Data Studio Report for "What Where Why When and How"...with a little local SEO on the side

[AndySimpson]

I've been using Google Data Studio since it first launched well over 2 years ago and was immediately impressed on how easy it was to use for reports both in-house and for clients.

Every time I watch/read something about Google Data Studio (GDS) I get excited thinking "okay great...where's your report you've been discussing?", but very rarely is anything shared. I understand many reports contain private client data but with a few simple(ish) edits I feel more reports could be shared to help the SEO community.

So here's my first contribution. Below is a simplified report I use for various clients which shows me the types of questions users might be searching for and where my client's site might have an impression for such queries. I am not discussing the data, we can do that another day, this is just to show you how easy it is to visualize the data from Google Search Console and how GDS makes the data easier to understand and take actions from your findings.

...and because I do a lot of Local SEO, I thought I throw in some "Near Me" and city filters to perhaps get you thinking on how you might be able to use this report for your clients.

I have done 2 videos, the first showing you the report and how it can be easily edited, the second video shows you how you would apply the report to your GSC data. it's quite easy if you're familiar with GDS but if this is your first time then I thought a little extra help might be beneficial.

Note: if it is your first time using GDR then there are a few hoops you have to jump through first when you first start connecting GSC to GDR, agreements to connect accounts, data, etc, etc, just agree to the terms and then you're all sorted going forward.

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Ever wondered what type of questions drive traffic to your website? You can hook up Google Search Console to Google Data Studio to see your data visually. Here's how:

Data Studio Report: bit.ly/WhatWhereDataStudio

Part 1
Data Studio Report for What Where Why When and How...and a little local SEO on the side



We'll start by showing an example using the GSC sample data from Googles merchandise store. Then I'll show you how to hook up your website data and create a visually stunning data studios report that you can share with your team, your boss, and even your clients!

Part 2
Connecting Data Studio Report to your GSC data




If you have any questions/feedback please comment below or contact me via Twitter.

 

[JasonKhoo]

Wow! Great share Andy! I want to get better with Google Data Studio so bad and I just need to sit down and go through it! Will remember this for when I sit down!

 

[AndySimpson]

Thank you Jason, it's a simple but informative report and one you can easily play with by changing the filters. You can also try "Can" "Do" "Should" "Would" "Did" "Does". If you have any questions then please just let me know.

 

[JasonKhoo]

Thanks Andy! Also I didn't put two in two together, but you were at Local Search Forum at Santa Monica. Nice to see you again!!

 

[AndySimpson]

...yes, that was me, it's okay, I was trying to keep a low profile on the day. Don't hesitate to reach out if you need help on Data Studio.

So much to put into practice after LocalU, such a rewarding conference!

 

[Eric Rohrback]

Hey Andy, question for you.

Are you using Data Studio more for internal analysis or are these client facing reporting?

The biggest issue I've seen with using data studio for client reporting is that the client only looks at it when we review, but doesn't pay attention to it the rest of the time. Maybe I'm giving them a report that gets too in the weeds, where I should simplify? Just wondering how you've used data studio to provide the most impact.

 

[AndySimpson]

Hi Eric, so I was meaning to come back to you last week...so apologies for the delay.

Anyway, I think you've almost answered the question yourself, your report you provide "gets too in the weeds". I think too much data just sends most clients to sleep, unless they have a real interest in it. I am sure you've seen clients faces when you show them Google Analytics, they get that glazed look on their faces and the whole platform blows them away.

So when data studio came out, I found it such an easy way to show clients "simple" reports. For example, my local Chamber of Commerce just want to see which business pages are being viewed, how many views they are getting a month, which local towns are sending the traffic (as they target several local towns) and where is the traffic coming from, referral traffic, facebook, organic, etc. i.e. are their posts working, is the banner on the local news site sending traffic? That's it, if they want to know more, I can just add a new chart/table to the report but taking a report past 2 pages is usually a waste of time, unless again they want to dig into the data more (in which case I usually introduce clients to analytics).

On a different note, this simple data studio report was also a tester for the community to get Local SEOs to start using it. To hopefully show how easy it was to use AND how much data is available to them in GSC...you just have to know where/how to look.

I'm also using data studio for internal reports, I used this how, what, where report just today, when researching organic impressions/traffic my client gets for oil field accidents. I just love how data studio makes the data standout "pop" to help find what I am looking for.

Cheers

Andy