Looker Studio: Build an Interactive CEO-Level Dashboard

Written By Lisa Oates
 
Marketing Crash Course - Northwest Creative

Part 3 of The Practical Tracking Toolkit for Small Business Owners

We’ve talked about GA4 (part 1).
We’ve talked about Tag Manager (part 2).

Now it’s time to make all that beautiful, powerful data actually usable. Guess what? You’ll be happy to know you don’t need 19 tabs, 50 charts, or an analyst degree. You just need one view that lets you make decisions quickly.

You need a dashboard that tells you what’s working, what isn’t, and where to spend your time next.

Enter Looker Studio.

This is where your data becomes visual, simple, readable, and real world helpful. Where marketing stops being emotional guesswork and becomes confident, strategic leadership!

No fancy setup. No advanced skills required. This is small business intelligence simplified.

 
 

Looker Studio is Google’s dashboard tool that lets you connect your data sources (GA4, GTM events, Google Sheets, Ads, etc.) into one interactive, visual report. So instead of digging through GA4 each time, Looker Studio turns your most important data into an easy-to-check monthly dashboard view. [Cue the Hallelujah Chorus!]

This is the exact thing CEOs and founders actually need.

Not 62 KPIs… but the right six. Especially for small team, purpose-driven orgs. Time is already tight. You need easy, not overwhelming. Looker Studio is truly a game changer.

 

What are you waiting for? You can start right now!

Step 1: Go to Looker Studio, Create Your Report + Connect GA4

Click Blank Report.

Click Add Data Source

Choose Google Analytics → select your GA4 property → Add

Now your GA4 data is flowing in.

At this point, I also like to add some control dropdowns at the top, like date range controls and a dropdown list for page title. This helps you view data in a specific timeframe and/or drill down to specific page performance. You can add dropdown controls for a lot of categories, so play around with it to find what works best for your business.

Step 2: Add Your Traffic + Engagement Charts

This is how you see what’s working at a glance each month.

Add these charts:

  • Table → Dimension: Session default channel group → Metric: Sessions (this shows which channels drive traffic)

  • Table → Dimension: Page path + query string → Metric: Views (this shows which pages are holding attention)

  • Time series line chart → Dimension: Date → Metric: Active Users (this helps spot trends + spikes from campaigns)

Step 3: Add Your Conversion Events

Click Add a Chart → Table

  • Dimension: Event name

  • Metric: Event count

  • Filter: Include only your key events (ex: cta_click, lead_form_submit, pdf_download)

Pro tip: If you just created the events in GTM, GA4 may take 24-48 hours before they appear in Looker Studio. Come back later and refresh.

This is how you track the actions that lead to revenue instead of vanity metrics.

Step 4: Build One KPI scorecard row at the top

Add four Scorecards side-by-side:

  • Total Users

  • Sessions

  • Conversions (choose your main conversion event)

  • Conversion Rate (GA4 → Conversions ÷ Sessions)

This becomes your “CEO snapshot” the moment you load the dashboard.

Step 5: Format + Make This Easy to Read

Now it is time to polish the dashboard and make it look professional in your brand fonts and colors.

  • Add your logo as an image at the top

  • Click “theme and layout” to add your brand colors and fonts, and adjust sizing to align with your brand guidelines. This is also where you can make the dashboard larger to fit the charts you need. Scroll down to “Canvas Size” to make that adjustment.

  • Rename chart titles in the respective chart settings to human language (“Where traffic came from this month” vs “Channel Group Table”). You may need to toggle on “chart title” in order to input a proper title.

  • Put conversions ABOVE traffic (because this is the mental reorder habit shift CEOs need)

Step 6: Save it as a Monthly Review Dashboard

Title your dashboard something intentional like “Marketing Performance Dashboard — {Business Name}”

Then bookmark it and set a monthly calendar reminder to check it. Your future self will be so glad you did!

 

Your instinct might be to overbuild here, but resist that urge. Start simple. You can always add to it later, once you understand the data more clearly and what might be missing.

Here are some key chart types and what they tell you:

  • Time series line chart (users) → Are you growing? trending up? stagnating?

  • Time series line chart (sessions) → Frequency + returning patterns

  • Table: Top traffic sources → Where new discovery is actually happening

  • Table: Top landing pages → Which content brings them in

  • Chart: Conversions by event name → Which actions are a revenue runway

  • Chart: Conversion rate by source → Which channels deserve your time + money

If you only tracked these six monthly, you’d be miles ahead of 95% of small businesses.

How to add a chart:

  1. Click Insert

  2. Choose chart type (Time series / Table / Pie / Bar)

  3. Select metric + dimension

Example: Time Series → metric = Active Users / dimension = Date

That’s it. Not scary. Not complicated.

 

Once your dashboard is set up, check it once a month. You can also share it with key stakeholders who need access to it.

Each month, ask these questions:

  • Which traffic source is trending up?

  • Which landing page is doing the heavy lifting?

  • Which CTA drives the most conversions?

  • What is not working anymore?

  • What should I double down on this month?

The role of the small business CEO is not to obsess over dashboards daily, but to redirect focus powerfully once per month. Remember: small shifts make a compounding impact.

 

When you mark your CTA_clicks and leadmagnet_download in GA4 as conversions (from Part 2)… those show up in Looker Studio automatically.

And now your dashboard tells you which marketing actions actually matter. Which marketing channels drive action, not just attention. Which content formats move people, not just entertain. Which words convert visitors, not just attract them.

This is the difference between marketing on purpose vs marketing by hope.

 

Here’s the point.

You don’t need to become a data scientist. You need to become a pattern recognizer.

Looker Studio lets you see the pattern. GA4 measures it. GTM reveals what causes it.

This dashboard becomes your reality check + confidence builder rolled into one.

This is how purpose-driven small businesses grow sustainably with alignment, clarity, and intentionality.

Build smart systems. Track the right signals. Make decisions like a CEO, not a frazzled, overworked mental case.

 

Would you rather have someone else take care of your marketing?

One of my greatest joys is supporting small businesses with their ongoing marketing and design needs. Let me take it off your plate.

MARKETING RETAINERS
Lisa Oates

I build intentional marketing strategies and design for brands driven by purposeful work. Fueled by coffee, dreaming, and a whole lot of fun!

http://www.northwestcreative.co
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Google Tag Manager: Track Marketing Data Without Touching Code