How To Build Metric Filters In Google Looker Studio: A Step-by-Step Beginners Guide

Google Looker Studio is a powerful data visualization platform for search engine optimization analysts and marketing professionals. Looker Studio allows you to connect to your Google Search Console, Google Analytics, and other data sources to build robust charts, tables, and graphs.

On of my favorite things to do is build custom metric filters that are linked to an input box. This type of dynamic filter gives the user the ability to filter impressions, clicks, click through rates, or average position based on an input box. For example, if you want to see search queries where the impression count is greater than 100, you can type 100 into an impression filter input box and the data will refresh with all queries that have 100 impressions or more! Now that is cool.

This guide will walk you through the process of connecting to a data source, creating a basic table, and setting up custom filters to enhance your data analysis capabilities.

Here is the main idea of this blog as a TLDR:

We are going to create a custom parameter that will be updated dynamically by an input box control. We will create a custom field that will run a SQL statement on your data, we will create a custom filter that will tie the parameter and the field together, and finally we will apply this filter to your table. Although this sounds easy, it is pretty difficult to get it right. Make sure to follow these steps precisely.

Connecting to a Data Source

To get started, establish a connection to your data source and create a basic table:

1. Open Google Looker Studio and create a new report.
2. Select your data source. For this guide, we’ll use Google Search Console data as an example.
3. Create a new table by selecting the “Table” option from the chart menu.
4. Configure your table with the following:
   • Dimensions: Query, Landing Page, Country,
   • Metrics: Average Position, Impressions, URL Clicks
5. Adjust the table settings as needed for formatting and styling.

Your table should be setup like this:

Creating Custom Metric Filters in Google Looker Studio: The Step-by-Step Process

in this example, I’m going to show you how to create an input box that will filter your average position for your queries. The default value will be set to 100 which means the table will show all queries with an average position of 100 and above. If you want to see all queries ranking in the top five positions, all you have to do is type five in the input box and hit enter.

Step 1: Accessing Data Source Settings

1. Navigate to “Resources” menu item > and then select “Manage added data sources”
2. Locate the data source you’re working with and click the edit button

Step 2: Creating a Parameter

1. Select “Add a parameter” button at the top (image below)
2. Provide a descriptive name for the parameter (e.g., “Minimum Position”)
3. Choose the appropriate data type (typically a number for metrics)
4. Set a default value (e.g., 100)
5. Save the parameter and in the top left, click”All Fields” to go back
6. If you click done, you may have to navigate back into this view, so keep in mind there is usually a back button for each of these views.

Note: If you accidentally exit this view, you can always repeat steps 1 and 2 to get back to editing your parameters and fields.

Step 3: Developing a Calculation Field

1. Select “Add a field” and choose “Calculation field”
2. Name the field (e.g., “Minimum Position Field”)
3. Build a similar formula to this one here then click save:

CASE
  WHEN Average Position < Minimum Position THEN Average Position
  ELSE NULL
END

The general syntax for this formula will be like so:

CASE
  WHEN {{metric}} [comparison operator such as less than <] {{custom parameter}} THEN {{metric}}
  ELSE NULL
END

Note: if you name your parameters or fields something different, you will have to build the formula manually. Its quite easy because you can drag and drop the available parameters and fields right into the query builder. So cool 🙂 !

Step 4: Returning to the Main View

1. Select “Done” to confirm your changes
2. Close the data source settings to return to the report canvas

Step 5: Establishing a Filter

1. Navigate to “Resources” > “Manage filters”
2. Add a new filter
3. Set the filter type to “Include”
4. Select your newly created calculation field
5. Define the condition (e.g., “Greater than or equal to”)
6. Enter an initial value and save the filter

Step 6: Adding User Controls

1. In the toolbar, click on “Add a control” and select “Input box” from the dropdown menu.
2. Click on the canvas where you want to place the input box.
3. In the right sidebar, under “Control settings”: a. Find the “Control field” option. b. Click on it to open the field selection menu. c. Locate and select your newly created parameter (it should appear in pink/purple).
4. Adjust other settings as needed, such as the input box size or default value.

This process links the input box to your parameter, allowing users to interact with your custom filter directly on the report.

Step 7: Applying the Filter to Your Data

This is the tricky part because its not the most intuitive step. Once you create the custom parameter which is altered with the input box control and create the custom calculation field with the SQL statement, AND finally create your custom filter that – you have to go in and tell the data table to use the filter. This stumped me quite a bit.

1. Select your data table by clicking into it
2. Locate the “Filters” section in the table setup tab. Its at the bottom
3. Add your newly created filter
4. it should look like this image:

Step 8: Testing and Implementation

1. Save your report
2. Preview the changes
3. Test the functionality by entering different values in the input box and observing the results

Optimizing Your Custom Metric Filters In Google Looker Studio

As you become more familiar with custom filters in Looker Studio, consider these tips for optimization:

Formula Variations: Adjust the CASE statement in your calculation fields to accommodate different filtering scenarios.

Color Coding: Looker Studio uses a color system to differentiate between types of fields:

• Green for dimensions
• Blue for metrics and fields
• Pink/purple for parameters

Complex Filtering: Experiment with multiple parameters and calculation fields to create more sophisticated filtering options. I duplicated this process to filter by minimum impression and minimum clicks.

Why Create Custom Metric Filters in Looker Studio?

Custom metric filters in Looker Studio can significantly enhance your ability to analyze and optimize SEO and Google Ads campaigns. By focusing on key metrics like impressions, clicks, and positions, you can gain valuable insights to improve your URL performance for specific search terms or optimize ads for target keywords.

SEO Optimization:

1. Position Analysis: Create filters to focus on URLs with average positions above a certain threshold (e.g., positions 5-10). This allows you to identify pages that are on the cusp of ranking higher, making them prime candidates for optimization efforts.
2. Low Click-Through Rate (CTR) Pages: Set up filters to highlight pages with high impressions but low clicks. These pages may need title tag or meta description improvements to increase their appeal in search results.
3. High-Potential Keywords: Use filters to identify landing pages receiving impressions for valuable keywords but with lower positions. These present opportunities for content optimization to boost rankings.

Google Ads Optimization:

1. Under performing Ads: Create filters to isolate ads with high impressions but low click-through rates. This can help you identify ads that need copy improvements or better keyword alignment.
2. Budget Allocation: Use custom filters to highlight keywords or ad groups with high conversion rates but lower impression shares. This can inform decisions on budget reallocation to maximize ROI.
3. Quality Score Improvement: Set up filters to focus on keywords with low quality scores and high costs-per-click. This allows you to prioritize which keywords need landing page or ad relevance improvements.

By implementing these custom metric filters, you can quickly drill down into your data, identifying specific areas for improvement in both SEO and Google Ads campaigns. This targeted approach allows for more efficient optimization efforts, focusing your time and resources on the areas that will have the most significant impact on your overall performance.

Wrapping Up Custom Metric Filters

Creating custom filters based on metrics in Google Looker Studio enhances the interactivity and depth of your reports. This functionality allows for more dynamic data analysis and provides users with greater control over the information they view.

As you implement these techniques, regularly test your filters to ensure they function as intended. With practice, you’ll be able to create increasingly complex and insightful reports tailored to your specific data analysis needs.

Remember that mastering these skills is an iterative process. Continual experimentation and refinement will lead to more effective and impactful data visualizations.