Build a Content Performance Dashboard with Google Looker

With so many nuances to content material, from distribution to format to the client’s journey, you need to take a drill-down method to your analytics. Assess efficiency from a chook’s eye view after which break it into a number of views.

This course of permits you to actually grasp the elements of content material and distribution that contribute to your overarching content material objectives.

You are able to do this in a number of methods, however one of the crucial efficient is a real-time dashboard created by means of Google Looker, which integrates seamlessly with Google Analytics 4.

Let’s discover the constructing blocks of content material measurement and stroll by means of a Google Looker dashboard. The free template will help you measure, justify, and brag concerning the nice influence content material has on what you are promoting.

What metrics to investigate

Earlier than you construct an analytics dashboard, you need to determine the important thing metrics that align along with your content material’s objective. Your content material’s breadth makes it a strong device to have interaction audiences at a number of touchpoints, nurture relationships, and encourage them to behave. Nevertheless, your particular objectives rely on the character of your services or products, the shopping for cycle of your prospects, the connection you search along with your viewers and different elements.

Among the many frequent aims and corresponding metrics:

Consider content material AND distribution

To guage your content material’s effectiveness towards its enterprise objective, that you must assess the 2 sides of the coin — the content material and the distribution. Measuring the efficiency of content material with out contemplating the context of who noticed it and beneath what circumstances could be like evaluating the standard of a automotive primarily based solely on its prime pace.

You additionally should assess who had the chance to see the content material. For instance, you could decide one weblog submit resonates stronger than one other as a result of it noticed twice the visitors. However, upon additional examination, you uncover the weblog submit that carried out higher had higher distribution. The CEO shared it on LinkedIn, however the poorer performing submit wasn’t promoted in any respect. In that case, metrics, similar to web page views and common engagement time, don’t function the most effective indicators to determine your strongest-performing content material.

Alternatively, a bit of web site content material may need a excessive visitors rely however low engagement. Chances are you’ll first assume the content material missed the mark, inflicting individuals to depart your web site at alarming charges. Nevertheless, if you dig into the distribution, you see the majority of that low-engagement visitors got here from a digital advert with poor concentrating on. The content material seemed like a failure, however the distribution technique is what failed.

Analyzing the content material and distribution in tandem permits you to determine the true strengths and weaknesses of your technique and keep away from making misguided assumptions primarily based on incomplete info.

Armed with this holistic view, you’ll be well-equipped to construct a strong measurement program that allows data-driven decision-making and steady enchancment.

Consider the obtainable metrics

To drag collectively all of the related information in a single place, take into account the free model of Google Looker. It permits you to create a number of tabs in a single report and customise the look, really feel, top, and width of your information views.

On the primary tab, create a holistic view of your content material. I’ll clarify the best way to do it technically later. The primary objective of this part is to reply the query, “Is the model’s content material attaining what it’s designed to do?”

To display that, choose metrics associated to your content material objectives. For those who take a full-funnel method to content material, it’s best to embody KPIs at completely different phases of the person journey. However if you happen to concentrate on content material for a single objective, use these related metrics.

This list from Google encompasses dozens of accessible metrics. A few of the most typical ones are included on this chart:

Construct a Google Looker dashboard

I’ve included a Google Looker template that can assist you rise up and operating along with your content material measurement program. To make use of this dashboard along with your web site information, click on on the three dots within the higher right-hand nook and choose “Make a duplicate.”

You’ll be prompted to exchange the pattern GA4 information supply (authentic information supply) along with your analytics (new information supply):

You now have a dashboard able to populate.

As I stroll by means of this instance, please know that some metrics won’t carry over into your model as they’re proven under as a result of the pattern information isn’t essentially arrange as yours. To repair that, choose every metric and chart and exchange them with the specified dimensions on the right-hand menu. From right here, you may as well change the visualizations, show, and elegance of your information.

Create govt content material dashboard

The primary tab of the dashboard contains the template for the chief abstract. It compares the chosen KPIs (listed on the prime) to the earlier interval. Stakeholders can simply see adjustments in key metrics which may be disrupting or enhancing your content material efficiency.

On this pattern content material measurement dashboard, the KPIs embody energetic customers, periods, engagement fee, bounce fee, common session length, and conversions. Beneath every quantity is the change proportion in pink (adverse) or inexperienced (optimistic). It additionally features a chart displaying the comparative periods over time.

The manager dashboard additionally contains charts and graphs for brand new vs. returning customers, common views per session, views by web page and channel, guests by location, periods by channel, and extra.

This dashboard tracks the web site. If you wish to observe solely content material pages, similar to your weblog, add a page- or report-level filter.

So as to add a filter that applies to all tabs on the dashboard, go to the highest menu and choose “File” then “Report Settings.” A column will open on the fitting aspect of the dashboard. Choose “Add A Filter” on the backside.

The method is analogous for page-level filters, however they solely apply to the present tab. To create a page-level filter, go to the highest menu and select “Web page” then “Present Web page Settings.” A column will seem on the fitting. Choose “Add A Filter.”

From right here, the page- or report-level filter course of is identical. Choose “Create A Filter.” A field will pop up on the backside.

In case your web site makes use of a breadcrumb taxonomy or different technique to distinguish amongst content material varieties, create this filter by choosing “Web page path.” Then, choose “Embrace” within the first drop-down field and “Accommodates” within the second field. Add “weblog” or no matter key phrase seems in all of the URLs designating that content material sort within the third field.

TIP: If the content material sort contains a number of key phrases, choose the “And” or “Or” that seem subsequent to or under the standards.

This 30,000-foot view paves the best way for extra targeted visualizations to pinpoint the needle movers in your content material. You aren’t solely poised to speak content material efficacy to your stakeholders but in addition equip your self with the data wanted to meaningfully interpret extra granular insights and translate them into actionable optimizations.

Drill down into channels

Now that you’ve got established the massive image, it’s time to drill down into what drives that influence. By isolating content material and visitors by channel, you possibly can take away the anomaly round viewers origin and intent and perceive the content material’s efficiency inside the context of its distribution.

Relying on how deep you wish to go and what number of channels drive your visitors, you could create particular person channel sections inside one tab or designate particular person tabs to investigate every channel.

Within the template, the “Channels” tab tracks how completely different channels contribute to content material views and engagement. Below the label “Channels Over Time” seems a chart displaying energetic customers by channel (referral, direct, natural social, natural search, e-mail, and unassigned) for the previous 4 months. I selected the energetic customers metric as a result of it doesn’t rely bot visitors, which usually lands on and abandons your web site instantly.

It additionally reveals a pie chart of channel contributions to point out the share every channel contributes to energetic customers.

Then, it features a channel breakdown chart. It particulars energetic customers, new customers, periods, and common session length by channel. It additionally features a top-pages-by-channel chart, figuring out the most well-liked web page titles visited by energetic customers coming from every channel.

These information views present a complete understanding of how every distribution channel contributes to the content material’s attain and engagement, permitting you to make knowledgeable choices about the place to focus your efforts for max influence.

Pinpoint granular content material efficiency

You can also drill right down to content material web page efficiency. The side-by-side comparisons will help you determine what messages, content material varieties, and themes are working for what you are promoting.

Within the template, the third tab is “Content material Efficiency By Web page.” It permits you to analyze the efficiency of particular person content material items, similar to weblog posts, articles, or touchdown pages. The visualization on the prime of the web page contains lots of the identical metrics as the chief dashboard, similar to periods over time, common views per person, and new vs. return customers.

You should utilize the page-title management on the prime (extra on that within the subsequent part) or a page-level filter to look solely on the content material pages.

On the backside of the tab, you possibly can see two views — web page efficiency by channel and content material web page breakdown. The previous reveals probably the most considered pages, layering within the channels that drove visitors to them, whereas the latter breaks down the core metrics for every web page, together with energetic customers, new customers, views, and common session length.

By analyzing the efficiency of particular person content material items and understanding which channels are driving visitors to them, you possibly can achieve helpful insights into what kinds of content material resonate along with your viewers and the place they’re almost certainly to have interaction with it. This info will help you refine your content strategy, prioritize subjects and codecs that generate probably the most curiosity, and optimize your distribution efforts.

Slicing and dicing with information controls

No matter whether or not you select to drill down by channel, content material sort, or one thing else, you possibly can layer in additional granularity by including user-friendly drop-down controls to your dashboard.

These controls let dashboard viewers slice and cube the information by dimensions, similar to date vary, location, demographics, web page title, web page categorization, visitors supply, and extra. For instance, if you happen to created your Google Looker tabs to concentrate on the channel, you possibly can add a content material management to see how a selected channel contributes to the efficiency of particular pages. You possibly can add these controls for any discipline obtainable in Google Analytics.

To include this characteristic, click on on the “Add a management” icon within the modifying menu on the prime of the dashboard. Choose “Drop-down record” from the menu.

You possibly can place the management wherever on the dashboard. Sometimes, they work nicely on the prime.

Now, on the fitting, designate the sphere and metric from the menu.  Click on on the “Management discipline” to decide on the filter dimension, similar to “Web page title,” “Touchdown web page,” “Supply/medium,” or “Metropolis.”

Then, within the drop-down management, select the metric of your filter dimension to kind. Click on on the “Metric” discipline within the properties panel. For instance, if you happen to’ve chosen “Web page Title” as your dimension, you would possibly select metrics like “Classes,” “Customers,” or “Views.” The designated metric can be used to calculate and show the information in your visualizations primarily based on the chosen dimension. In case your dimension is web page title and the metric is periods, the drop-down management will present the overall variety of periods in descending order.

Alternatively, in order for you the dimension to show alphabetically, don’t designate a metric for the management.

By offering this degree of interactivity, you possibly can cater to the various wants and questions of stakeholders whereas sustaining a clear and targeted dashboard design.

Your content material measurement journey: From insights to influence

Like anything in digital advertising, content material packages have to be extremely dynamic and adaptable to drive actual influence. What’s efficient as we speak is probably not the most effective technique tomorrow, however companies that aren’t measuring their content material efficiency have a tendency to simply chug alongside, none the wiser.

It’s time to get off that content material choo-choo prepare. Arm your self with information, sharpen your strategic instincts, and prepare to dominate the content material sport. The long run belongs to those that not solely create nice content material but in addition have the knowledge to measure its influence. Will you be amongst them?