Hands On With Google Data Studio: A Data Citizen’s Survival Guide

Description

Good reports do more than display numbers: they help people notice patterns, ask better questions, and explain what the data may mean. In Hands On With Google Data Studio, Lee Hurst teaches the fundamentals through practical projects that move from a first chart to reports built around business, marketing, personal, and public data.

The book’s step-by-step approach makes the work concrete. You’ll see how data sources connect to reports, how charts and filters shape exploration, and how a finished visualization can be shared with others. Its examples range from a bank-account report to website and local-organization analytics.

Start with the building blocks of a report

The opening section introduces Data Studio and its role in making data more accessible. A guided bank-account project walks through obtaining and preparing data, connecting it to a report, adding charts and scorecards, and finishing the presentation. Later chapters develop basic graphs and add interactive elements such as filters, giving readers a practical foundation for exploring information rather than simply displaying it.

Put analytics to work in business and marketing

Hurst then applies reporting techniques to Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and Google My Business. These chapters focus on turning service data into useful views of website activity, search visibility, and local organization performance. For readers who work with digital marketing or small-business reporting, the examples offer a structured way to think about what to measure and how to present it.

Take data projects beyond the office

The final section broadens the scope to personal and public information. Its contents include collecting data with Google Forms, curating information from other sources, capturing tweets with IFTTT, and working with music-service and Google Fit examples. The shift is a reminder that reporting skills can serve interests and community projects as well as workplace needs.

A practical route from data to clear communication

This guide is suited to readers who want to learn by building reports, especially beginners exploring data visualization and people working with web or marketing analytics. Experienced users may prefer to jump to the later applications that match their interests. Because the book was published in 2020, its instructions describe the tools and services of that period; readers should account for changes to Google products since publication.