How to Create a New Report in Google Analytics 4

Building a custom report in Google Analytics 4 might seem confusing at first, especially if you're used to the old Universal Analytics. But once you get the hang of it, the 'Explore' workspace is an incredibly powerful tool for unearthing the specific insights that actually matter to your business. This tutorial will walk you through, step-by-step, how to create a useful new report from scratch so you can move past the standard dashboards and start asking your own questions.

First, Understand Where Custom Reports Live: The 'Explore' Section

In GA4, most of your ad-hoc analysis and custom report building happens in a section called Explorations. Think of it as your own private sandbox for data analysis. Unlike the standard reports, Explorations are not shared with all users by default and they allow you to mix and match metrics and dimensions with much more freedom.

To find it, look at the left-hand navigation menu in Google Analytics and click on the Explore icon. Once you're there, you'll see a gallery of templates. These are pre-built starting points for different types of analysis:

• Free form: The most versatile and flexible option. It lets you build reports in a familiar table format (rows and columns) or visualize data with charts like bar charts, line graphs, and scatter plots. This is what we'll be using for our guide.
• Funnel exploration: Perfect for mapping out how users navigate through a specific conversion path, like a checkout process or a lead form submission.
• Path exploration: Helps you understand the common paths users take on your site, showing you what they do before or after a specific action or page view.

While the other templates are specialized and useful, the 'Free form' exploration is your go-to for creating most of the custom reports you'll need for weekly or monthly analysis.

Building Your First Custom Report in GA4 (Step-by-Step)

Let's create one of the most common and useful custom reports that isn't readily available out-of-the-box in GA4: a Landing Page Performance Report. Our goal is to see which pages are most effective at bringing new visitors to our site and driving conversions.

Step 1: Start a New 'Free form' Exploration

Navigate to the Explore section and click on the 'Blank' or 'Free form' template at the top left of the gallery. This will open up the main report builder interface, which can look a little intimidating at first. Let's break it down.

The screen is divided into three main columns:

1. Variables: This is your "palette" of data. Before you can put anything in your report, you must first import the dimensions and metrics you want to use into this column.
2. Tab Settings: This is where you configure the report itself. You'll drag the variables you just imported into specific fields here (like 'Rows', 'Columns', and 'Values') to build the structure of your table or chart.
3. Report Canvas: This large area on the right is the live preview of your report. As you make changes in the Tab Settings column, you will see the report update here in real-time.

Step 2: Add Your Dimensions and Metrics to the 'Variables' Palette

Your report is blank because you haven't told Google Analytics which "ingredients" you want to use. We need to add them to the Variables column first. Remember:

• Dimensions are the attributes of your data. They are usually text-based, describing the "what," "where," or "who." Examples include Page path, Country, or Traffic source.
• Metrics are the quantitative measurements. They are the numbers you use to measure dimensions. Examples include Sessions, Users, or Conversions.

For our landing page report, let's add the data we need.

How to Add a Dimension:

• In the Variables column, click the '+' button next to the 'Dimensions' section.
• A pane will appear with all available dimensions. Use the search bar to find what you need. Let’s search for and check the box next to "Landing page + query string". This shows us the full URL of the first page a user landed on.
• Let's also add "Session source / medium" to see where the traffic came from. Find it and check its box.
• Once you've selected all the dimensions you think you'll need, click the blue "Import" button at the top right.

How to Add a Metric:

• Now, do the same thing for metrics. Click the '+' button next to the 'Metrics' section.
• Use the search bar to find and select the data points we want to measure. For this report, let's add:
• After selecting them, click the "Import" button.

Your 'Variables' column is now loaded up with the specific dimensions and metrics you need to build your report.

Step 3: Configure Your Report in the 'Tab Settings' Column

Now that we have our ingredients, it’s time to actually build the table. You'll drag the dimensions and metrics from the 'Variables' column into the fields in the 'Tab Settings' column.

• Drag Dimensions to 'Rows': For our landing page report, drag the "Landing page + query string" dimension from your Variables list and drop it into the 'Rows' box in Tab Settings. Immediately, you should see the report on the right populate with a list of your website's landing pages.
• Drag Metrics to 'Values': Metrics can be measured, so they go into 'Values.' Let's drag "Sessions", "Engagement rate", and "Conversions" from your Variables list into the 'Values' box.

As soon as you drop them in, your report canvas will update to show a table with your landing pages in the rows and your chosen metrics presented in the columns. You've officially created a custom report!

Step 4: Visualize Your Data

A table is great for detailed analysis, but sometimes a chart is better for quickly spotting top performers. In the 'Tab Settings' column, at the very top, you'll see a drop-down menu with visualization options. The default is 'Table'.

Click on it and change the visualization to Bar chart. GA4 will automatically reformat your data into a bar chart, making it easy to see which landing pages are bringing in the most sessions at a glance.

Step 5: Filter Your Report for Deeper Insights

At this point, you have an "all-up" report showing data from every traffic source. But what if you only want to see the performance of landing pages from organic search?

This is where filters come in handy. Still in the 'Tab Settings' column, scroll down to the bottom section called 'Filters'.

• Drag the "Session source / medium" dimension from your Variables list into the 'Drop or select dimension or metric' box in the Filters section.
• A menu will pop up. For the 'Match Type', choose "contains".
• In the 'Enter expression' field, type "google / organic" (or whatever source/medium you want to isolate).
• Click 'Apply'.

The entire report — whether it's a table or a chart — will instantly update to show you data only for sessions that came from Google organic search. This ability to slice and dice your data on the fly is what makes Explorations so powerful.

Step 6: Name and Save Your Report

Don't lose your hard work! At the top left of the screen, click on "Untitled Exploration" and give your report a clear, descriptive name like "Landing Page Performance - Organic Q2". The report saves automatically as you work, so you can revisit it anytime from the main Explorations dashboard.

Quick Tips for Better GA4 Reports

• Start With a Business Question: Don't wander into Explorations aimlessly. Start with a specific question you want to answer, like "Which of my blog posts are generating the most leads?" This will guide your selection of dimensions and metrics.
• Keep Reports Focused: It’s tempting to add dozens of metrics and dimensions. Resist the urge. A report with 3 or 4 key metrics that answers a specific question is more useful than a cluttered table with 15 data points that answers nothing.
• Use Segments for Comparing Audiences: Next to 'Filters', you'll see a box for 'Segments'. Segments let you compare the behavior of different audience groups side-by-side. For example, you could create a segment for 'Mobile Traffic' and another for 'Desktop Traffic' to compare how those two groups interact with your landing pages.

Final Thoughts

Building custom reports in Google Analytics 4 is all about using the 'Explore' section to pick your dimensions and metrics, arranging them in the report builder, and then filtering down to find clear answers. By creating focused reports like the landing page example above, you move from just collecting data to gathering actionable intelligence.

Of course, becoming comfortable with GA4 has its own learning curve, and it still requires you to manually find, import, and configure your data. At Graphed , we created a way to get these answers without having to live inside the GA4 report builder. We connect directly to your Google Analytics account, allowing you to ask questions in plain English - like "create a bar chart of my top 10 landing pages by sessions from organic traffic this month" - and we generate the visualization instantly. Our goal is to give you back your time, so you can focus on making decisions based on the insights, not just on building the reports.