Making changes to our Writer Stats!
To help keep our new technical team focused on building our new platform, and to minimize support and maintenance on a site we aim to replace (and surpass!), we are making a change to the writer stats package.
We will be removing the on-Suite stats and giving writers the opportunity to track their articles using Google Analytics – the most widely used stats package on the Internet.
The on-suite stats will be around until March 2012, at which point they will be retired. For those who would like a record of their previous stats, there is a “download data” option on the Writer Stats page. This option will be available until the stats are retired.
The on-Suite stats have been a large burden on our technical team. Google Analytics is a lightweight solution to ensure that through this transitional period, you get the numbers you need and we keep focused on the task at hand.
To get started visit our Google Analytics Guide as well as the FAQs.
There will be more changes rolling out in the coming days so stay tuned!
Thanks everyone,
Stephanie Cebulka, Community Manager
Walter McLaughlin (not verified)
Rafe -
Maybe its just a difference in how Suite counts versus how Google does? I see a difference of 12 between Suite's PV counter and Google Analytics, as of this morning. In the few days since I've had Google Analytics, Suite's metric has consistently been higher, for whatever reason.
You're right, StumbleUpon must be counted at Google after all, as the math wouldn't make sense otherwise. Thoughts as to why they would be different?
Thanks,
Walter
Stephanie, is this the reason that I found "undefined" on my stat box? I couldn't access the community suite until I found a link in one of the forums. I was a bit worried about this. Doreen
Me again, Stephanie. Will my deleted articles be reinstated? I've been rather worried about them. Doreen
Walter McLaughlin (not verified)
Rafe -
Here's a good example of the discrepancy I've referenced between G.A. and the Suite PV counter:
On February 20th, Suite's counter had my PV's at 104, a large percentage of which were derived from StumbleUpon.
Per Google Analytics, I had 51 PV's on that day. Clearly, at least some of the SU traffic is being counted, but not nearly as many as Suite's counter shows.
Maybe there needs to be a certain minimum amount of time spent on the page before Google "counts" it? SU is a random, chaotic form of browsing, and it's probable that at least some of the views were very brief as the reader moved on quickly to the next page.
Walter
Hi Walter,
There's many differences between Suite101 stats and Google Analytics; I made a post over in the old forums talking about some of those, I'll paste that info below so you can have a read of it - in short, no two analytic packages are ever going to give you the same numbers for the same traffic, everyone has different rules about what gets counted. What I will say with regards to StumbleUpon traffic is that while it gives you increased page views, it is really, really poor traffic - very close to 100% bounce rates, generally less than 20 secs time on site, and very close to 1 page per visit. These people are "stumbling" to your article, not staying long enough to read anything, and then they're moving on. I suspect there are StumbleUpon visitors that aren't staying long enough to even register on GA (that's just a personal assumption though).
The info below might give you a little more insight into the differences between GA numbers and Suite101.
Regards,
Rafe
- Suite101 stats do not count page views by logged in users. If you're logged in, you're not contributing to yours or anyone else's page views. Google analytics counts everyone.
- Suite101 stats will not count a 2nd page view by anyone if they visit the same page within 15 minutes. I believe Google will count the page view as many times as it happens, and this is the distinction they make between page views and unique page views.
- As I posted earlier, your Google Analytics account wasn't counting mobile page views before Friday around midday. This would have cost around 20% of your page views.
Even so, for me Google Analytics show only around 20% of the number of page views compared to what is shown by the Suite101 stats. I don't think the three points listed can explain that big discrepancy. According to Google Analytics I hardly have any views from the USA - if it was zero I would have wondered if there is a filter cutting them out but I do have some so there is clearly not a filter setting at play.
Hi Henk,
Can you tell me which dates are you're looking at? When I look at your subdomain through Google Analytics I'm seeing very comparable numbers day to day to what Suite101 stats are showing - for example, Feb 21 has our stats giving just under 90% of the page views that Google Analytics is showing me. If you can send us a screenshot that could also help get to the bottom of things - send to help@suite101.com and someone will grab it from there.
Regards,
Rafe
For 20, 21 & 22 February: Suite101 stats around 700 page views per day, Google Analytics around 200 per day.
One more thing to note that I should have stated earlier - Google Analytics can run about 24 hours behind, they are not real time stats. Suite101 stats are pretty much up to the minute. When we look at our site stats on Google Analytics we don't worry too much about any unexpected numbers in yesterday's stats until mid-afternoon.
Jolene Wipf (not verified)
Will we still be paid the same way and the same amount?
Hi Jolene,
This is only for your analytical data on article views etc, it has no impact at all on your revenue.
Regards,
Rafe
Rafe/Stephanie/or any other admin: Will Suite still be posting the top 1000 pageviews monthly?
Hi Karen,
Yes, these numbers will remain for the time being, as they do offer interesting insight into individual writer progress and overall site performance.
...and let's face it - it's interesting to watch fluctuations from month to month.
That said we may tweak this dashboard slightly weighing importance away from total page views (which is a function of the number of published articles), with more credence given to a page views per article metric - a much better indication of true performance.
A caveat to these numbers, that I should be mention, is that these numbers may not match your Google Analytics numbers exactly (macro: month by month basis), as they are solely calculated off published articles, where GA takes into account, profile page, collections, etc.
Walter (not verified)
Just as an FYI, and then I'll drop the subject: using Suite's PV counter, I had 87 today. According to Google Analytics: 14.
Pretty significant difference. However, it is what it is, and I'll deal with it. :)
Thanks Mike.
That's good news.
I would actually love to see both the raw PVs and the views per article, or some sort of UV metric, if that was possible (UVs are often used by other sites, so that would be a GREAT comparison)....
I am actually of the opinion (and it's really just intuition, though I HAVE been working online for about 15 years now) that the bounce rate types of information (how long a viewer stays on, how many pages they look at) are sometimes not relevant for certain kinds of articles, and sometimes don't reflect things within a writers' control (how the site is set up, the related articles chosen by the computer, the distraction/annoyance of the ads, what the reader's intent was in coming to the article)... Plus my own web behavior is ALL bounce, in the worst way for site stats: I research something by bouncing in and out very quickly to get overviews, then I often go back, but I rarely find the need to click deep into a site.
So I'd love to see both sets of #s (PVs and UVs or UV-like #s) and compare them against each other... THAT would be really helpful, i think.
But whatever, it's good that these kinds of numbers will stay up. I find them interesting and sometimes illuminating.
Thanks for the response.
marie-claude arnott (not verified)
OK - you are all flying ahead with this - some of us (always the same ones?) are still stuck behind. Had a google acc. and signed up for GA - I have my Tracking ID - I understand I should only post the Nr itself (not the UA-) - all good - it took me several attempts to get that - I want this to be over with so: Could someone tell me what this means: ".... paste this tracking number everywhere you want GA...." = where do I post? Please be precise!
Help much appreciated!
Hi Marie,
You've done the hard stuff, its all downhill from here.
Firstly, you want the whole Tracking ID, "UA" bit included (it should look something like "UA-12341234-1").
When you have this, go to edit your profile in Suite101 (clicking here will open it for you). Just over halfway down the page you'll see a field called "Google Analytics Tracking ID" - enter that full Tracking ID in that field, then hit "Save" at the bottom of the page.
That's it, you're done! In about 24 hours you'll start seeing statistics appearing in your analytics account.
Regards,
Rafe
OK, I'm confused. Do we have to put the tracking code in the pages for our articles? Is there a place where this was outlined? Sorry, haven't been able to get into the community section for a little while. The link I had on my dashboard disappeared a week or so ago, only to be replaced by an "undefined" with no link. Had to find a back door into it.
Hi Gary,
Put the Tracking ID into the field on your profile page (log in to Suite101, click "Member Tools" - "My Profile", the field is half way down the page) and we'll take care of it from there - once you've done that you don't need to think about it again.
The page you were looking for is probably this one.
Regards,
Rafe
Thans! Sounds neat!
Comments
Claire Eddins
Thank you, Stephanie.
Fasten seatbelts...
Mary King
Sounds interesting! I'm looking forward to all the new changes in store.
Philip Northeast
The only slight hitch was the tracking ID- you only past the ID number itself into the mysuite profile field not the complete tracking code- the suite error message makes it clear what to do once you have done it wrong the first time.
Tel Asiado
Hi Steph!
Somehow, I knew your announcement re Google Analytics Tracking ID is coming any time. The other day, I was updating my profile (as I regularly do), but I couldn't successfully save, being "forced" by the system to declare a Google Analytics code out of nowhere. I was able to save my updated profile by simply typing a dummy tracking code. ;)
Now, it's a genuine tracking G-A ID I've set up following your instructions earlier. Thanks.
Cheers! Tel
Mary King
The Google Analytics Tracking was easy to set up for a first-timer, too. Just remember to use the code only and not the other stuff around it. If you forget and try to add everything, the system will stop you. No troubles at all.
Donald Reinhardt
I don't think analytics gives you an article by article summation instead you just have an overview of all. Analytics is usually tied with "My Adsense" account and it enables you to track your site overall and, if you like, each ad for each article on your own site. So, if I am correct, and I may not be, you will never know articles click the most (PVs) and which ranks highest and which ranks lowest. This will be different from what we had here, but I am in favor of the tech staff doing what is needed to keep the Suite site humming – less worry, less pain will keep them from going insane.
Cheers to all,
Donald
Mark Tibbits
Donald
if you use Content->Site Content->Pages on the left hand menu you can see an analysis by page. The good news is that It includes your topic pages and your collections.
Unfortunately, it uses the latter half of the URL (e.g. /astrology for my topic page), rather than the page title. I guess I will have to revamp how I do my regular data collection to reflect that difference :-(
Cheers,
Mark
Jennifer Miner (not verified)
This is great news -- brings Suite101 in keeping with the rest of the world in terms of viewing our analytics.
Val Tobin
Mark, there is an option that lets you switch to view by page title.
When you're in Content-->Site Content-->Pages, you see the table with the list of pages by URI. At the top of the table it says: "Viewing:" and then lists your options for viewing. Select "Page Title."
Megan Sheakoski
For those of you who are going to download your stats how are you doing it? By week? Month? The tool let's you go back to the beginning of 2011 but you just get the totals for the year as an excel document. I feel that weekly seems a bit much, but don't want to regret it. Thanks for any input!
Rafe Hatfield
Hi All,
We discovered this morning that the new writer stats weren't counting mobile page views; over our site as a whole this can account for roughly 20% of article page views (admittedly that is a figure that fluctuates day to day). We corrected this around midday, so you should notice a small bump in your numbers moving forward.
Regards,
Rafe
Rafe Hatfield
For those that are new to Google Analytics, I highly recommend taking a look at the series of tutorial videos Google put together in their support section - they start at a very basic level and are very easy to follow. They do ramp up to more high level, but much of that isn't important.
The support page is here:
http://www.google.com/intl/en/analytics/iq.html?
I recommend starting with 2 of their early presentations
- Working with Report Data gives a great overview of learning your way around the pages and reports in analytics
- Pageviews, Visits and Visitors is a nice simple explanation of the basics of what the various numbers mean
Go as deep into them as you're comfortable with, but with a small amount of effort you'll start to understand the basics very quickly, and get too see the power of this new tool.
Regards,
Rafe
Mary Jonson (not verified)
Nice article
Steve Rogerson
What date will the stats stop being available on My Suite? The reason I am asking is that it would be good if I get my February stats downloaded and then use GA from 1 March onwards, but as I'll be away for the early days of March I am a little worried that I won't be able to get my February stats.
Walter McLaughlin (not verified)
Google Analytics does not appear to count StumbleUpon page views. I use that site frequently to market my articles. If true, this appears to be a big flaw with switching over, and I can't be alone in that respect. Any comments/thoughts/solutions?
Rafe Hatfield
Steve - to my knowledge we haven't set in stone when we're going to turn off stats in My Suite; your scenario of allowing plenty of time for people to get the full month of February downloaded before doing anything feels like a good approach, so mid-to-late March would feel like a reasonable time frame. We'll confirm actual dates as it gets closer, and I'm sure we can find some way to help out any people that this date doesn't work for.
Walter - it should make no difference where your traffic comes from (with regards to domains etc); I can confirm that we have a lot of traffic being reported as coming via StumbleUpon through the site on a daily basis, and I can see traffic generated to your subdomain via StumbleUpon over this the past few days. I've just checked out a few of your articles and they appear to be set up correctly. Can you give me some more information on why you don't think its working?