What is Content Analytics & How Should You Approach It In 2024

Content creators and marketers get excited about various things, but dealing with data usually isn’t one of them.

When it comes to effectively planning, creating, and delivering content on a large scale, nothing beats the insights you get from tracking software.

Think of content analytics like a helpful guide, helping you find and correct your path. It allows you to make decisions based on data, create content that your audience wants, and deliver it through their preferred channels.

The good news is that content analytics, despite using measurements, algorithms, and specific reports, isn’t intimidating or complicated. You can measure and learn from your content’s success without being a data expert, as long as you know what to look for.

Let’s simplify it.

What Is Content Analytics?

Crafting great content is just the beginning. You also need to figure out how much to create, how to present it, and how to grab attention. That’s where content analytics steps in.

Content analytics, or content intelligence, gives marketers and content creators insights into how people engage with their content. It goes beyond just tallying up likes and shares; it’s about grasping user behavior and attitude.

Content analytics isn’t the same as web analytics; they’re two separate processes that work well together.

In simpler terms, content analytics helps you gather insights and see if your content is varied and has an impact. Special data sets and analytics can show you how your audience finds and engages with your blog posts, videos, social media posts, podcasts, and other content.

Content analytics goes hand in hand with SEO analytics because making your content search-friendly means creating very relevant content. If your audience sees your blog as valuable and unique, search engines will think the same, provided your content is rooted in good keyword research and meets on-page optimization standards.

Why Do You Need Content Analytics?

The spending on global ads is going up, and so is the cost of creating content. Yet, more than half of the surveyed marketers say they don’t fully grasp how well their content is doing. Around 70% of decisions on content strategy come from requests by other teams rather than insights from content analysis tools.

Why do many businesses keep investing in content without checking how well it’s doing and just hoping for good results? The main issue is that typical online analytics tools aren’t easy to use and don’t focus much on content.

But relying on a “publish and pray” approach isn’t practical; you might be wasting money without even realizing it.

What you need is easy-to-use content tracking software that lets you peek behind the scenes and see if your efforts are paying off.

Here are the key benefits of content analytics:

• Build a long-term content strategy: Create a clear picture of where you’re going and how to reach new goals.
• Understand your target audience better: Figure out if you need to update your buyer personas or tweak your content creation strategy.
• Personalize your content: Know what resonates with different groups in your audience.
• Cater to your audience’s needs: Share any thoughts, observations, tips, or instructions to help them achieve their goals.
• Outpace your competition: Be flexible and responsive to what your audience wants.
• Save time and resources: by understanding your audience’s expectations instead of taking uninformed actions and wasting money.
• Fill the gaps in your content plan: Try out new content types, formats, and ideas that your current plan is missing.
• Experiment with confidence: Produce content that you’re sure will grab attention.
• Set clear goals and realistic expectations: Monitor important content-related data to assess your position and identify areas for improvement.

So, check this out – content smarts can really help not just folks in marketing or writing, but also SEO experts, planners, and editors. It lets you take charge, map your content better, and see the good things coming from your hard work.

The Benefits Of Content Analytics

If you’re like most content marketers, you’ve probably been using Google Analytics to monitor how well your content is doing. But guess what? There’s an easier way.

Content analytics systems can streamline your work and make your job a whole lot simpler.

Access more actionable metrics and insights

Every article you publish holds valuable insights into how your audience responds. Yet, collecting data alone isn’t enough if it doesn’t guide your team’s decisions and editing strategy.

Content analytics offer deeper insights compared to standard web analytics tools. Here are a few examples:

• Material Conversions: Find out which content on your website prompts the most interaction from readers, and assess the usefulness of specific pieces within the overall customer journey.
• Search Referrals: Pinpoint content that achieves high rankings in search engines and drives organic traffic to your site.
• Engaged Time: Understand the actual duration readers spend actively involved with your content, indicating its significance to them.
• Channel Segmentation: Monitor the performance of individual content pieces across various platforms to enhance your distribution tactics.

Automate reporting, tagging, and goal tracking

Conventional web analytics tools require analysts to handle numerous background tasks, like configuring content reporting, tagging, and goal tracking for creative content teams. 

However, content analytics tools change this dynamic. They automate much of the technical work, enabling content teams to function more smoothly and collaboratively.

• Content reporting – involves generating and circulating analytical reports tailored to specific content metrics like top-performing posts, high-converting content, and evergreen material. This process enables swift analysis of extensive data sets, empowering your entire organization to tackle intricate inquiries about your website and audience.
• Smart Tags – streamline content labeling by automating the assignment of subject-matter tags. Leveraging machine learning and natural language processing, Smart Tags scrutinize pages and posts, identifying relevant subjects, and assigning tags accordingly.
• Goals — Simplify the process of reporting and tracking KPIs by offering a platform where teams can discuss and manage content goals. Ensure your team is united around common KPIs, allowing each member to monitor their achievements individually.

Drive business success with content analytics

Content analytics are crucial for evaluating your content strategy and identifying areas for improvement. Monitor your main key performance indicators (KPIs) as you implement your strategy, expand successful content, and make adjustments. This approach is essential for transforming your content strategy into a potent business asset.

Content analytics vs. web analytics: How are they different?

Content analytics and web analytics serve different purposes based on their intended audience and focus. Content analytics cater to content teams and content-driven businesses, while web analytics initially targeted ecommerce and product analysis.

Although it’s possible to adapt web analytics tools for content analytics, this requires custom feature design, which isn’t always feasible for everyone.

Web analytics tools primarily track website activity, whereas content analytics offer a comprehensive view of content performance across various platforms and channels. Content analytics tools are also more user-friendly for content providers and those not specialized in analytics.

For example, navigating Google Analytics (GA) requires closer examination and more training compared to platforms specifically tailored for content analysis.

Key Content Metrics and Reports That Will Help You Break Down Content Performance

Common metrics such as page views and social shares don’t tell us much about how actual users engage with your content. To get a better understanding, let’s dig deeper and keep an eye on some more nuanced factors.

These metrics will give you insights into how your content is doing and what adjustments might improve its performance.

• Engaged Time: This is the time folks actively spend interacting with your content. It includes scrolling, clicking, and watching.
• Session Duration: How long they hang out on your website overall and if they check out your blog.
• Bounce Rates: The percentage of your visitors who leave specific pages without checking out more stuff.
• Unique Visitors: The number of fresh readers your content attracts.
• Returning Visitors: How many loyal readers keep coming back for more?
• Off-site Interactions: How visitors react to your content on social media.
• Social Referrals: The number of visitors discovering your website through social media.
• Top-performing authors—creating the most impactful content for your brand.
• Device breakdown: where people check out your content?
• Conversion rates – show which content directly brings in sales.
• Evergreen content –  means posts that stay popular long after they were written.
• Micro-conversions – Small wins include sign-ups, registrations, filled-out forms, clicks on internal links, and other signs of interest in buying.
• Post-click engagement — how much your visitors read and how excited they are to find more of your stuff.

Some content performance tools let you make up your own measures and get more detailed info. To keep an eye on your progress and make predictions, you can compare weekly, monthly, or quarterly numbers.

How To Use Content Analytics To Improve Engagement and Conversions

About 40% of marketers express that their main challenge with content is low user engagement. Consequently, over half of organizations don’t link their sales goals to content. Clearly, a shift is needed.

Analyzing content goes beyond finding improved themes or headlines. It helps you understand trends and preferences in user behavior. With this knowledge, you can connect with their emotions and motivate them to engage with your blog posts, articles, and even sales emails.

Here’s how content analytics can assist:

• How often should you make and share content?
• When is your audience most active and likely to interact with your content?
• How does your audience react to your content?
• What kinds of content are they likely to read, share, or download?
• Identify which calls-to-action they respond to the most.
• Which types and forms of content do they like?
• What content do they usually pass over?

In simple terms, content intelligence technologies tell you what your audience enjoys reading and how often. They analyze a lot of user data to guide you in hitting the right notes and achieving the desired outcome.

The great aspect of content analytics is that you can make straightforward, smart reports containing all the key content information. You can easily share these reports with other teams, decision-makers, or stakeholders. User-friendly reporting helps you convey your content choices, showcase your achievements, and make sure everyone in your business is on board.

4 Content Analytics Software Examples

As mentioned before, just keeping an eye on your Google Analytics isn’t always enough—it doesn’t give you a full picture of how well your content is doing. That’s why we’ve found a few handy tools to help you dig deeper into the issue.

Newer content analysis tools might cost a bit more because they involve a bunch of research, tracking, and processing in the background. But, in return, you get really useful insights, making it a good investment (especially if you’re serious about content marketing).

So, you don’t need to stick to just one tool. For instance, you can use one to track your content and a more budget-friendly one for SEO optimization.

#1. Parse.ly

This app provides “quick content insights without any difficulty” and lives up to that commitment. It’s created to help content managers, marketers, artists, analysts, and developers better grasp how content performs and make decisions based on data.

Parse.ly shows a list of resources and apps bringing traffic to your content. It also reveals how well your content is doing across all channels. You can monitor various content types like articles, landing pages, image galleries, and podcasts. Parse.ly can even offer personalized suggestions on how to improve readership.

The software has easy plug-and-play connections for the most popular CMSs. You can also integrate it with any website or CMS using a tracking pixel. Parse.ly doesn’t offer a free trial, but you can ask for a personalized demo to make sure it suits your needs.

#2. Clearscope

Clearscope is an AI-powered tool for improving your website’s visibility on search engines. It makes finding the right words easy, ensuring your content is spot-on for attracting more visitors.

Think of Clearscope as your handy guide for checking articles before they’re published. It offers helpful suggestions and key terms to enhance your content’s search engine appeal.

With Clearscope, teams can work together seamlessly through multiple review stages. Sharing Clearscope reports is a breeze – just send a link and keep the collaboration flowing.

The platform is super easy to use and works well for all kinds of users, from small businesses and solo producers to big teams and companies. When you sign up, you get free live training and onboarding. If you ever outgrow the basic plan, you can easily switch to a different one.

#3. LiveSession

Use this analytics software to get a better understanding of what your visitors are up to and increase how many of them take action. It’s great for looking at whole landing pages or websites, not just blog posts. LiveSession will let you see where your visitors get stuck or lose interest, and what might be distracting them.

Unlike Google Analytics, which shows general usage patterns and averages, LiveSession goes a step further. It lets you record sessions and create click maps to spot smaller details like quick clicks or points of interest

Even though it’s a tool for web analytics and user experience testing, it can help you make smart decisions for your content marketing and enhance the user experience on your site. You can essentially peek over your visitor’s shoulder and watch how they engage with your content in real time.

LiveSession offers customized plans for businesses of all sizes. Additionally, the platform provides a free basic package and a 14-day trial.

#4. Chartbeat

Chartbeat is designed for big and medium-sized companies, but even small businesses can benefit from it, especially if they rely a lot on content to get new customers and don’t want to take risks.

Firstly, Chartbeat lets you test pictures and headlines to find a winning combination.

You can see how your readers enjoy your content on different platforms, channels, and devices to figure out what they like the most. And it’s not just old information; you can also see how your audience interacts with your new stuff right away. You can measure lots of other fancy data, like how much time people spend and how many loyal visitors you have.

Moreover, Chartbeat gives you reports that you can adjust and change. Each report comes with automatically generated insights to help you spot important trends in your audience data.

You can ask for a demo to see Chartbeat in action. The platform has both basic and premium packages.

Final Thoughts

A strategy based on data can boost your conversions. Without it, creating a successful plan to grow your business through content marketing becomes quite challenging.

Utilize the tools mentioned above and the methods discussed in this article to analyze your content. Apply these findings effectively to improve your content strategy.