Supermetrics Queries for Google Sheets – Tutorial

Note: Google Data Studio is now known as Looker Studio.

Every time you pull data from a data source, the Supermetrics Google Sheets Add-on creates and runs a query in the background.

If we pull data from four different data sources (Google Analytics, Google Ads, Facebook ads, and Google Search Console) into Google Sheets, the Supermetrics Google Sheets Add-on run four different queries in the background.

Therefore by extracting data from multiple data sources into one Google Sheet, we run multiple queries in one Google Sheet.

However, you should avoid running more than one query per Google Sheet.

How to view query information in Google Sheets via Supermetrics

There are two ways to view query information in Google Sheets via the Supermetrics Google Sheets Add-on:

  1. Via the Supermetrics sidebar
  2. Via the SupermetricsQueries sheet

#1 Viewing query information via Supermetrics sidebar

Follow the steps below:

Step-1: Click on any cell in the data table in your Google Sheet whose query information you want to see. 

For example in the screenshot below I clicked on a cell of the data table which shows data from Google Analytics:

Google Sheets2 2

Step-2: Navigate to  ‘Add-ons’ menu > Supermetrics and then click on the ‘Launch Sidebar’ link:

Launch Sidebar 1

You should now be able to see the query information:

query information supermetrics

Similarly, if you click on any cell in another data table, you should be able to see the query information related to that data table.

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#2 Viewing query information via a SupermetricsQueries sheet

Follow the steps below:

Step-1: Navigate to ‘Add-ons’ menu > Supermetrics and then click on the ‘Manage Queries’ link:

Manage Queries Supermetrics

As soon as you click on the ‘Manage Queries’ link, Supermetrics will create a new sheet in your Google Sheet document named ‘SupermetricsQueries’:

Click on the SupermetricsQueries sheet tab

Step-2: Click on the ‘SupermetricsQueries’ sheet tab. All the queries created by supermetrics are stored here:

SupermetricsQueries sheet tab

If you remember, we pulled data from four different data sources (Google Analytics, Google Ads, Facebook ads and Google Search Console) into Google Sheets. In other words, we ran four different queries via Supermetrics Google Sheets add-on.

That’s why the SupermetricsQueries sheet shows data for four different queries:

four different queries supermetrics

Each query is uniquely identified by an ID called the ‘Query ID’.

Through the SupermetricsQueries sheet you can:

  1. Modify the parameters of a query. Any changes will be visible when you run a refresh.
  2. Remove a query by deleting its row.
  3. Add new queries: type a range address and query parameters, leave the query ID empty. The query will be added when you run a refresh. (Of course, it’s much easier to use the ‘Supermetrics sidebar to add new queries.)
  4. Add queries that point to other spreadsheets: follow step 3, but also add a spreadsheet ID (you can see the ID in the URL when you have a file open).

How to modify queries in Google Sheets via Supermetrics

Every time you pull data from a data source (like Google Search Console), the Supermetrics Google Sheets Add-on creates and runs a query in the background. 

Supermetrics run queries at a specific location in Google Sheets. This location is specified by you when you click on a particular cell.

There are two methods to modify a query:

  1. Via the Supermetrics Sidebar (recommended)
  2. Manually modify the query via the SupermetricsQueries sheet

#1 Modifying query via Supermetrics sidebar

Step-1: Click on any cell in the data table in your Google Sheet whose query information you want to see. 

For example in the screenshot below I clicked on a cell of the data table which shows data from Google Analytics:

Google Sheets 3

Step-2: Navigate to  ‘Add-ons’ menu > Supermetrics and then click on the ‘Launch Sidebar’ link:

Launch Sidebar 1

You should now be able to see the query information:

You should now be able to see the query information

Step-3: Above the ‘Query Information’ section there is a ‘Modify’ button. Click on it to modify your query:

modify your query

Step-4: Change one or more settings (like ‘Data Source’, ‘Views’, ‘Dates’ etc). Once you have made all the necessary changes then click on the ‘Apply Changes’ button:

Apply Changes

Note: When you change these settings, supermetrics is going to modify the query in the background.

Step-5: Once the query is modified then click on the ‘Exit’ button:

#2 Manually modify the query via the SupermetricsQueries sheet

Step-1: Click on the ‘SupermetricsQueries’ sheet tab.

Click on the SupermetricsQueries sheet tab

Step-2: Manually change one or more fields (like ‘Range Address’, ‘Date Range Type’, ‘Start Date’, ‘End Date’ etc) of a query:

Manually change one or more fields

You need to have a very good knowledge of Google Sheets and its formulas if you want to modify the queries directly via the SupermetricsQueries sheet.

Otherwise, you are likely to make a lot of mistakes and your queries may not run. That’s the reason, I don’t recommend modifying queries manually.

 Step-3: Once you have made all the necessary changes to your query then click on the ‘Refresh All’ link (under (Add-ons > Supermetrics menu):

Refresh All

You would then see a message box like the one below:

refreshing supermetrics queries

Followed by:

refreshing supermetrics queries2

That’s how you can modify queries manually in Google Sheets via the SupermetricsQueries sheet.

Refreshing queries automatically in Google Sheets

If you want the latest data in your Google Sheets all the time then you should schedule query refreshes via the Supermetrics Google Sheets Add-on

When your schedule refreshes, Supermetrics automatically refreshes the queries after a certain time has elapsed. 

Introduction to Triggers

You can schedule refreshes by creating one or more triggers. 

There are two categories of triggers:

  • Refresh-only triggers
  • Refresh and email triggers

#1 Refresh-only triggers

You can instruct Supermetrics to automatically refresh queries after specific time intervals say every hour. In this way, the data in your Google Sheets will always remain up to date. 

Otherwise, you would have to remember to manually update the query, every time you choose to use that data either in Google Sheets or Looker Studio. 

Following are the various Refresh-only triggers available in Supermetrics:

  • Refresh hourly
  • Refresh daily
  • Refresh weekly
  • Refresh monthly

#2 Refresh and email triggers

You can instruct Supermetrics to not only automatically refresh queries after a certain time has elapsed but also email you the updated report(s).

Following are the various Refresh and email triggers available in Supermetrics:

  • Refresh & Email daily
  • Refresh & Email weekly
  • Refresh & Email monthly

Follow the steps below to create a new trigger and schedule query refreshes:

Step-1: Click on ‘Schedule refresh & emailing’ (under ‘Add-ons > Supermetrics):

Schedule refresh and emailing
supermetrics trigger1

Step-2: Select the action you want Supermetrics to take from the ‘Action’ drop-down menu:

Action drop down menu

Step-3: Change the various settings (which are pretty self-explanatory) and then click on the ‘Store trigger‘ button.

Following is a short description of various scheduling actions (aka triggers) you can use:

Refresh hourly

Supermetrics will automatically refresh/run queries every hour:

Refresh hourly

Refresh daily 

Supermetrics will automatically refresh/run queries once every day at a specified time:

Refresh daily

Refresh weekly

Supermetrics will automatically refresh/run queries once every week on a specified day and time:

supermetrics trigger1

Refresh monthly

Supermetrics will automatically refresh/run queries once a month on a specified day and time:

Refresh monthly

Refresh & Email daily

Supermetrics will automatically refresh/run queries once every day at a specified time and then automatically email the report in the format you specified:

Refresh and Email daily

Here is how the email notification from Supermetrics may look like:

email notification from Supermetrics
email notification from Supermetrics2

Refresh & Email weekly

Supermetrics will automatically refresh/run queries once every week on a specified day and time and then automatically email the report in the format you specified.

Refresh & Email monthly

Supermetrics will automatically refresh/run queries once every month on a specified day and time and then automatically email the report in the format you specified.

Sending email alerts if queries fail on refresh

Sometimes your query may fail on scheduled refresh. But you may not know about it unless you manually check your query status. 

You can instruct supermetrics to automatically send email alerts to you if your queries fail on scheduled refresh by clicking on the checkbox ‘Send email alerts if queries fail on refresh‘ (while setting up a trigger):

Send email alerts if queries fail on refresh

Creating a second trigger

If you want Supermetrics to take another scheduled action then click on the ‘+Add trigger’ button:

Add trigger

Configure your second trigger and then click on the ‘Store Trigger’ button:

Configure your second trigger
  1. How to use Looker Studio with Google Sheets
  2. How to extract data from Excel or CSV file into Google Sheets
  3. How to extract data from Google Ads to Google Sheets
  4. How to use Supermetrics for Google Sheets Add-on
  5. Connect and transfer data from Google Sheets to BigQuery
  6. Sending data from Google Search Console to Google Sheets
  7. Google Sheets & Looker Studio Timezone Conversion
  8. How to extract data from Google Analytics into Google Sheets
  9. Looker Studio Date Format for Google Sheets – Tutorial
  10. Learn to export Facebook ads data to Google Sheets
  11. Understanding Aggregation in Google Sheets

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