Reporting to clients on paid search performance typically requires a wide set of tools. Digital marketing agencies are often caught pulling data out of Google Analytics and Google Ads (formerly Google AdWords), funneling it into Google Sheets (or Excel) and PowerPoint, and then sending reports off via email.
When agencies come to us, they've often been spending tens or even hundreds of hours a week on this manual process. Not only does it take a ton of time away from focusing on revenue-generating activities (campaign optimization, keyword strategy, etc.), but it's fraught with mistakes and inaccuracies that lead to yet more wasted time.
Paid search dashboards help to automate much of this manual reporting process by:
- Removing the need to pull and organize data from multiple sources repeatedly.
- Making it easy to create visualizations of real-time performance.
- Granting clients dashboard access for a seamless reporting experience.
There are plenty of paid search dashboards available on the market. Many agencies find tools like Google Data Studio go a long way to solve manual reporting problems.
The key difference between most paid search dashboards and TapClicks is scalability.
For example, let's say you want to update your dashboard template to begin reporting to clients on a newly trending metric. With most dashboard tools, you'd need to go into each dashboard to make this change. So even though many of the manual issues mentioned above are solved, you're still stuck spending a significant amount of time on dashboard management.
In contrast, with TapClicks, you can make a single change to your dashboard template and have it automatically populate and update all of your client dashboards. TapClicks users have found this quality of scalability invaluable in a dynamic business where things are constantly changing.
In this article, we'll cover the steps of creating paid search dashboards and reports in TapClicks, including:
- Connecting otherwise disparate data sources into one platform.
- Creating and editing dashboard templates.
- Using our Report Studio to create and automate visually engaging PowerPoint-style reports for clients.
Are you interested in trying out TapClicks for your business? Check out our 14 Day Free Trial to experience what it's like to create and scale paid search dashboards with ease.
How to Set Up Paid Search Dashboards in TapClicks
TapClicks has connectors for the big platforms where agencies run paid search ads. These include the services such as:
- Google Ads
- Google Ads Manager
- Google Ads Display
- Google My Business
- Bing Ads
Note: We also offer connectors to SEO-specific tools like SEMrush and Raven and social platforms like Facebook Ads.
Below, we look at how easy it is to connect a data set with TapClicks.
Connecting Your Paid Search Data Sources
TapClicks has two types of connectors: Instant-On and Smart Connectors.
Instant-on connectors can start pulling data in as quickly as under an hour from when you set them up. Plus, TapClicks can pull in up to 12 months of historical data so you can start performing analysis and creating reports the day you create your account.
If you need to pull in data from a platform that we don't have an API connection to, you can use our Smart Connector to pull in data via spreadsheets. From there, you can manage, analyze, and report on that data the same way you would with platforms we have connectors to.
For your paid search dashboard, all the data you need is likely available via our Instant-On connectors, so let's look at how to set one of those up.
From your TapClicks dashboard, click on "Manage Data Sources" in the left sidebar navigation.
Then click on the connector you want to set up and login through TapClicks into your account.
Selecting and Customizing a Paid Search Dashboard Template
You can either select one of our ready-made templates or create your own. Both types of templates are highly customizable. Many clients will start with one of our pre-set templates, and make adjustments to customize them as needed from there.
If you're using a given template for a set of different clients, you can make a single update to it, and that update can automatically populate for each client's dashboard (with the data that's unique to them).
This is one of the aspects that make our dashboards so scalable and why scale agencies in particular find TapClicks so valuable.
Below, let's look at a dashboard template made for Google AdWords data.
You can see the dashboard presents a performance overview widget for metrics such as Clicks, Impressions, and CTR.
By default, these widgets show data that belongs to the date range you selected in the upper right hand corner of your dashboard.
You can click on any widget and edit it. This allows you to resize a widget, annotate it (in case you need to provide additional context), or even change the date range.
For example, you can have your entire dashboard show data from March, while having your cost per click (CPC) widget show data for both February and March.
This level of customization lets you create paid search dashboards that compliment your marketing strategies, and tell the most compelling stories to your clients.
How to Create a New Widget
You can also create a brand new widget to display metrics you want to see. Just click on the blue plus sign (+) at the top of your dashboard.
Then select whether you want a data, media, or admin widget.
Note: Admin widgets display administrative information like names, emails, and login stamps.
Let's look at a data widget.
Highlighted in red you can see how easy it is to create a new widget.
First, you select how you want your data displayed. (You can choose from Big Number, Data Grid, Bar Chart, Line Chart, Combo Chart, Pie Chart, Funnel Chart, and Gauge Chart.)
Then you enter a title for your widget and choose the data source or channel you want to display.
If you're pulling data from an Instant-on connector you've already set up (such as Google Analytics), you'll see those options at the top of the drop-down menu.
From there, based on where you're pulling data from, you'll select Data View, metrics, and how you want your data displayed.
Because your data is already pulled into TapClicks (and organized into coherent data sets), all you have to do is tell TapClicks how to portray the data you want to see.
Creating Recurring Paid Search Reports (+ Granting Custom Access to Clients)
In addition to making it easy to build paid search dashboards, we also help you create visually compelling reports.
From your TapClicks dashboard, select "Reports in the left navigation bar.
Then select "Report Scheduler" to set up a recurring report.
From there, you can choose when you would like to send the report, the date range you want to include, and the type of format you want (PDF, .CSC, PPT, etc.).
You can also further customize and personalize your reports by using our Report Studio.
Report Studio lets you create white-label reports for your clients. By using our report templates, you can quickly organize your client's data into an easy-to-follow report.
Instead of just sharing access to their dashboard, with data on conversion rates and other critical KPIs, you can use a custom report to give your client an overview and contextualize your performance with previously agreed-upon benchmarks.
Create Custom Access Permissions for Your Clients
TapClicks saves you time by giving you the option to provide your clients with access to a client-friendly dashboard that they can view at any time.
This lets your client login and see the data they want without having to wait for your next report.
Most agencies have at least two different versions of the same report one for internal use (which will show mark-up costs) and one for external use (which will not show mark-up costs).
By using TapClicks, you can give client access to your external use dashboard. This cuts down on the time you need to spend sending out last-minute reports when a client wants to confirm a specific metric or trend.
The Best Paid Search Dashboards for Scale Agencies
Evaluating paid search campaigns means taking a look at the data in a nuanced way that isn't always available in platforms like Google Analytics and Google Ads.
To consolidate the data from these disparate marketing channels without draining your marketing team's time it's essential to use a reporting tool that automates much of the reporting and analytics process.
Because of our wide range of API connections paired with our highly customizable and easy to manage dashboards TapClicks significantly increases the scalability of reporting on PPC campaign performance.
Are you ready to start using TapClicks to manage an automated and highly customizable paid search dashboard reporting process? Click here to begin our 14-day free trial.
