Setting Up Your Google Ads Dashboard: Monitor Performance at a Glance

You’re running Google Ads. You need to check performance. So you log into the Google Ads interface.

And immediately, you’re overwhelmed. There are twelve different columns showing metrics you don’t care about. You click to the campaigns view—different columns. You switch to the keywords view—completely different metrics displayed.

Here’s one thing that I generally don’t like about Google Ads: the inconsistency with the metrics they show in the different reports for campaigns, ad groups, and keywords. The columns need to be set properly, and views need to be saved. If you do use Google Ads directly, at least save your preferred column views so it’ll be consistent for you.

But here’s the problem: Keep in mind that all users in your account are seeing different views unless trained how to choose the columns that matter most to you. If you have a business partner, employee, or agency accessing your account, everyone is looking at different data unless you standardize it.

That’s inefficient and confusing.

You need a dashboard that shows the key metrics at a glance—the same metrics every time, automatically updated, emailed to you on a schedule so you don’t have to log in constantly to hunt for numbers.

This article shows you how to set up automated monitoring with dashboards and reports that focus on what matters (the 6 metrics from Chapter 7.1) and ignore everything else.

Why You Need a Dashboard

The Google Ads interface is overwhelming by design. It’s built for power users managing dozens of accounts across multiple industries. For a business owner running ads for one business, it’s overkill.

Too many metrics, too hard to find what matters. You want to know: How many leads did I get? What did they cost? That’s it. But Google Ads shows you impression share, search lost IS (budget), search lost IS (rank), top impression rate, absolute top impression rate, and fifty other metrics you don’t need.

A good dashboard shows only the 6 metrics that matter (from Chapter 7.1):

Total conversions (leads)
Conversion rate
Cost per conversion (cost per lead)
Lead-to-customer rate (if tracked)
Cost per customer
ROAS

Everything else is noise.

Benefits of a Dashboard

Automated email reports: Get a weekly or monthly report emailed to you. No logging in required. Just open the email and see your numbers.

See trends over time easily: Is performance improving or declining month-over-month? A dashboard visualizes this with charts instead of making you manually compare numbers.

Compare periods: This month vs. last month. This quarter vs. last quarter. This year vs. last year. Dashboards make comparisons automatic.

If working with an agency, hold them accountable: A shared dashboard means you see the same data they see. No hiding behind vague reports. The numbers are right there.

Consistency: Everyone looking at the dashboard sees the same metrics in the same format. No confusion about which columns to use or which report to check.

Dashboard Options: Which Tool to Use

There are several tools you can use to build dashboards. Here’s what each does and when to use it.

Looker Studio (formerly Google Data Studio)

What it is: Google’s free dashboarding and reporting tool. Connects directly to Google Ads, Google Analytics, and other data sources.

Pros:

Completely free
Connects directly to Google Ads (no manual data export)
Powerful once you learn it
Built-in templates available (you can start with a pre-built Google Ads dashboard)
Fully customizable

Cons:

Learning curve if you’ve never used it
Requires some setup time
Interface can be confusing at first

Best for: DIY business owners on a budget who want a free, powerful solution and don’t mind spending 2-3 hours learning the tool.

Agency Analytics

What it is: Paid dashboard and reporting platform designed for marketing agencies. At Pixelocity, we use this for Pixelocity clients.

Important note: We use this for Pixelocity where we’re managing multiple client accounts. It may not be appropriate for just single business accounts due to the pricing structure (designed for agencies managing many clients). We find it’s a good tool to customize reports and to be able to share them with clients so they can concentrate on the metrics that matter to them.

Pros:

Beautiful, professional reports
Combines multiple data sources (Google Ads, Google Analytics, call tracking, Facebook Ads, etc.)
Automated email reports
Client-friendly interface (easy for non-technical people to understand)
White-label reports (agencies can brand them)

Cons:

Paid ($50-200+/month depending on features and number of clients)
Overkill for single business managing their own ads
More features than most businesses need

Best for: If you’re working with an agency, this is what you should expect from them—professional, automated reports with clean dashboards. If you’re managing your own ads, it’s probably too expensive unless you’re running very large budgets ($10K+/month).

Dash This

What it is: Alternative to Agency Analytics. A fairly inexpensive but simple to set up option.

Pros:

Similar features to Agency Analytics but at a lower price point
Good for smaller budgets (typically $30-50/month)
Simple setup
Combines multiple data sources
Automated reports

Cons:

Paid (though cheaper than Agency Analytics)
Not as feature-rich as Agency Analytics

Best for: Smaller businesses or agencies who want something nicer than Looker Studio but can’t justify Agency Analytics pricing.

Google Sheets + Google Ads Add-On

What it is: Free spreadsheet solution. You can install the Google Ads add-on in Google Sheets and automatically pull your Google Ads data into a spreadsheet.

Pros:

Completely free
Simple if you’re comfortable with spreadsheets
Can create basic charts and graphs
Automated data refresh

Cons:

Limited compared to dedicated dashboard tools
Manual setup for each metric
Not as visual or polished
Requires some spreadsheet skills

Best for: Simple needs. If you just want to track 3-4 key metrics in a spreadsheet and don’t need fancy charts, this works.

Which Should You Choose?

DIY on a budget: Looker Studio. It’s free, powerful, and directly connects to Google Ads. Worth the 2-3 hours to learn.

Working with an agency: Expect Agency Analytics-level reports (or equivalent). If your agency isn’t providing professional dashboards and automated reports, ask for them.

Simple needs, spreadsheet-savvy: Google Sheets + Google Ads add-on.

Small business wanting something easy: Consider Dash This if you can afford $30-50/month.

Setting Up Looker Studio Dashboard (Step-by-Step)

Since Looker Studio is free and most accessible, let’s walk through setting it up.

Step 1: Create Free Looker Studio Account

Go to lookerstudio.google.com. Sign in with your Google account (the same one you use for Google Ads).

Step 2: Connect to Google Ads Data Source

Click “Create” → “Data Source” → Select “Google Ads”

Authorize Looker Studio to access your Google Ads account. Select the account you want to pull data from.

Step 3: Use Template or Start From Scratch

Option A – Use Template: Looker Studio has pre-built Google Ads templates. Click “Create” → “Report” → “Use Template” → Select “Google Ads Report”

This gives you a starting dashboard with basic metrics. You can then customize it to show only what you need.

Option B – Start From Scratch: Click “Create” → “Report” → “Blank Report” → Add your Google Ads data source

This gives you more control but requires more setup time.

I recommend starting with a template and customizing it. It’s faster and gives you a working dashboard in 15 minutes instead of an hour.

Step 4: Essential Components to Include

Here’s what every lead-gen Google Ads dashboard should have:

Date range selector (top of dashboard): Lets you change the date range for all metrics at once. Default to “Last 30 days” but allow switching to “This month,” “Last month,” “Last 90 days,” etc.

Total conversions (big number at top): The most important number. Make it prominent.

Cost per conversion: Right next to total conversions.

Conversion rate: Third key metric.

Total spend: How much you spent during the selected period.

Cost per customer (if tracking offline conversions): If you’re feeding customer data back to Google Ads or manually tracking it, include this.

Conversions by campaign (table): Shows which campaigns drive the most leads. Columns: Campaign Name, Conversions, Cost per Conversion, Spend.

Trend chart (conversions over time): Line chart showing daily or weekly conversions. Lets you spot trends—are conversions increasing, flat, or declining?

Cost per lead trend: Another line chart showing how cost per lead has changed over time. Are costs rising or falling?

Step 5: Customizing for Your Business

Add or remove components based on what you need:

If you’re in multiple locations, add a “Conversions by Location” table
If mobile vs. desktop matters, add “Conversions by Device”
If you run multiple types of campaigns (search vs. display), break those out

Remove anything you don’t need. Less is more. Every metric should serve a purpose.

Step 6: Filtering by Campaign or Date

Add filters that let you drill down:

Filter by campaign (see just one campaign’s performance)
Filter by date range (compare this month vs. last month)

Filters make dashboards interactive and useful beyond just seeing high-level numbers.

Step 7: Sharing Dashboard

Click “Share” → Set permissions to “View Only” for anyone who needs to see the dashboard but shouldn’t edit it.

Get a shareable link. Send this to business partners, investors, or anyone who needs visibility into ad performance.

Step 8: Scheduling Email Reports

Click the three dots (menu) → “Schedule email delivery”

Set up automated emails:

Weekly: Every Monday morning, email key metrics from last week
Monthly: First of the month, email full performance report

Now you never have to remember to check the dashboard. It comes to your inbox automatically.

What to Include in Your Dashboard

Let’s break down what belongs on a well-designed lead-gen dashboard.

Top Section (Overview)

Big numbers that answer the critical questions at a glance:

Total leads this month: The single most important number. Big, bold, prominent.

Cost per lead: Right next to total leads. These two numbers tell you if campaigns are working.

Total spend: How much you’ve invested this month.

Budget remaining: If you have a monthly budget cap, show how much is left. This prevents overspending.

Charts and Graphs

Visual representations of trends:

Leads over time: Line chart showing daily or weekly leads. Are you getting more leads this week than last week? This month vs. last month?

Cost per lead trend: Is your cost per lead increasing (bad), decreasing (good), or stable?

Spend vs. budget: Bar chart or progress bar showing how much of your monthly budget you’ve used. Are you on track to spend your full budget? Overspending? Underspending?

Tables

Detailed breakdowns:

Performance by campaign: Campaign name, total conversions, cost per conversion, total spend. Sort by conversions (descending) to see which campaigns drive the most leads.

Performance by keyword (top 10-20): Which keywords are generating leads? Which are wasting money? You don’t need to see all 500 keywords—just the top performers and the obvious losers.

Conversions by device: Mobile vs. desktop vs. tablet. Are mobile conversions cheaper or more expensive? This informs bid adjustments (Chapter 4.3).

Conversions by location: If you serve multiple cities or states, show performance by geography. Maybe Los Angeles is profitable but San Diego isn’t.

What NOT to Include

Impressions (unless you need context for specific troubleshooting). They clutter the dashboard without adding value.

Clicks alone (without conversions). Who cares how many clicks you got if they didn’t convert?

Vanity metrics like impression share, average position, top impression rate. These don’t tell you if you’re making money.

Keep It Simple

Your dashboard should fit on one screen without scrolling if possible. If someone has to scroll through three pages of charts to find the key numbers, it’s too complicated.

Less is more. Show only what matters.

How to Interpret Your Dashboard

Having a dashboard is only useful if you know what you’re looking at.

Week-Over-Week Changes

Compare this week to last week. Are conversions up or down? Is cost per lead improving or getting worse?

Small fluctuations (10-20%) are normal. Advertising has natural variance. Don’t panic over small changes.

Big changes (50%+ drops or spikes) require investigation. If conversions drop from 20 per week to 10 per week, something broke. Check tracking, landing page, and campaign status immediately.

Month-Over-Month Trends

This is more reliable than week-over-week. Compare this month to last month (or better, this month vs. the same month last year for seasonal businesses).

Are you improving over time? If cost per lead was $150 three months ago and is now $100, you’re optimizing effectively. If it’s gone from $100 to $200, something’s wrong.

Spotting Anomalies

Look for sudden spikes or drops on your trend charts:

Sudden spike in conversions: Great! But why? Did a new campaign launch? Did you increase budget? Figure out what caused it and do more of that.
Sudden drop in conversions: Bad. Investigate immediately. Check if tracking broke, landing page went down, campaign paused accidentally, or a competitor started bidding aggressively.

Which Campaigns Drive Most Leads

Look at your “Performance by Campaign” table. Which campaigns account for 80% of your leads? Those are your winners. Invest more there.

Which campaigns are spending money but generating few or zero conversions? Those are candidates for pausing or major optimization.

Which Are Most Cost-Effective

Don’t just look at volume. Look at cost per lead by campaign.

Example:

Campaign A: 50 leads, $100 per lead
Campaign B: 20 leads, $50 per lead

Campaign A drives more volume but Campaign B is twice as cost-effective. If you want to scale, increase budget on Campaign B first.

Red Flags from Chapter 7.1

Watch for the warning signs we covered in the previous chapter:

Zero conversions but spending money (tracking broken or landing page issue)
Cost per lead spike (competition increased or Quality Score dropped)
Conversion rate drop (landing page problem)

Your dashboard should make these red flags obvious at a glance.

If Working with an Agency: What to Expect

If you’ve hired an agency to manage your Google Ads (or if you’re considering hiring one), here’s what they should be providing.

Monthly Reports (Minimum)

You should receive a formal report at least once per month. Some agencies send weekly updates for active clients or accounts with large budgets.

Dashboard Access

Your agency should give you login access to a dashboard (Agency Analytics, Dash This, or Looker Studio) where you can check performance anytime without waiting for a report.

If they say “we’ll send you reports but you can’t access the dashboard,” that’s a red flag. You should be able to see your data whenever you want.

What Should Be in Agency Reports

Executive summary: Did we hit our goals this month? If not, why not? What’s the plan to improve?

Key metrics: Total leads, cost per lead, total spend, ROAS (if tracked). These should be prominent.

What we did this month: List of optimizations, tests run, campaigns launched, negative keywords added, bid adjustments made. You’re paying for their work—you should see what they did.

What we’re testing next month: Forward-looking. What are they planning to test or optimize? Shows they’re proactive, not reactive.

Recommendations: Should you increase budget? Expand to new locations? Try new campaign types? Good agencies make strategic recommendations, not just report numbers.

Red Flags with Agencies

Only showing vanity metrics: If reports focus on impressions and clicks with no mention of actual leads or ROI, the agency is hiding poor performance.

No mention of actual leads or ROI: The entire point of lead-gen advertising is generating leads profitably. If reports don’t prominently show leads and cost per lead, ask why.

Confusing reports you can’t understand: Reports should be clear and understandable to non-marketers. If you don’t understand your reports after reading them, that’s a problem. Either the agency is overcomplicating things or they’re hiding something.

No dashboard access: You should have transparency. Real-time access to data isn’t optional.

You should understand your reports. If you don’t, ask questions. A good agency will explain clearly. A bad agency will deflect or use jargon to confuse you.

Set It Up Once, Check It Weekly

Here’s your action plan:

Step 1: Choose your dashboard tool. For most DIY business owners, start with Looker Studio (free).

Step 2: Set up your dashboard with the 6 key metrics from Chapter 7.1. Use a template to save time.

Step 3: Schedule automated email reports. Weekly updates (every Monday) and monthly summaries (first of the month).

Step 4: Check your dashboard weekly. Spend 5-10 minutes reviewing trends, spotting issues, and confirming everything is on track.

Step 5: Do a deeper monthly analysis. Review which campaigns and keywords are working. Make optimization decisions based on data.

Automated reports save time. You’re not constantly logging into Google Ads to hunt for numbers. The numbers come to you.

Focus on the 6 metrics that matter. Ignore everything else.

Next, we’ll cover how to calculate true ROI and scale your campaigns profitably—how to know when you’re making money, how much you can afford to spend, and when to increase budgets from $3K/month to $10K/month to $30K/month.