Choosing the Right Chart Type in Looker Studio

Chart Selection Determines Dashboard Clarity

The most common mistake in Looker Studio dashboards is using charts that make data harder to understand, not easier. Pie charts with 12 slices, line charts with 8 overlapping series, and tables with 30 columns all obscure what the data is actually saying. Choosing the right chart type for each type of question dramatically improves how useful a dashboard actually is.

Chart Types and When to Use Them

• Scorecard: A single big number. Use for key metrics you want visible at a glance — total revenue, total conversions, total sessions. Add comparison to prior period to show trend direction.
• Time series: Trend over time. Use for any metric tracked over days or weeks — traffic, conversions, spend. Best when you need to see patterns, spikes, or seasonal changes.
• Bar chart: Comparing categories. Use when comparing performance across campaigns, channels, countries, or products. Horizontal bars work better than vertical when category names are long.
• Table: Multiple metrics for multiple items. Use when users need to see detailed data and sort/filter it. Tables are not for presenting insights — they are for data exploration.
• Pie/Donut chart: Proportion of a whole. Use only when you have 5 or fewer segments and the proportion is the key insight. Channel mix with 3-4 channels is a valid use case. 10-segment pie charts are never useful.
• Geo map: Geographic distribution. Use when location is the primary dimension — country or city breakdown of revenue or sessions.
• Funnel: Sequential steps with drop-off. Use for conversion funnel visualization — view_item to purchase steps in GA4 ecommerce.

Design Principles for Marketing Dashboards

Limit each page to one primary question. A page titled "Campaign Performance" should answer "Which campaigns are performing best?" — not also show organic traffic and social media metrics.

Put the most important metrics in the top-left (the natural reading start point). Use consistent color coding — if red means "bad" in one chart, red should mean "bad" across all charts.

Our Looker Studio dashboard service follows these design principles on every build. Contact us to see examples of dashboards we've built for similar businesses.