The analytics report that gets ignored
Most organizations have someone who pulls a monthly web report. It shows pageviews, sessions, top pages, bounce rate, maybe some device breakdowns. It goes to leadership in an email or a PDF. Leadership nods, says it looks good, and nothing changes.
The report isn't useless. The metrics are real. But they're not connected to anything leadership cares about: Did the website help us deliver services? Did people find what they needed? Did the redesign we invested in make a difference? Is there a problem we should know about?
A traffic report doesn't answer those questions. A reporting dashboard designed for decision-making does.
Why most web reports fail leadership audiences
Leadership audiences — directors, managers, senior communications staff, elected officials and their advisors — aren't analysts. They're decision-makers. They need access to information that helps them make decisions, not data that requires interpretation to understand.
Most web reports fail because:
Choosing the right metrics
Good reporting metrics are outcome-oriented, stable over time, and connected to something your organization cares about.
Service completion rate (where measurable)
If your site has transactional flows (form submissions, permit applications, registrations), how many of the people who start a flow complete it? This is the single most meaningful metric for a service-focused website. A low completion rate signals friction in the process that should be investigated.
Where to find it: GA4 funnel exploration reports (see our GA4 setup guide for non-analysts if you need help configuring these), CRM data, form analytics.
Search visibility and organic traffic trend
For organizations that rely on people finding them through search, the trend in organic traffic is a meaningful outcome metric. Is search-referred traffic growing, flat, or declining? This reflects the cumulative effect of content quality, technical health, and optimization over time.
Where to find it: GA4 + Google Search Console (GSC) → Performance → Search results.
Top exit pages from service flows
Which pages do people leave before completing a task? High exit rates on form pages, checkout pages, or application steps signal problems worth investigating.
Where to find it: GA4 → Explore → Funnel exploration or Path exploration.
Internal site search volume and zero-results rate
How often are people using site search, and how often are they finding nothing? Volume spikes and zero-results trends both signal navigation and content issues.
Where to find it: GA4 with site search enabled → custom Exploration report.
Page load performance for top pages
Your Core Web Vitals summary for your 10 highest-traffic pages is a useful health indicator for leadership. Trends matter more than absolute scores.
Where to find it: Google Search Console → Core Web Vitals.
Dashboard structure for a leadership audience
A one-page (or one-screen) summary works best. Layout it as:
Header: Current month, comparison period, and one-sentence status summary ("Service levels stable; form completion rate improved 8% over same period last year").
4-6 key metrics in large format: Each with current value, comparison period value, and a clear trend indicator (up/down/flat) and whether that's a positive or negative change. Don't make leadership calculate context.
Exception callout section: "This month's watch items" — 2-3 things that changed significantly and warrant attention or communication. This is where you highlight a performance drop, an unusual traffic spike worth explaining, or a search trend that suggests a content gap.
One contextual note: Any known external factor that affected this month's numbers (a major campaign, seasonal pattern, external news event).
Keep it to a page. If it doesn't fit on one page, you're reporting too much.
Building the reporting rhythm
A dashboard only changes decisions if it's reviewed regularly and tied to a decision-making process.
Monthly reports work well for operational awareness. They're short enough to be current and frequent enough to catch trends before they become problems.
Quarterly reports are better for strategic review: reviewing progress against goals, identifying content and service gaps, and making resource decisions.
Annual reports should include year-over-year trend analysis and a summary of the most significant changes to user behavior, traffic sources, and task completion.
Build a standing agenda item in your regular leadership meeting for the monthly dashboard. A three-minute talk-through is worth more than a PDF that nobody reads.
Getting buy-in for this data
If leadership doesn't currently care about web data, the problem is often framing. Web reports that speak in traffic terms are easy to dismiss as nice-to-haves. Web reports that speak in service delivery terms are harder to ignore.
"Site search zero-results rate went up 12% this month" is interesting. "People looking for the permit application 47 times last month got no results, which means they probably called" is a problem that has a cost.
Reframe metrics in terms of service delivery, resource consumption (calls, emails, counter visits), and organizational goals. When leadership hears web data in those terms, it gets considered.
If you want to build a reporting dashboard that works for your leadership team and connects to your organizational goals, get in touch and we can design the metrics and the format together.