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Part of How to visualise rank tracking data in Google Data Studio
How to visualise rank tracking data in Google Data Studio
Build Looker Studio rank tracking reports from Semrush, SE Ranking or DataForSEO, with UK date settings, scorecards, trend charts, filters and location maps.
What to take away
- Looker Studio, still widely called Google Data Studio, can read rank tracking exports from Semrush Position Tracking or SE Ranking Rank Tracker through its Google Sheets connector; DataForSEO also provides an API route.
- UK reports need dd/mm/yyyy dates, labelled GBP figures and named towns rather than one national average.
- A working build takes about half a daydata source, date dimension, keyword table, visibility chart and a filter or two.
- Settle data protection and sharing rules before the link goes to a client's marketing team.
Why Looker Studio suits UK client reporting
It runs in a browser, costs nothing for the viewer and reads from Google Sheets, BigQuery or a partner connector. That mix suits UK agencies whose clients will not pay for a seat on a reporting platform.
Google renamed Data Studio to Looker Studio in 2022. Chart types and most connector behaviour stayed the same, so older walkthroughs still describe the workspace you will open today.
Refresh is where people get caught out. A live connector updates on the vendor's schedule, while a spreadsheet only moves when the export runs. Write the refresh cadence into the report notes so nobody reads a stale chart as a ranking collapse.
Step by step: connect a rank tracker
- Agree the keyword set first. Groups of 30 to 80 terms, sorted by intent, beat a 500-term list nobody reads.
- Check how the tracker exposes data. An API is a documented way for one system to request data from another, and it sits behind most Looker Studio connectors.
- Ask about limits before you buy. Our rank tracking APIs buyer's guide for UK agencies sets out the questions worth putting to a vendor.
- Choose an input route. For CSV, export results from Semrush Position Tracking or SE Ranking Rank Tracker. For an API route, DataForSEO's Google organic live advanced SERP endpoint is
serp/google/organic/live/advanced; send it an HTTP POST request. - Authenticate DataForSEO requests with HTTP Basic authentication using your API login and password. Include the keyword, location, language and device in the request. Map returned fields such as
rank_absoluteandurlinto your sheet. - Put one row per keyword, location, device and collection date in Google Sheets. Use clear column headers such as date, keyword, location, device, position and landing page.
- In Looker Studio, select Create, then Data source, then the built-in Google Sheets connector. Choose the spreadsheet and worksheet, connect, and check that the first row is used as the header row.
- Rename the fields. Average position, keyword and landing page read better than position_avg or kw_id.
- Set the date column to a date type. Text dates sort alphabetically and will scramble a trend line.
Set UK date and currency formats
Looker Studio takes date formatting from the report locale rather than the viewer's browser. On United States settings, 03/04/2025 renders as March 4. A UK reader opening the same report expects 3 April.
UK vs US report settings
Setting
- Report locale
- United Kingdom
- Date field
- dd/mm/yyyy
- Location dimension
- City or town
- Currency label
- GBP
UK value
- Report locale
- United States
- Date field
- mm/dd/yyyy
- Location dimension
- National
- Currency label
- USD
US value
- Report locale
- Date field
- Location dimension
- Currency label
| Setting | UK value | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Report locale | United Kingdom | Fixes date order, month names and number separators |
| Date field | dd/mm/yyyy | Stops April and March swapping in review meetings |
| Location dimension | City or town | National averages hide movement in Manchester or Glasgow |
| Currency label | GBP | Mixed dollar and pound columns cause arguments |
Number formatting follows the locale too. Thousands separators and decimal points will look right to a Leeds client, even if a colleague overseas finds them unusual.
Currency needs a label more than a conversion. If a column shows revenue per ranking keyword, put the currency in the chart title rather than a footnote.
Set the time zone on each data source as well, or a Monday morning export can land on Sunday in the chart.
Build the views clients actually read
Four elements cover most briefs: a scorecard for average position, a table of keyword, position and landing page, a line chart of visibility over 90 days, and a block for tracked locations. Everything else belongs on page two.
Use your numeric position field (called Position below; substitute its actual name if you renamed it). In the data source editor, select Add a field and create Visibility proxy with 1 / Position, setting its aggregation to Average. This is an inverse-position proxy, not a vendor's proprietary visibility score. Create Position band with CASE WHEN Position IS NULL THEN "Not ranked" WHEN Position <= 3 THEN "1–3" WHEN Position <= 10 THEN "4–10" WHEN Position <= 20 THEN "11–20" ELSE "21+" END. These are configurable reporting buckets, not universal ranking benchmarks.
- Scorecard:Select Add a chart, then Scorecard. In Setup, set the metric to
Positionand its aggregation to Average; setDateas the date-range dimension. Use a single collection date for a snapshot, or label the scorecard as the average across the selected period. - Keyword table:Select Add a chart, then Table. Set
KeywordandLanding pageas dimensions, addingLocationorDeviceif needed; usePositionas the metric with Average aggregation. The selected dimensions determine how rows are grouped, so do not sum positions. - Trend line:Select Add a chart, then Time series. Set
Dateas the dimension andVisibility proxy(Average) as the metric. For an average-position trend instead, usePositionwith Average aggregation; lower positions are better, while a higher visibility proxy is better. - Position distribution:Select Add a chart, then Bar chart. Set
Position bandas the dimension and Record Count as the metric. Use a single date and the relevant location or device filters for a snapshot; otherwise the count includes observations from across the selected dates, not just distinct keywords. - Tracked-location map:Set the
Locationfield's geographic type to City in the data source, then select Add a chart and choose a map chart. SetLocationas the geographic dimension andPositionas the metric with Average aggregation. Filter to the relevant date, device or keyword group, and label the map so readers know that lower average positions are better.
Add a date control by selecting Add a control, then Date range control; make sure each chart that should respond uses Date as its date-range dimension. For branded and non-branded filtering, add a Brand group column in Sheets and label rows Branded or Non-branded. Select Add a control, then Drop-down list, and set its dimension to Brand group; add further drop-down controls for Location or Device if useful. Keep the controls and charts on the same page and using the same data source so the selections filter the intended views.
Averages hide more than they show. A term moving from position 89 to position 4 barely shifts an average across 200 keywords, yet it can carry most of the traffic. Show distribution bands beside the average.
Split branded from non-branded terms with a filter. Brand queries flatter a dashboard, and a blended average hides a drop in the terms the client actually competes for.
National tracking tells you little when a client serves one city. Our guide to how town-level local SEO rank tracking works explains why grids change the chart you should build.
If the dashboard mixes ranking data with client CRM records, check the ICO's UK GDPR guidance before publishing. Identify and document an applicable lawful basis under Article 6 of the UK GDPR; legitimate interests is one possibility, but assess it rather than assuming it applies. Set a retention period that fits the reporting purpose, review it, and delete or anonymise personal data when it is no longer needed, in line with the UK GDPR's storage-limitation principle and the Data Protection Act 2018.
When a procurement team asks who can open the report link, the ISO 27001 information security standard gives you shared language for access control.
Common questions
Can I connect a rank tracker without an API?
Yes, if the tool exports CSV or writes to Google Sheets. You then refresh manually or on a schedule the tool controls, and the dashboard is only as current as the last export.
Which date format should a UK dashboard use?
dd/mm/yyyy, with the report locale set to United Kingdom. That keeps every date dimension consistent and stops a reader misreading 03/04/2025 as March.
How often should the data refresh?
Weekly suits most UK campaigns. Daily tracking makes sense for competitive retail terms, but a daily line chart invites clients to react to noise instead of trend.
