Learn how to setup Google Data Studio report tracking in Google Analytics

This is a case of what I would call, “Analyzing the analytics”. A lot of analysts and BI professionals focus on building dashboards and creating reports for different stakeholders. However, once the report is finalized and the right access levels assigned to users, how does tracking usability and adoption of the report works? In this post, I will show you how to install Google Analytics report tracking within Data Studio. We are going to explore the report tracking implementation process, as well as the reporting menus in Google Analytics that provide insights on-page engagement.

Set up the Google Analytics report tracking code

Firstly, you would have to navigate to the “Report settings” in your Data Studio report. Then, on the right side, you will see an input field for the Google Analytics Tracking ID. All you have to do is place the tracking code in the standard UA-XXXXX-Y format, no need for any complex implementation.

Now, to obtain the tracking code, you would need a new Google Analytics account and property. If you are starting from scratch, I would recommend the following hierarchy:

• Account -> Google Data Studio Reports
  • #1 Property -> Dashboard/Report #1
  • #2 Property -> Dashboard/Report #2
  • #3 Property -> Dashboard/Report #3

The tracking works on a property-level, therefore each Data Studio report can be assigned to only one property. This means that all report pages you are going to add in the future will be tracked in that property. You can initiate the account setup by simply going to the admin settings in Google Analytics.

Once you complete all the setup steps, you are going to see your Tracking ID displayed in the console. Then, a simple copy/paste into your Data Studio report settings should do the trick.

Get page engagement insights from your reports

The easiest way to see how each page in your report is performing is to:

1. Navigate to “All Pages” in the Behavior menu.
2. Pick “Page Title” as a primary dimension to avoid the messy URL default structure.
3. You should be able to see some classic Google Analytics metrics “Pageviews”, “Avg. Time on Page”, “Bounce Rate” and etc.

I hope this was helpful! If you have any questions, feel free to DM me on LinkedIn or subscribe to my newsletter for more updates ?

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