Is Google Data Studio free to use?
  • What is Data Studio?
  • What are the benefits of using Data Studio?
  • Is Google Data Studio secure?
  • How do I access Google Data Studio?

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