About Dashboards - Analytics Help (2024)

See your most important reports at a glance.

Dashboards are a collection of widgets that give you an overview of the reports and metrics you care about most. Dashboards let you monitor many metrics at once, so you can quickly check the health of your accounts or see correlations between different reports. Dashboards are easy to create, customize and share.

In this article:

  • View and manage your Dashboards
  • Dashboard widgets
  • Using Dashboards
  • Sharing Dashboards
  • Next steps

Go to your Dashboards

To access your Dashboards:

  1. Sign in to Google Analytics.
  2. Navigate to your view.
  3. Open Reports.
  4. Click CUSTOMIZATION > Dashboards.

A widget is a mini-report that can display your data in a number of presentation styles, including simple numeric metrics, tables and charts. You can define widgets within the Dashboard itself. Widgets can also provide snapshots of and link to standard or custom reports.

Click the widget title to open the underlying report.

The Creating Dashboards article describes the widgets and options available to you.

Using Dashboards

Using a Dashboard is very much like using any report in Analytics. You can examine the graph elements in a widget by hovering over the element. The image below illustrates some other things you can do with Dashboards:

  • About Dashboards - Analytics Help (1)Change the name of a Dashboard by clicking the Dashboard’s title.
  • About Dashboards - Analytics Help (2)Adjust the date range or compare 2 date ranges using the date picker.
  • About Dashboards - Analytics Help (3)Add widgets, share, customize or remove the Dashboard using the action bar.
  • About Dashboards - Analytics Help (4)Add or remove segments.
  • About Dashboards - Analytics Help (5) Rearrange widgets on the page by dragging them by the title bar to new locations. Edit or delete widgets using the controls that appear when you mouse over the widget’s title bar.
  • About Dashboards - Analytics Help (6)Open a linked report by clicking on the widget’s title. (This only works for linked report widgets, not widgets you create within the Dashboard itself.)
  • Refresh the Dashboard’s data by clicking the Refresh Dashboard link, located in the bottom right corner of the page (not shown in the screen shot).
About Dashboards - Analytics Help (7)

Sharing Dashboards

All Dashboards you create start out as private, meaning only you can see them. You can share Dashboards with other users via the Share menu. You can also share the Dashboards via email or export them to PDF using the Export and Email menu options.

About Dashboards - Analytics Help (8)

Next steps

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About Dashboards - Analytics Help (2024)

FAQs

What is the use of dashboards in analytics? ›

A dashboard for data analytics is a tool used to multi-task, organize, visualize, analyze, and track data. The overall purpose of a data analytics dashboard is to make it easier for data analysts, decision makers, and average users to understand their data, gain deeper insights, and make better data-driven decisions.

What are 5 benefits of dashboards? ›

Most specifically, the right dashboard will give you six key benefits as follows:
  • Total Visibility into Your Business. ...
  • Big Time Savings. ...
  • Improved Results. ...
  • Reduced Stress. ...
  • Increased Productivity. ...
  • Increased Profits: As discussed, your dashboard shows you exactly which areas of your business are performing poorly.

What are 3 benefits of a dashboard? ›

Dashboards can be used to test hypotheses, track progress towards goals, and spot early warning signs of issues. They can also be used to monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) in real-time, identify areas of improvement, and make decisions that will help you achieve your desired outcomes.

What are the three main purposes for a dashboard? ›

They are:
  • Analytical - to identify historical trends, establish targets, predict outcomes, and/or discover insights.
  • Operational - to monitor, measure, and manage processes in real-time.
  • Strategic - to track key performance indicators (KPIs) and progress towards established targets.
Aug 26, 2022

What problem does dashboard solve? ›

The point of a dashboard is to help you identify an anomaly and take appropriate actions. Therefore, a dashboard needs to provide more than just data. It has to provide actionable insights. There's a linear continuum that ranges from data to action.

What is the most important thing in a dashboard? ›

Clean, automated data

In reality, the most important aspect of a great dashboard is the part that gets the least amount of attention: The underlying data. More than any other aspect, the data will make or break a dashboard.

What are the four key elements of dashboard reporting? ›

First, we see that the dashboard displays 4 key metrics: the number of sales, revenue, profit, and cost, each of them is compared to a set target as well as the values of the last period, this way you get a quick glance into the performance of the month by just looking quickly at the charts.

What are the keys to effective dashboards? ›

Key Takeaways For Successful Dashboard Designs
  • Consider your audience.
  • Determine your goals.
  • Choose relevant KPIs.
  • Tell a story with your data.
  • Provide context.
  • Don't try to place all the information on the same page.
  • Select the right type of dashboard.
  • Use the right chart type.
Nov 3, 2021

What makes a dashboard effective? ›

Great dashboards are clear, intuitive, and customizable.

They display information clearly and efficiently. They show trends and changes in data over time. They are easily customizable. The most important widgets and data components are effectively presented in a limited space.

Why do users use dashboards? ›

Dashboards are a data visualisation tool that allow all users to understand the analytics that matter to their business, department or project. Even for non-technical users, dashboards allow them to participate and understand the analytics process by compiling data and visualising trends and occurrences.

What are the different types of analytics dashboards? ›

There are three types of dashboards: operational, strategic, and analytical. But how do you know which is the right type for your business?

What is the benefit of dashboard reporting? ›

Dashboards are built to provide quick insights into some of the most important business processes. Dashboards work best if the information they contain is to the point and instantly visible. The dashboard-building process begins with determining its purpose and key performance indicators involved.

What 5 key metrics would you want to display on a data dashboard? ›

If you're setting up a dashboard for the first time, make sure these five metrics are on your list:
  • Traffic sources. sources report will tell you who is coming to your website and where they're coming from. ...
  • Social media reach. ...
  • CTA – ClickThrough Rates. ...
  • Bounce rates. ...
  • Progress to goal (monthly or quarterly)

What are the basics of dashboard? ›

The Fundamentals of Dashboard Design

Meet the four fundamentals of dashboard design: content, layout, color, and fonts. By manipulating each of these levers, you'll affect how users interact with your dashboards to understand information and take action.

How do you build an effective dashboard? ›

Most of the time, you're going to be using a combination of numbers, bars, lines and tables and not much else.
  1. Group your related metrics. ...
  2. Be consistent. ...
  3. Use size and position to show hierarchy. ...
  4. Give your numbers context. ...
  5. Use clear labels your audience will understand. ...
  6. Remember it's for people. ...
  7. Keep evolving your dashboards.

What is the difference between dashboard and analytics? ›

Analytics Answers the “Why Behind the What”

So if dashboards answer the “what,” then analytics answer the “why” behind the what. Analytics take it a step further, digging down deeper into the data. We might pose analytics questions like: “When users search my site, what are the solid business outcomes/conversions?”

What is a KPI for dashboards? ›

A KPI dashboard displays key performance indicators in interactive charts and graphs, allowing for quick, organized review and analysis. Key performance indicators are quantifiable measures of performance over time for specific strategic objectives.

What is the importance of dashboards? ›

Dashboards offer a method of consolidating company data into one unified location with secure data storage. Dashboards are designed to offer a comprehensive overview of company performance, and do so through the use of data visualization tools like charts and graphs.

What is the role of dashboards? ›

These dashboards provide critical reporting and metrics information and are integral in Business Performance Management. Much like the dashboard in your vehicle, dashboards display real-time key metrics and performance indicators, guiding decisions and better navigating the surrounding landscape.

What makes an effective dashboard? ›

Great dashboards are clear, intuitive, and customizable.

They display information clearly and efficiently. They show trends and changes in data over time. They are easily customizable. The most important widgets and data components are effectively presented in a limited space.

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