CASBA Web Analytics Dashboard Case Study
Interactive GA4 Dashboard in Looker Studio for CASBA
Background
BusinessCoachnl is a business coaching institute that publishes articles, eBooks, and guides to engage potential clients. The marketing team wanted to understand how well the website and campaigns drive key actions: downloading articles, eBooks, partner brochures, and requesting special scans or methods. As a Web Data Analyst, the user implemented Google Analytics 4 (GA4) event tracking for these five key conversions and set up reporting in Looker Studio. This allowed the team to monitor the end-to-end customer journey by channel.
Objective
The goal was to measure conversion performance across marketing channels. Specifically, the team needed to see which sources (Google search, Bing, direct visits, email, LinkedIn, etc.) generated the most of each key event (artikel_download, ebook_download, partner_brochure_download, MKBscan_aanvraag, and aanvraag_360_methode). The case study focuses on how GA4 and Looker Studio were used to produce detailed reports and charts for internal stakeholders, revealing channel effectiveness and informing campaign improvements.
Approach
Define and Track Key Events: We configured GA4 to recognize the five actions (article download, eBook download, brochure download, MKBscan request, 360-method request) as events. These were marked as key events in GA4 so their counts could be easily measured and segmented by traffic source.
Build the Looker Studio Report: The GA4 property was connected to Looker Studio. In the report setup, we selected “Source/Medium” as the dimension and the count of each event as the metrics. Using Looker Studio’s drag-and-drop interface, we created tables and bar charts for each event. Looker Studio offers chart types like tables and bar charts by default, which we used to highlight the data clearly.
Segment and Filter Data: We applied filters (e.g. excluding spam sources, setting date ranges) to focus on the relevant marketing period. Each chart and table was filtered to one event type at a time, so stakeholders could switch between views (e.g. seeing only artikel_download sources). This made it easy to compare channels across different conversion goals.
Tools Used
Google Analytics 4 (GA4): Used for tracking and storing event data. By flagging the selected website interactions as key events, GA4 could report how often each event occurred and attribute those conversions to acquisition sources. This aligns with GA’s guidance that key events are “actions particularly important to the success of your business” and should be analyzed across channels.
Looker Studio (Data Studio): Used for reporting and visualization. We connected the GA4 data source to Looker Studio and built the dashboard. As InfoTrust notes, “Visualizing GA4 data with Looker Studio is an excellent way to gain actionable insights into user behavior and website performance”. In practice, we used Looker Studio to display source/medium breakdowns for each event (via tables and bar charts), enabling the team to quickly see which channels were driving conversions.
Visualizations
Looker Studio bar chart showing the breakdown of key website conversions by source. Each color represents a different event (green = Artikel_download, blue = Ebook_download, orange = Partner_brochure_download, purple = MKBscan_aanvraag, red = Aanvraag_360_methode). Google search stands out as the top source for most conversions (e.g. 51 Artikel_downloads via Google).
Charts and tables were arranged by event type. For example, the bar chart above is a stacked representation of all five key events by source. Google is clearly the dominant source: it generated 51 article downloads, 17 partner brochure downloads, 21 MKBscan requests, and even 10 eBook downloads (see green, orange, and purple bars for Google). We also included supporting tables listing exact counts by source and medium. Using bar charts and tables together follows best practice: one guide recommends selecting clear dimensions (here source/medium) and visualizing metrics to make data easy to interpretinfotrust.com. Stakeholders could hover over a bar (as shown) to see values and switch between events for deeper analysis.
Key Insights
According to GA4’s philosophy, advertising reports let you “visualize the complex customer journey” and see how each marketing channel contributes to conversionslovesdata.com. Our breakdown indeed revealed a clear hierarchy of channels across the key events:
Google (Search) – By far the largest source for most conversions. For example, Google accounted for 51 article downloads, far above any other channel. It also drove 17 brochure downloads and 21 MKBscan requests. Google even matched Direct traffic for eBook downloads (10). These results indicate that our SEO/SEM and content strategy on Google were highly effective in generating interest and leads.
Direct Traffic – Performed strongly for certain goals. Direct visits (people typing the URL or coming from bookmarks/newsletters) yielded 10 eBook downloads (equal to Google) and 5 article downloads. This suggests strong brand recognition or email campaigns. The (direct) channel was the second-highest contributor for these events.
Bing Search – Contributed modestly. Bing drove 2 article downloads and 2 brochure downloads. While much lower than Google, it indicates that optimizing content for Bing (or running Bing ads) had some impact.
Email Campaigns – Particularly effective for MKBscan requests. Email was the source of 4 MKBscan_aanvraag (request) events, compared to 2 via Google. This implies our email newsletters or outreach were resonating well with that audience.
Other Channels (LinkedIn, etc.) – Had very small contributions. For instance, LinkedIn.com led to 1 eBook download, DuckDuckGo gave 1 brochure download, and a “(not set)” unknown source generated 1 Aanvraag_360_methode. These single-digit counts suggest niche or inconsistent referral traffic, meaning there is limited ROI on these channels unless improved.
Overall, the data made it obvious which channels matter most for each goal. We effectively applied GA4’s channel attribution (via source/medium) to see who was driving conversions. For example, knowing that Google search accounted for the majority of artikel_downloads helped confirm that continuing to invest in our search presence was the right strategy.
Outcome
The insights from these reports directly informed marketing strategy and optimization:
Data-Driven Strategy: The visual dashboards empowered the team and stakeholders to make informed decisions. As one report noted, interactive Looker Studio charts let even non-technical users “make data-driven decisions” about marketing efforts In our case, the team saw clearly that Google search was the dominant channel for content downloads, so they reinforced SEO and Google Ads for those key pages.
Marketing Adjustments: Based on channel effectiveness, resources were reallocated. For example, since email was shown to drive MKBscan requests, the team planned more targeted email campaigns for that offering. Conversely, channels with low yield (e.g. LinkedIn) were deprioritized or re-examined. This focus helped improve ROI by emphasizing top-performing channels.
Ongoing Optimization: The Looker Studio report became a live tool for continuous monitoring. Stakeholders can update the date range or source filters to track trends over time. Regularly reviewing the dashboard means the team can keep refining campaigns (for instance, spotting early if a new channel gains traction). The reports essentially turned raw GA4 data into actionable insights that guide the business forward
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