Getting Started with Content Analytics
Our Content Analytics toolset was designed to give you insight into how people are engaging with your webpages. We built Content Analytics to give us a signal as to which pages we might want to improve — and then where in those pages we’d need to make improvements.
Get started by first creating your domain:
Next, generate a unique Analytics Script for your website:
You’ll want to place the script within your site’s head tags, as this will allow Content Analytics to capture data across all of your pages.
After placing the script, click on Verify Installation to confirm that the script is working properly:
Note that, depending on your CMS, it will often take a few minutes for the Verify Installation button to work properly. If it doesn’t work right away, wait a few minutes and then try again.
It’s worth noting that our script is deferred by default. The transfer size is 11KiB, and the bottoms-up profile was 15.5ms when it was most recently tested. If you have any questions or concerns about performance, please reach out to Nate Matherson directly at [email protected].
After the script has been added, data should start flowing into and populating the table immediately:
In the table, you’ll see a few information fields, including:
- URL
- Visits
- Bounce Rate
- Time on Page
- Scroll Depth
- Score
The score is based on bounce rate, time on page, and scroll depth. It attempts to quantify the experience that users are having on your pages. For example, a page with a high bounce rate is going to have a lower score than a page with a lower bounce rate.
Use the data selector to view changes in performance over time or for specific periods:
And use the filterable search bar to view performance for only specific URLs or paths:
Users can then click into a specific URL to see the Readmap, Heatmap, and Clickmap. Shown first by default is the Readmap:
The Readmap is like a traditional heatmap, but it’s different in that each individual paragraph section is scored. Paragraphs in green aren’t causing meaningful dropoff. Paragraphs highlighted in orange are those where there is a small amount of dropoff. And then paragraphs highlighted in red are those where there is a more substantial amount of dropoff.
Dropoffs are recorded when a paragraph is fully scrolled into and then the user immediately leaves.
Dropoff percentages are shown under each individual paragraph. The dropoff percentages shown reflect the dropoff from one paragraph to the next. For example, at this paragraph (in red), 32.94% of the readers who fully scroll into it are then leaving before fully scrolling into the next paragraph:
If, for example, you have an introduction section where there is a lot of dropoff very early on, that would be a section to come back and take another look at:
Alternatively, if you are getting a lot of dropoff within a page at a specific section, that might signal that you should include a call to action above that section, before readers typically begin to abandon the page.
Our traditional Heatmap is scaled from red (hot) to blue (cold), based on where the user scrolls:
At then we have the Clickmap, which can be used to identify where users are clicking and how often:
These tools are designed to be used together to provide guidance on how and where to update webpages. The Readmap was built specifically for blog or content pages. As a result, for landing or product pages, the Readmap isn’t going to be as useful. For landing or product pages, our Heatmap and Clickmap may be more helpful.
Content Analytics FAQs:
Will Content Analytics cause performance issues?
It shouldn’t, and it was designed by a team that is hyper-aware of performance. But if you have additional questions, please reach out to Nate Matherson at [email protected]
Can I use Content Analytics on multiple websites?
Yes. Depending on your Positional account tier, you can create multiple domains within Content Analytics. Each domain is going to have a unique Analytics Script.
For Growth tier accounts, you can add up to three domains to Content Analytics. For Scale tier accounts, you can add up to ten domains to Content Analytics.
I want to add Content Analytics to more than 10 websites. How can I upgrade?
Reach out to Nate Matherson at [email protected] to learn more about custom package offerings.
I’ve just added the analytics script. Can I view historical data?
Unfortunately, no. Content Analytics will start collecting data only after you’ve added the analytics script. It doesn’t have access to performance data for time periods before the script was added.
Can I remove the analytics script?
Yes, just remove the script from your head tags.
Will Content Analytics collect data on people in the EU?
No, not as of today.