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How to Create a Monthly Report in Google Analytics

Cody Schneider•

Manually compiling month-end marketing reports is a ritual that most of us would rather skip. Thankfully, creating and even automating your monthly report in Google Analytics doesn't have to be a complicated, time-draining task. This guide will walk you through exactly how to build a meaningful report in Google Analytics 4, what metrics to include, and a few ways to put the entire process on autopilot.

First, Decide on Your Monthly KPIs

Before you even open Google Analytics, you need to know what you’re looking for. A good report answers important business questions, and those questions are answered by Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). The right KPIs depend entirely on your business model and goals for the month.

Don't just report on vanity metrics like total visitors. Tie your report back to tangible business outcomes. Did your marketing efforts drive sales? Generate leads? Increase content engagement? Choose KPIs that clearly show progress toward those goals.

Common KPIs for an E-commerce Business:

  • Total Revenue: The most crucial bottom-line metric.

  • E-commerce Conversion Rate: What percentage of users made a purchase?

  • Average Order Value (AOV): How much does the average customer spend?

  • Top Converting Channels: Which marketing channels (e.g., Organic Search, Paid Social, Email) are driving the most revenue?

  • Top Selling Products: Which products are your best performers?

Common KPIs for a Lead Generation Website:

  • Total Conversions: How many forms were submitted or demos booked? This could be a specific conversion event you’ve set up.

  • Conversion Rate: What percentage of users completed a lead form?

  • Cost Per Lead: If you're running paid campaigns, how much does each lead cost? (Requires combining data from ad platforms).

  • Users by Source/Medium: Where is your most valuable, highest-converting traffic coming from?

  • Top Performing Landing Pages: Which pages are most effective at converting visitors into leads?

Common KPIs for a Content Publisher or Blog:

  • Users and Sessions: A high-level view of your total audience size.

  • Engaged Sessions: How many sessions involved real user interaction? This is more meaningful than bounce rate.

  • Average Engagement Time: How long, on average, are users actively engaging with your content?

  • Top Pages by Views: What were your most popular articles this month?

  • Traffic Acquisition: Where are readers discovering your content (e.g., Google, social media, direct)?

Once you have a list of 5-7 KPIs, you're ready to start building your report.

Building Your Monthly Report in Google Analytics 4

Google Analytics 4 handles reporting a bit differently than its predecessor, Universal Analytics. While it has a steeper learning curve, it also offers more flexibility. Here are two ways to get your monthly data.

Method 1: A Quick Snapshot From the "Reports" Section

If you just need a few basic charts and numbers to copy into an email or presentation, the standard "Reports" section is the fastest way to get them.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

  1. Log into your GA4 property and navigate to the Reports tab in the left-hand menu.

  2. Under the "Lifecycle" or "User" collections, select a standard report that has the information you need. A great starting point is the Traffic acquisition report (under Lifecycle > Acquisition).

  3. In the top-right corner, click the date-range selector. Set the start and end dates for the previous month. You can also use handy presets like "Last month." Click Apply.

  4. The report will refresh with data for your chosen month. From here, you have a valuable overview of channel performance.

  5. To export this view, click the Share this report icon in the top-right (it looks like an upload symbol). Then, select Download File.

  6. You can download it as a PDF for a quick visual snapshot or as a CSV if you want the raw data to use in a spreadsheet.

Pros: Fast, easy, and requires no setup.Cons: The reports are static and not highly customizable. You have to export each report view one by one.

Method 2: Create a Custom Deep Dive in "Explore"

For a truly customized monthly report that combines the exact dimensions and metrics you care about, the "Explore" section is your best friend. This is where you can build reusable reports that go far beyond the standard templates.

Example: Building a Monthly Channel Performance Report

Let's build a custom table that shows core performance metrics grouped by marketing channel - a fundamental part of any monthly marketing review.

Steps:

  1. From the left-hand menu, click Explore and select Free form under "Create a new exploration."

  2. Give your exploration a name, like "Monthly Marketing Report - [Month Year]."

  3. Set your date range. Just like before, click the date selector in the main panel and choose "Last month."

  4. Import your building blocks. In the "Variables" column on the left, you need to import the dimensions (the "what") and metrics (the "how many") you'll use in your report.

    • Click the "+" icon next to Dimensions. Search for and check the box next to "Session source / medium." Click Import.

    • Click the "+" icon next to Metrics. Search for and import "Sessions," "Total users," "Purchase revenue," and "E-commerce conversion rate." Click Import.

  5. Build your report canvas. Now, drag and drop the fields from the "Variables" column into the "Tab Settings" column.

    • Drag Session source / medium from Dimensions over to Rows.

    • Drag Sessions, Total users, Purchase revenue, and E-commerce conversion rate from Metrics over to Values.

  6. That's it! Your report canvas will instantly populate with a clean, custom table showing exactly the data you need for your monthly review.

  7. You can export this data using the Share icon, just as you did with the standard report. The great part is this exploration is saved, so you can just come back next month, update the date range, and pull the new data in seconds.

Automating Your Monthly GA Reporting

Manually creating and exporting reports every month is repetitive work. The goal is to get this data automatically delivered so you can spend your time on analysis, not data pulling.

Option 1: Scheduled Emails via Looker Studio

Looker Studio (formerly Google Data Studio) is Google's free data visualization tool, and it's the official replacement for the old email automation from Universal Analytics. While it takes some initial setup, it's powerful and flexible.

How it Works:

  1. Go to lookerstudio.google.com and create a new Blank Report.

  2. When prompted to add data, select the Google Analytics connector. Authorize your account and select the GA4 property you want to report on.

  3. You can add charts, scorecards, and tables by clicking Add a chart from the top menu. In the "Data" panel on the right of any chart, you can select the dimensions and metrics to display (e.g., Sessions and Purchase Revenue by Session source / medium).

  4. Once your dashboard is looking good, click the down arrow next to the Share button and choose Schedule email delivery.

  5. You can configure the report to be emailed as a PDF to yourself and other stakeholders on a recurring monthly schedule (e.g., "Repeats monthly on the first day of the month").

Option 2: Connecting GA4 to Google Sheets

If you prefer to work with raw data in a spreadsheet, you can automate data pulls directly into Google Sheets.

How it Works:

  1. Open a new Google Sheet. Go to Extensions > Add-ons > Get add-ons.

  2. Search for "Google Analytics" and install the official add-on.

  3. Once installed, go to Extensions > Google Analytics > Create a new report.

  4. A sidebar will appear. Name your report and select the correct GA4 account and property.

  5. In the "Configuration Options," choose your desired metrics (e.g., sessions, totalUsers, purchaseRevenue) and dimensions (e.g., sessionSourceMedium).

  6. Once configured, go to Extensions > Google Analytics > Run reports. A new sheet will be created with your requested data.

  7. To automate this, go to Extensions > Google Analytics > Schedule reports and configure it to run automatically every month. Your spreadsheet will be updated without you needing to lift a finger.

Tips for a More Effective Monthly Report

Pulling the data is only half the battle. Presenting it in a way that generates insights and informs decisions is what makes a report valuable.

  • Always Include Comparisons: A number without context is meaningless. Is 1,000 conversions good or bad? You need something to compare it to. At the very least, compare the current month's performance to the previous month's. For seasonality, compare it to the same month last year. The GA4 date selector has a simple "Compare" toggle for this.

  • Add Your Own Narrative: Your report should tell a story. Provide a short summary or a few bullet points at the top explaining the 'so what?' Why did traffic go up? What was the impact of that big ad campaign? This turns raw data into actionable business intelligence.

  • Keep It Focused: Don't overwhelm your stakeholders with dozens of charts. Stick to the 5-7 core KPIs you identified earlier. If people have follow-up questions, you can always dig deeper. But the primary monthly report should be a clear, concise overview of performance.

Final Thoughts

Building an effective monthly report in Google Analytics is about identifying the right KPIs, choosing the best method for extracting the data, and presenting it with helpful context. Whether you're using GA4's native reporting or setting up automations with Looker Studio or Google Sheets, the goal is always to create a clear feedback loop that helps improve your future marketing efforts.

We know that even with some automation, stitching data together from Google Analytics, your ad platforms, and your CRM can be a massive time sink. With Graphed , we connect directly to all your data sources so you can build real-time, interactive dashboards just by describing what you want to see in simple English. You can spend your time analyzing insights and making decisions instead of wrangling spreadsheets and setting up complex report configurations.