5 Steps to Quick Insights Using Google Analytics Solutions Gallery

What if you could map advanced Analytics users' knowledge over your own data? Well, don’t imagine any longer, you can (and should) do this today.

Google released the Dashboard Analytics Solutions Gallery more than 14 months ago but very few marketers have taken advantage of this free resource. Most advanced Google Analytics users have created custom dashboards but few have imported templates from the Solutions Gallery.

These dashboards can be used to find insights and drive more profit. This post will help you set up and utilize these proven dashboards as part of your daily, weekly, or monthly analysis.

There are 16 categories you can select from to customize your data and find the insight you're looking for. These templates are created by Analytics gurus and can help you dig into data not provided in the standard reports. The best part is they can be segmented by category and are reviewed by other users so you don’t have to waste your time trying to find the best ones.

Google says: "Crowd Source Google Analtyics Insights. This solutions gallery contains in-product solutions (such as dashboards, custom reports and segments) to deepen your use of Google Analytics and accelerate your learning curve."

You can set up and use these dashboards for quicker reporting and deeper insights using the following five steps.

Step 1: Decide What Insights You're Looking For

You must begin with the end in mind if you really want to get value from these dashboards. Are you looking to analyze marketing campaigns and their performance? How is my website speed and responsiveness? Are you trying to set marketing budgets and need to understand what is working and what should be cut?

If you're looking for SEO insights, this great post by Chuck Price shows you exactly what templates to use and how to analyze them.

There are hundreds of possible questions and insights you can look for using Google Analytics but the more specific you can be when creating a hypothesis the quicker you will find the best dashboard and get to the insight.

Step 2: Create New Dashboard and Import From Gallery

In order to take advantage of the Google Analytics Solutions Gallery, you must first create a new dashboard. Instead of entering the title and clicking "create dashboard" you click on "Import from Gallery."

Step 3: Filter Gallery Results by Popularity, Reviews, Category, or Type

When you first start looking at the solution gallery it can be a little intimidating. Filter your results based on the insights you are looking for.

Are you looking to analyze site performance, mobile, engagement, PPC, SEO, social, or display campaigns? Depending on what you would like to accomplish, filter by type:

DashboardCustom ReportSegmentAttribution ModelGoal

Here's an example of the browsing and filter options.

Using the ratings and reviews, you can see what has been helpful for other users and which dashboards have not provided value. Once you have found the template you want to use, simply click import.

Step 4: View the Data, Look for Insights, & Automate Reporting

After you import the dashboard your data will be populated and the analysis can begin. Usually the insights will appear right away, but sometimes you need to compare date ranges or flip back between a few reports to finalize your conclusion.

The template will be saved for as long as you keep it and can become part of your daily, weekly, or monthly analysis. Agencies love using the Solutions Gallery to help automate reporting to clients and show data that isn’t available in the standard reports.

Step 5: Edit, Customize, or Segments Data

Sometimes even the most popular and highly rated Google Solutions Templates don’t have exactly what you need. Google Analytics allows you to customize or edit the metrics within each dashboard in order for you to find the insight you are looking for.

For advanced users, customizing or editing these templates can help answer tough questions that need more data points in order to see the entire picture. If the template doesn’t get you to quick insights, customize or edit as shown here.

Summary

Use the Google Analytics Solutions Gallery to find custom dashboards that have been created by experts to speed up the time to insights. You don’t have to be an analytics guru to use these dashboards, but you can monetize the data in Google Analytics and make better decisions quicker.

Leverage the knowledge of other people who have had success and let the crowd sourcing of reviews drive which template you import. My 10 favorite Solutions Gallery templates to use are in these categories:

SocialSite OptimizationPaid SearchOrganic SearchMobileEngagementDisplay AdvertisingConversionCampaignAcquisition

Do you have any favorite templates you would like to share? Please comment below as we would love to know if you use the Solutions Gallery or how you go about analyzing your Google Analytics data to gain insights.