How to Create Custom Reports in Google Analytics

The standard reports in Google Analytics are great for a quick overview, but they often don't answer the specific questions you have about your business. To get real, actionable insights, you need to go beyond the default dashboards and build your own. This guide will walk you through creating custom reports in both Google Analytics 4 and Universal Analytics (UA) so you can get the exact data you need to make smarter decisions.

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Why Bother With Custom Reports?

Default reports are designed to serve everyone, which means they might not be perfect for anyone. You end up clicking through multiple screens and stitching data together in your head to find what you're looking for. Custom reports solve this by letting you choose the exact dimensions and metrics you care about, all in one view.

With a custom report, you can:

• Answer specific questions: Instead of asking, "How's my traffic?" you can answer, "Which blog posts published last month brought in the most qualified leads from organic search?"
• Focus on what matters: Filter out the noise and display only the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) relevant to your goals.
• Combine different data points: Correlate user behavior with acquisition channels or investigate how different content types perform across various devices.
• Save time: Once you create a useful report, you can save it and return to it anytime for an updated view without rebuilding it from scratch.

Getting Started: GA4 vs. Universal Analytics

The process for creating custom reports is very different depending on which version of Google Analytics you're using. Google Analytics 4 is the current standard, and its custom reporting feature is called "Explorations." Universal Analytics is the older version that was sunset on July 1, 2023, but you can still access historical data and its "Custom Reports" feature.

We'll cover GA4 first, as it's the present and future of Google Analytics.

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How to Create Custom Reports in Google Analytics 4 (Explorations)

In GA4, custom reporting lives in the "Explore" section. It's an incredibly powerful, drag-and-drop report builder that replaces the more rigid structure of Universal Analytics. It looks more intimidating at first, but it offers far greater flexibility.

Finding and Understanding the Explorations Workspace

In the left-hand navigation of your GA4 property, click on Explore. You'll land on a dashboard where you can start a new exploration from scratch or use a template. For our purpose, we'll start with a "Free form" report.

When you open a new exploration, the screen is split into three main panels:

1. Variables: This is where you import all the ingredients for your report. You have to tell GA4 which Dimensions (the "what," e.g., Page, Source, Country) and Metrics (the numbers, e.g., Sessions, Users, Conversions) you want to use. You simply click the plus sign (+) next to each one and select them from a list.
2. Tab Settings: This is where you build the report itself. You drag your imported dimensions and metrics from the Variables panel into the various fields here to create your visualization.
3. The Output: This large panel on the right is where your report - a table or chart - is dynamically generated based on your Tab Settings.

Step-by-Step Example: Building a Landing Page Performance Report in GA4

Let's create a common and useful report: one that shows which landing pages are most effective at driving engaged traffic and conversions from different sources.

Step 1: Open a New "Free form" Exploration

In the Explore section, click on the box labeled "Free form." Give your report a meaningful name at the top left, like "Landing Page Performance - Organic Search."

Step 2: Import Your Dimensions

In the Variables panel, click the plus icon next to Dimensions. Search for and select the following, then click Import:

• Landing page + query string: This shows the full URL of the first page a user visited.
• Session source / medium: This tells you where your users came from (e.g., google / organic, facebook / cpc).

Step 3: Import Your Metrics

Next, click the plus icon next to Metrics. Search for and select these, then click Import:

• Sessions: The total number of sessions.
• Engaged sessions: The number of sessions that lasted longer than 10 seconds, had a conversion event, or had at least 2 page views.
• Conversions: The count of any event you've marked as a conversion.
• Engagement rate: The percentage of sessions that were engaged sessions.

Step 4: Build the Report Table

Now comes the fun part. Drag and drop the things you just imported from the Variables panel into the Tab Settings panel.

• Drag Landing page + query string into the Rows field. Your report will instantly populate with a list of all your landing pages.
• Drag Sessions, Engaged sessions, Engagement rate, and Conversions into the Values field. Your table will now have columns for each of these metrics next to your landing pages.

Just like that, you have a basic report showing the performance of every landing page.

Step 5: Apply a Filter

Right now, this report shows data from all traffic sources. Let's narrow it down to only organic search traffic.

• In the Tab Settings panel, find the Filters box.
• Drag the Session source / medium dimension into the filter box.
• Set the filter condition: select "matches exactly" and type in "google / organic."
• Click Apply.

Your table now shows only the landing pages that visitors arrived at from Google's organic search results. This is a much more focused and actionable view.

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A Quick Look at Other Exploration Types in GA4

"Free form" is the most common exploration type, but GA4 offers other powerful templates:

• Funnel exploration: Perfect for visually mapping the steps a user takes to complete a goal (like a checkout process) and seeing where they drop off.
• Path exploration: Shows you the common paths users take after arriving on your site or after completing a certain event. It's great for understanding user journeys.
• Segment overlap: Lets you see how different user segments (e.g., "Mobile Users" vs. "Traffic from U.S.") overlap with each other.

How to Create Custom Reports in Universal Analytics

Even though UA is sunset, you might still need to build reports using its historical data. The process is simpler but less flexible than GA4's Explorations.

Finding the Custom Reports Builder

In the left-hand navigation of your Universal Analytics property, click on Customization > Custom Reports.

Click on +New Custom Report to get started.

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Step-by-Step Example: A Simple Content Performance Report in UA

Let's create a report to see how different articles are performing in terms of engagement.

Step 1: Define General Information

Give your report a Title, like "Blog Content Engagement." You can organize reports into groups using tab names if you wish, but for now, you can leave that as is.

Step 2: Define the Report Content

This is where you choose your metrics and dimensions.

• Metric Groups: Click "+add metric." Select metrics like Sessions, Avg. Session Duration, and Pages / Session. These will become the columns of your report. You can create multiple metric groups that appear as different sub-tabs in the report.
• Dimension Drilldowns: This determines the rows of your report. Click "+add dimension." Select Page Title as your first dimension. This will give you a list of all your content. You can add more dimensions to "drill down" into the data. For example, adding Source / Medium as a second dimension lets you first look at metrics by page title, then click a specific title to see its traffic sources.

Step 3: Add Filters (Optional)

Just like in GA4, you can use filters to narrow down the data. For example, you could add a filter to include only pages that contain "/blog/" if that's how your URLs are structured. This weeds out any non-blog pages from your report.

Step 4: Save & View the Report

Hit the Save button at the bottom. Your report will be generated and automatically saved under the "Customization" tab for future use.

Tips for Better Custom Reports

Whether you're in GA4 or UA, these principles will help you build better, more meaningful reports:

• Start with a question: Don't start by asking "What data do I have?" Start with thinking, "What business question do I need to answer?" That question will dictate which metrics and dimensions you choose.
• Keep them simple: One report should answer one or two questions at most. Resist the temptation to cram every possible dimension into one view. It will just become noise.
• Use filters and segments: The most powerful insights often come from narrowing your focus to a specific audience or behavior.
• Save and share your reports: Once you've built a useful report, give it a clear name and save it. It'll become a go-to resource for your entire team.

Final Thoughts

Crafting custom reports in Google Analytics transforms it from a simple metrics dashboard into a powerful business intelligence tool. You're no longer at the mercy of generic views, instead, you can create highly personalized data views that directly answer your most critical business questions.

While building these reports is a vast improvement over manual spreadsheets, it can still be time-consuming, especially when you need to combine GA data with data from your other platforms, your CRM, or your Shopify store. We built Graphed to solve this problem. Instead of dragging and dropping dimensions and metrics, you can just ask Graphed questions in plain English - like, “Show me revenue from my top landing pages from organic search compared to total revenue for the last quarter.” It's still the same deep analysis but without the hours of clicking and confusion.