How to Build a Data Studio Report from Analytics and GSC

What you need

• A Google account with access to your Google Analytics 4 property and to your site’s Search Console.
• 30–40 minutes.

If Analytics or Search Console isn’t connected to your site yet, start with the guides to installing GA4 and to adding a site to Search Console.

Step 1. Create a report and connect Analytics

1. Open Data Studio and create a new blank report.
2. You’ll be prompted to add data. Choose the Google Analytics connector, then your account and GA4 property.
3. Confirm. A first table with data appears on the canvas — you can delete it or keep it.

Google’s connectors to its own services are free. The paid Data Studio Pro is aimed at teams and organisations; you don’t need it for a first report.

Step 2. Add Search Console

1. Use the add data button to connect a second source — the Search Console connector.
2. Choose your site and the table: site-level data shows total impressions and clicks by query, URL-level data breaks them down by page.
3. Choose the Web search type and add the source.

Step 3. Build four basic blocks

1. Summary at the top. A few scorecards: users, sessions, key events from Analytics, clicks from Search Console.
2. Trend. A time-series chart: users for the selected period, compared with the previous one.
3. Traffic sources. A table: channel group, users, key events. You immediately see what brings customers — search, ads, social media or direct visits.
4. Search queries. A Search Console table: query, clicks, impressions, CTR and average position, sorted by clicks.

Each block is added from the Add a chart menu; the data source and metrics are chosen in the panel on the right.

Step 4. Add a date range control

Add a date range control to the page — then readers switch dates themselves without touching the charts. The last 28 days is a convenient default. Bear in mind that Search Console data arrives with a 2–3 day delay, so the most recent days in those tables will be empty.

Step 5. Share the report

Click Share and add colleagues by email or turn on link sharing. Viewer rights are enough to see the report. You can also schedule email delivery so the report arrives regularly.

Common mistakes

• The numbers don’t match the Analytics interface. Usually the date range or time zone differs. Compare the dates first.
• The last few days of Search Console data are empty. That’s the service’s own delay, not a report error.
• The report is built on an employee’s personal account. When they leave, the data sources stop working. The report and its sources should be owned by a company account.
• Too many charts on one page. The report loads slowly and nobody reads it. Better one page per question.

In short

1. Create a blank report and connect Google Analytics.
2. Add Search Console as a second source.
3. Build a summary, a trend, traffic sources and search queries.
4. Add a date range control.
5. Share the report, remembering that data is shown with the owner’s credentials.

If you have lots of data — Analytics, Search Console, ads — and want one clear report for your team or a client, we can build Data Studio reports around your questions. And when standard reports aren’t enough, the next step is raw GA4 data in BigQuery.