A Complete Guide to Web Analytics Reports (+ Free Template)

Imagine a situation where one of your many tasks is to compile monthly analytics reports for your client, plus make sure the data is always accurate and relevant.

Of course, you can always export a few PDF reports from Google Analytics 4 and call it a day. But here is the challenge…

• Will your clients understand GA4 reports?
• Can they see the impact of data on their business goals?
• Can they see the value you provide?

We’ll go through everything you need to know about web analytics reports and reporting tools.

We’ll also share two resources: a free Google Sheets template for web analytics reports and four Whatagraph report templates.

Let's begin by explaining the difference between web analytics reports and dashboards.

What is the Difference Between Web Analytics Reports and Dashboards?

Web analytics reports and dashboards are used in different contexts.

For example, marketers will always want to ensure that the site generates a healthy inflow of search engine traffic for SEO. On the other hand, eCommerce experts will also want to ensure that the website increases sales and that they avoid a high bounce rate.

But which one you'll use depends on the kind of information you're looking to get.

What is a web analytics dashboard?

A web analytics dashboard is a reporting interface that displays website performance data that come from monitoring website performance. This is usually done by tracking specific metrics or key performance indicators, such as:

• online conversions,
• engagement rates,
• page views,
• session duration,

referral traffic to your landing pages, etc.

However, unlike a report, a web analytics dashboard is usually brief and shows the current or recent web analytics metrics data that come from monitoring website performance.

What is a web analytics report?

A web analytics report is a static document that gives you insights into website data. It usually includes both current and historical data displayed in a digestible format. Reports typically contain comments and explanations of different trends and recommendations for the next steps.

You create a web analytics report to:

• Assist with auditing and reviewing projects over a specific time frame,
• Identify what has and hasn't worked in the past,
• Use historical data to create optimized and data-driven strategies.

In Whatagraph, you create one report, which can also double down as a dashboard. It all comes down to your client or team's preferences. (we’ll be using the two terms interchangeably throughout this article).

Tracking the user behavior of website visitors allows you to gain insight into how they interact with your site. You can learn how to make a website or hire a professional, but either way, you'd still need to do some tracking.

Aside from that, you'll better understand how to improve communication on any eCommerce site with your target audiences. The following section will explain in more depth how to create a web analytics report or dashboard.

Why Build a Web Analytics Dashboard or Report?

When it comes to optimizing a website, marketers don't just make sure that the website design and copy are above the industry standard.

They create digital marketing campaigns for a website, conduct at least one paid search, analyze data from their marketing efforts, and, finally, use this data to create even better marketing campaigns in the future.

Now, we’ll review six cases of how web analytics reports can help you make data-driven decisions.

1. Assess ROI

When it comes to marketing budgets, every dollar counts. Web analytics can help you assess the ROI of your marketing campaigns and optimize your spend.

For example, you’re running a PPC campaign and use web analytics to monitor how many people click on your ads and how many convert them into sales or leads.

2. Get feedback on specific goals

Informed decisions depend on real-time feedback, and web analytics reports can help you track progress in key areas and identify opportunities for improvement.

This is important for two reasons. First, you want to create content that people want to consume, and second, you want to avoid wasting time and resources on content that goes unnoticed.

3. Identify site development priorities

Web analytics can also help you decide where to start with your website development.

For example, if the report shows that most of your visitors are mobile users, you should prioritize mobile optimization.

On the other hand, if the report shows that people are leaving your site after a few seconds, you may want to check factors like navigation, design, and content.

4. Discover the top sources of traffic

If you are spending your client’s money on different channels like social media, email marketing, and PPC, you want to know which one yields the best ROI. Web analytics helps you direct more resources to the channels that are driving results.

5. Monitor user journeys

The user journey doesn’t end when someone clicks on your ad or link. You need to monitor what happens after that action, too.

Web analysis helps you map the entire journey, from initial click to purchase, so you can identify bottlenecks and optimize it.

6. Save money and increase ROI

Finally, web analytics helps you get the most return on your investment. It reveals where your audience is and what they need while also evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of your current strategy.

This web analytics data allows you to make more intelligent decisions.

Let’s consider the following scenarios:

• You work for a company that prioritizes visibility and insight into website performance,
• You are in charge of the performance of a website that receives a large number of monthly visitors,
• You are tasked with combining web analytics data with other sales and marketing data to better understand the performance of your website,
• You are tasked with simplifying critical metrics monitoring without investigating or utilizing common tools such as Google Analytics 4.

In each of these scenarios, you need to build a dashboard or report that will help you prove that your work is showing results.

How to Create a Web Analytics Report - Step-by-Step Guide

You can create a web analytics report in two ways:

1. Make a copy of this FREE Google Sheet – this is free but you won't get comprehensive cross-channel insights and you'll need to spend a lot of time copying and pasting data points.
2. Follow the steps below to use Whatagraph – this is easy and fast since you don't need to do any manual work. Whatagraph collects, cleans, and visualizes your data automatically.

Step 1: Connect all your data

Start by connecting the data from all the marketing tools and platforms you’re using for a specific client.

With Whatagraph, you don't need to stitch any spreadsheets. Instead, you can connect all your data in just a few clicks.

Whatagraph has fully managed integrations with popular marketing tools.

• Google Analytics 4
• Google Search Console
• Ahrefs
• Semrush
• Facebook Ads
• LinkedIn Ads
• Instagram
• YouTube
• Mailchimp
• CallRail
• Salesforce
• HubSpot

And many others.

These direct integrations are much more reliable than third-party connectors that many other marketing reporting tools use. Third-party connectors can slow down your online report or give you inaccurate data as they can refresh at different rates from one another.

With Whatagraph, you can pull data from scattered sources right into your reports without missing a beat.

The integrations are developed and maintained by our dedicated team of engineers, so once you connect your accounts, there’s nothing to update or re-connect on your part.

How to do it:

• Open Whatagraph, go to Data Sources, and select the marketing platforms you need.
• Follow the on-screen instructions to provide the necessary credentials and connect each source.
• Once connected, Whatagraph will automatically pull in the latest data and update it automatically.

This way you get:

• A centralized view of all your campaign metrics across platforms and tools.
• Accurate and relevant data in every campaign report you send.

Step 2: Choose a report template or start from scratch

You can create your web analytics report from scratch and structure it just as you want.

Still, having a template to start with saves a lot of time, especially if you need to report to several clients or stakeholders regularly.

Whatagraph offers pre-made digital marketing report templates that you can customize for each client.

The template is your starting point. From there, you can pick the metrics and add sections that best present your campaign’s results.

How to do it:

• Go to the Templates section in Whatagraph.
• Choose one of the web analytics or traffic templates.
• Alternatively, select Create New Report to build a report from scratch, choosing only the widgets and metrics that you need.

The result:

• Faster report building for multiple campaigns and stakeholders.
• You can tailor each report for a specific campaign by highlighting the most relevant data.

Step 3: Customize the campaign report template for a specific client

On Whatagraph, you can quickly customize any report or dashboard template to a client's specifications. Once you find a template that is the closest match to your needs, you can start tailoring it.

Let's recap quickly:

✅ Connect the data sources: You can load a template with just one source connected, but now you need to add other sources that hold your campaign data.

✅ Customize metrics and widgets: Check out the metrics already included in the template and decide if you need to remove some of them so the clients can really focus just on the important ones.

✅ Choose the appropriate visuals: Whatagraph has different chart options, such as line charts, bar graphs, funnels, and pie charts. If your client prefers a bar chart to a pie chart for a specific metric — piece of cake. Pick the bar chart widget and select the metrics and dimensions you want to see.

You can also create custom charts and save them as template widgets.

✅ Arrange the widgets for easy interpretation: Always put the most critical KPIs, like Cost per Lead or Campaign Budget, at the top of your report, right next to the goals widget.

Step 4. Organize data for actionable insights

Let’s quickly sum up what we have done so far:

• Connect scattered sources - Done ✅
• Pick a template - Done ✅
• Tweak it for your campaign - Done ✅

The problem is that actionable insights are still hidden under a heap of data.

With Whatagraph, you can quickly sift through that data heap and pinpoint the reasons for high or low points in your campaign.

Our Organize feature helps you make sense out of scattered data by creating:

• Custom metrics: Unify and change the names of different metrics permanently in your report or create a new metric using a simple formula.
• Custom dimensions: Unify names of different cross-channel dimensions and group data points from different sources.
• Data blending: Great for combining different sources together into one unified data source for getting quicker insights and keeping your dashboard neat.
• Source groups: Group 100s of scattered data sources into a unified group in seconds.
• Custom tags: Add custom tags to your data and filter it by client, business type, location, Account Manager, etc.
• Overview: Visualize your key metrics in one view and easily spot performance trends.

All these features are 100% code-free and can help you cut through the clutter and uncover hidden actionable insights.

Thanks to recently launched Performance Monitoring, you can get actionable insights from your data even faster.

You can:

• Group 100s of scattered data sources into unified Source Groups in seconds
• Add custom tags to your data and filter it by client, business type, location, Account Manager, etc.
• Visualize your key metrics in one view and easily spot performance trends

Step 5. White-label the report with client branding

Whatagraph has everything you need to deliver a professional experience with every web analytics report you share with your clients.

You can:

• Upload your logo or your client’s logo.
• Create custom color schemes.
• Add footer and header texts.
• Create custom domains to host and share your reports.
• Change the icons and colors of your widgets.

You can create a global theme for your agency or create multiple themes on the report and even at the widget level.

You can also share your white-label reports on a custom domain and hide any ties to Whatagraph as the software provider. The client will probably think you built the whole thing yourself.

Step 6. Automate how you share your report

The last step is to share your web analytics reports with your clients or stakeholders.

You can do this on Whatagraph in three main ways:

• Share password-protected links to a live report.
• Send reports as automated emails on a regular timetable (e.g. every week, month, …)
• Export as Excel or CSV files.

How to Structure a Professional Web Analytics Report

Here are the 8 sections of a web analytics report that no marketing professional will skip.

1. Cover page: This is where you can upload a custom image that matches your agency’s brand.

The cover page sets the context for the following in-depth analysis and introduces your agency’s expertise, which gives credibility and nurtures a positive client relationship.

In Whatagraph, you can save this page as a template and use it for future reports.

2. Monthly summary: Give your client a monthly summary of what is happening on their website. This is where you discuss goals, deliverables, and results in the most simple way.

Say what you did during the past month and how it impacts the overall strategy. Show real-world data and examples.

3. All channels overview: This section displays all the metrics related to different traffic sources, like organic search, direct links, referrals, and social media. At this point, the report can get overwhelming for some viewers, so make sure to give an explanation of what is presented.

4. Location: This part of the report gives your client a look into the geography of the website visitors. You can also show how often people from different locations visit the website and how many of them convert.

5. Devices: Displays a list of devices your customers use to navigate the client’s website, as well as the average session duration, bounce rate, and the number of goal completions.

6. Organic search: This is where you present the metrics related to organic traffic, such as which keywords perform the best in terms of conversion. This section can also set grounds for an SEO strategy you drive with your client.

One of the best ways to prove the value of your SEO services is to show them direct conversions from organic traffic.

7. Paid search: The PPC section gives your client a deeper understanding of your PPC campaign's performance. Show how much traffic each campaign drives and what conversion goals are coming from each.

8. eCommerce: Present all the relevant metrics for your client’s online store. Tell which products are selling the best and what kind of revenue your client earns from each product. This can be a starting point for discussions about focusing on specific products for future ad campaigns.

4 Web Analytics Report Examples

You can save plenty of time by starting from one of our report templates. These come pre-filled with channel-specific widgets, and you can just connect your data sources to complete the report in a matter of minutes rather than hours.

Here are some of the most helpful web analytics report templates to try out.

1. Web Traffic Report

The web analytics report pulls information from any site online and provides easy access to objective traffic data. Connect your client’s Google Analytics 4 account and see how many people land on their website or get insights into website user experience.

You can either track organic or paid traffic. The best thing about Whatagraph's reports is that you can easily compare these two metrics. This is necessary if you want to show:

• Which device performs better with which traffic (paid or from organic search),
• What countries bring in which traffic (paid or organic), and where to double the focus,

How paid and organic traffic work and complement each other.

Moreover, there are other key metrics that you can track and evaluate, such as:

• Traffic acquisition,
• Unique visitors,
• Total visitors,
• Returning and new visitors,
• Conversion rates.

And many others.

2. SEO Report

Probably the most comprehensive web analytics report template is the SEO report. This is what SEO specialists and marketers generate when they want to look at the overall website's SEO performance. This report shows:

• Bounce rate,
• Conversions,
• Keyword rankings,
• Goal completions successes (exclusively on Whatagraph),
• CTR.

The sources you want to track here are your client’s Google Search Console, Ahrefs, or Semrush accounts.

3. eCommerce Report

This type of report is slightly more specific than the other two mentioned, as it focuses on the sales part and paid and organic advertising performance. You want to generate an eCommerce report to get all the necessary data about:

• Shopping cart data,
• Best selling products,
• Conversion rate,
• Checkout process.

Connect Shopify (or BigCommerce, WooCommerce), Google Ads, social media channels, and/or Google Analytics accounts and other integrations and track the following KPIs and metrics:

• Bounce rate,
• Pages per session,
• Goal conversions,
• AOV,
• CLV,
• Total revenue.

4. PPC Campaigns Report

The last report to always have handy is the PPC campaigns report. Paid search and paid traffic will be readily displayed on one page, although they come from more data sources. Connect Google Ads, Microsoft Ads (aka Bing Ads), Facebook Ads, Linkedin Ads, or any other preferred source, and track key PPC KPIs:

• Conversion rate,
• Clicks,
• Impressions,
• ROAS,
• CPA,
• Spent on Ads,
• Overall campaign costs.

With this report, you'll have a significant advantage because you can easily optimize your PPC campaigns. PPC is all about spending money in the hopes of generating leads, sales, or impressions, so you must ensure that you:

• Don't overspend,
• Spend enough money to acquire a single customer,
• Establish your own benchmark, allowing you to identify the lowest CPA (cost per acquisition).

Having a quick and easy way to build web analytics reports with relevant and accurate data means your reaction time improves. You can get insights before the decision-makers much sooner and re-align your marketing strategy accordingly.

Whatagraph gives you a way to consolidate data coming from multiple web analytics platforms and track the metrics that make the most impact.

Want to learn more? Book a call and tell us exactly how we can help you.