My Skill Lab
Data ScienceBeginner

Looker Studio Dashboards

Free Google dashboards for marketing, sales and ops reporting.

Taught by Niraj Thapa · Analytics Lead

What you'll learn

  • Connect Google Sheets, GA4 and BigQuery data sources and choose sensible data freshness settings
  • Write calculated fields with CASE, REGEXP_MATCH, ratio and date functions that aggregate correctly
  • Design a one-page KPI dashboard with scorecards, trends, period comparisons and conditional formatting
  • Add date range controls, drop-down filters, cross-filtering and parameters for self-serve exploration
  • Blend data from several sources on matching join keys without inflating totals
  • Share, schedule and embed reports securely using the right data credentials

About this course

Looker Studio, which Google renamed Data Studio in April 2026, is Google's free dashboard tool, and this beginner course teaches you to use it for marketing, sales and operations reporting. You will connect Google Sheets, Google Analytics 4 (GA4) and BigQuery, write calculated fields with CASE, ratio and date formulas, and design clear dashboards with scorecards, time series and tables. You will add date range controls, filters, cross-filtering and parameters so viewers can explore on their own, blend data from several sources such as Google Ads spend and spreadsheet targets, and share reports safely with the right data credentials, scheduled email delivery and embedding. By the end you will have built a KPI dashboard you can adapt for clients or your own team. The course suits marketers, analysts, founders and operations staff who report from spreadsheets today. No coding is required: basic spreadsheet skills and a Google account are enough, and the one BigQuery example uses simple, readable SQL.

Course content

7 lessons
  1. 1Looker Studio, Now Data Studio: What It Is and Your First ReportWhat the tool does, why it is now called Data Studio, how the Pro edition differs, and a first report from a Google Sheet.Preview
  2. 2Connecting Data: Google Sheets, GA4 and BigQueryPrepare a Sheet properly, connect GA4 without quota trouble, and query BigQuery with date range parameters.
  3. 3Dimensions, Metrics and Calculated FieldsHow Data Studio aggregates fields, and how to write CASE, ratio and date calculated fields that stay correct.
  4. 4Choosing Charts and Designing a Readable DashboardMatch each question to the right chart, lay out a page people can scan, and add comparisons for context.
  5. 5Filters, Controls and InteractivityGive viewers date pickers, drop-downs and cross-filtering, and use filters and parameters to scope data.
  6. 6Blending Data From Multiple SourcesJoin ad spend, analytics and targets in one chart with blends, and avoid join mistakes that inflate totals.
  7. 7Sharing, Scheduling and Keeping Dashboards FastShare reports safely, schedule email delivery, embed them, and keep load times and data costs under control.