Blog
Analyses of reporting tools, pricing and agency practice — honest, researched, no marketing fog.
July 10, 2026 · 6 min readSearch Console in the Client Report: Make SEO Visible Without an SEO ToolSEO success is hard to make visible — rankings fluctuate, results come late. Google Search Console delivers the most honest numbers for it, free and straight from the source. How to use it in the client report and where its limits are compared to real SEO tools.Read more →July 10, 2026 · 6 min readCost per Lead: Lead Tracking in Agency Reporting"So how many inquiries actually came in?" — the prettiest ads report often has no answer to this client question. Why cost per lead is the most honest agency metric, how to calculate it cleanly, and how webhook-based lead tracking replaces the Excel handiwork.Read more →July 10, 2026 · 5 min readGoogle Ads and Meta Ads in One Report: Normalized Metrics Instead of Two Number LogicsAds Manager here, Google Ads there — and at month-end, two number worlds the client is supposed to compare. Why the platform comparison goes wrong so often, what normalization really delivers (and what it doesn't), and how both channels end up in one report.Read more →July 9, 2026 · 5 min readClient Portals: Fewer "How's the Campaign Doing?" Emails"Can you quickly send me the current numbers?" — every agency knows this email. A client portal with individual logins answers it before it's even asked. How it works, where the honest boundary is, and why in MetricDash the portal runs in its own interface.Read more →July 8, 2026 · 5 min readWhite-Label Reporting: What Agencies Really Need — and What They Don'tWhite-label is treated as a standard requirement in agency reporting. We hold an uncomfortable position: most agencies don't need true white-label — they need something else. And if you truly need it, MetricDash isn't your tool. That honesty is the article.Read more →July 8, 2026 · 5 min readBudget Monitoring for Google & Meta Ads: Alerts Instead of Month-End ShockA blown or frozen ad budget often becomes visible only at month-end — when it's too late. How budget alerts at 80 and 100 percent plus anomaly detection prevent the shock, and why manual checking doesn't scale across several clients.Read more →July 7, 2026 · 6 min readCookieless Analytics: Rybbit, Plausible & Umami for Agency ClientsCookie banners annoy, GA4 raises GDPR questions — more and more agency clients ask for cookieless alternatives. Rybbit, Plausible, Umami, Matomo, Pirsch, and Fathom in an honest overview, plus how to bring them into client reporting without building a separate dashboard for each tool.Read more →July 7, 2026 · 5 min readMarketing Reports Clients Actually Read: 7 PrinciplesThe best report is worthless if no one reads it. Seven tool-agnostic principles for marketing reports that clients actually open, understand, and value — regardless of which tool you build them with.Read more →July 6, 2026 · 5 min readLooker Studio for Agencies: Free, but at What Price?Looker Studio is the default answer in every agency forum: free and maximally flexible. The honest math looks different — connector costs, maintenance time, and no portal concept. When the free toolkit still pays off.Read more →July 6, 2026 · 5 min readGA4 in Client Reporting: What Clients Actually Want to SeeGA4 can measure everything — and that's exactly the problem in client reporting. We show which five GA4 numbers clients actually care about, which you can drop, and why in MetricDash GA4 deliberately lives in the dashboard and portal, not in the sent report.Read more →July 5, 2026 · 6 min readAgencyAnalytics Alternatives 2026: 5 Options Compared HonestlyAgencyAnalytics is the market leader in agency reporting — good, but priced in US dollars, with an annual commitment for the best rate and no budget alerts in its base plans. We compare five alternatives honestly, including the cases where the incumbent stays the better pick.Read more →July 5, 2026 · 5 min readAutomating Client Reporting: The Guide for AgenciesReporting eats hours per client every month — pulling screenshots, retyping numbers, building PDFs. This guide shows which steps you can genuinely automate, in what order, and where automation honestly hits its limit.Read more →July 4, 2026 · 7 min readDatabox Alternative for Agencies: Why the Connection Trap Snaps Shut70 connections for three to four clients, quoted at around €2,000 a month. That's how the Databox connection trap snaps shut — and here's how three alternative models add up for agencies instead.Read more →July 4, 2026 · 9 min readWhat Does Agency Reporting Really Cost? The Big 2026 Price ComparisonAgencyAnalytics, Swydo, DashThis, Databox, Whatagraph, or plain old Looker Studio? Pricing pages are nearly impossible to compare because every tool meters differently. We run the numbers on all six options at 10 and 30 clients — including the cases where the competition is cheaper.Read more →
Just try MetricDash
Currently in open alpha: every feature free, connect unlimited clients, no credit card required.
Start for free →