Subscribe to Our Newsletter

x

How to use the Stats Dashboard and how we measure your performance

RebelMouse offers a robust analytics to measure the performance of your distributed content, your editorial team and your site. Our Stats Dashboard feature retrospective data and insights in a visual straight-forward way so everyone can get out as much insights as they want, regardless their statistical knowledge. Our Stats Dashboard is also interactive so you can change what you see according to your main point of interest.

When you login and open the Stats Dashboard, you will arrive to it's default view:

On the top, you will find the hovering Navigation Bar. This will be hovering, no matter where you scroll in the Dashboard. It helps you to navigate easier in the Stats Dashboard. You can quickly jump to the relevant sections highlighted there.

On the right corner, your main interactive drop-down menus will help you to customise the view of the Stats.

First, you can select the relevant Section of your site, once selected a section, the Stats Dashboard's figures will reflect only to that Section. By default, this drop-down menu reflects to all Sections - your complete site.

Second, you can select the timeframe that you want to check.

  • There are various preset timeframes from Last Hour till Last 30 days.
  • By default the timeframe reflects to the Today so far, which means it shows stats for the day you have logged in so far.
  • You can further customise the timeframes by selecting a Custom timeframe in the drop-down menu where you can adjust the calendar to your preference.
  • When you select the Custom timeframe, you can pick Exclude posts before the selected date range which will exclude posts from your selected timeframe and only shows posts published in that period.
  • By default we show all published posts that have relevant stats to your site.

We want to show you the most important figures first, immediately you logged in.

  • Your site performance is on the top for that matter showcasing the Views Last Hour which shows the total views site-wide (all pageviews)
  • Views which shows the same metric but for the pre-selected timeframe
  • Facebook Reach which shows the reach of your content on your Facebook Page. This metric however cannot be filtered by sections and can only be checked after 24 hours, due that we are getting this metric externally from Facebook.
  • The percentage changes - red indicates decrease, green indicates growth - reflect to the previous period in time. Meaning if you select a special day, let's say a Tuesday, the percentage changes will reflect to the last week's Tuesday, not the previous day you have selected - this is due to the nature of content, you most likely get less views in the weekends and more in the weekdays so it is only fair to compare your performance to the same day on the last week. This is also true if you select weeks, multiple days or months.

You can only select 3 months back in the custom timeframe calendar since the day you have logged in.

On Referring Social Accounts you can check the social media accounts which have referred your owned content published on RebelMouse.

  • These accounts shared your content on their own social media pages, hence referring accounts.
  • Currently we offer these figures for the two most important social content sharing platforms, Facebook and Twitter.
  • The figures you see in this table all refers to the social media account that has referred your content.
  • For Facebook, you can check the name of the page, the number of fans, the social media post itself, the number of comments, shares and likes, and the date when the post was published on that channels.
  • All likes, comments, shares are reflect to the likes, comments and shares that particular social media content has generated on its page, not the engagements you have generated on the RebelMouse platform.
  • The name of the page and the content itself can be clicked which transfers you to the page itself or the content that has been shared on the page itself.
  • You can check the same metrics for Twitter too, but the names of the metrics will reflect to Twitter's own metrics like account name, number of followers, retweets, likes, or the tweet itself.
  • We show 10 posts per page per social networks, you can turn the pages by clicking Next or Previous on the interactive table's bottom.

Top Posts by Network table shows you your own content's - published on RebelMouse - popularity per social networks.

  • This is the exactly opposite as the last table, where you could check which network prefers to share your content on their own channels, here you can check which content of yours have popularity on social networks.
  • You can select Facebook, Twitter, Email Outreach, Pinterest, Reddit, Tumblr and Google Plus to filter down the popularity by social networks.
  • We show the name of the post - which is clickable, you can visit the post directly from here on your RebelMouse site - and the amount of Pageviews that the social network generated.
  • Note: this is the not the total pageviews for that post, just the amount of pageviews that has been generated by that particular social network.
  • This table ultimately shows the referring traffic by social networks for your content.
  • As always, you can turn pages forward or backward with Next and Previous buttons on the bottom of the table.

In the Top Posts section, you can check content related metrics.

  • If you click any of the metrics on the top, the table will refresh accordingly to the highest figure.
  • Author and the Title of the post, both are clickable so you can check them on your own site.
  • Card views: the number of content cards shown for that content - users don't need to click in the content, just scrolling to the card to trigger a card view.
  • Page views: the number of page views for that piece of content.
  • Facebook Instant Article Views: views generated through FBIA
  • Viral views: the number of page views that came from an external source to that piece of content - external source can be anything that is not a RebelMouse property.
  • Key Traffic Factor: the highest referring source. If you hover your mouse above the icon - in this screenshot the Facebook logo - you can also check the exact figure for that referring source.
  • Shares: number of shares happened on RebelMouse platform for that content,
  • Subscribers: subscribers to your site triggered on that content
  • Time Spent: time spent on that content (minutes:seconds)
  • Call-To-Action Conversions: number of CTA conversions if you have any in place.

On the Top Contributor table, you can check your editorial team's performance if you have multiple authors. This is highly useful for media companies.

  • We offer a segmentation on Post views and Shares so you can check which author generated more views or shares on your site.
  • On the left, you can check the author - clickable name to your RebelMouse site - and on the right you can check the metrics per authors.
  • By default the table is organised by Post views but you can check Viral Factor - same as viral views in Top Posts - the Total number of posts that author has generated and Average Pageviews generated by those posts.

In the Referrals graphs you can check the referring traffic to your site in more details.

  • You can check All Referrals or just the Social Networks and you can get a basic Search Terms report.
  • The graphs are interactive, you can view the referrals individually if you hover your mouse over the graphs.
  • Amount reflects to Pageviews.
  • % reflects to the percentage compared to the total number of pageviews of the site.

At the bottom of the Stats Dashboard we showcase some graphs on your performance.

  • Each graphs have a blue and the red graph, where blue means the current period - which you have selected on the top as a timeframe - and the red, which means the previous period. If you hover your mouse above the graphs, you can check the exact figures as well.

First, the Audience graphs.

  • Direct Reach: the view of your content across all channels, meaning everything that can be considered as a view is there. This is the impact of your site.
  • Engagements: the combined figures of clicks, likes, shares and mouseovers.
  • Mouseover: when a user hovers the cursor above a piece of content on the site, showcasing some sort of interest.
  • We also show here the total number of engagements and the card views.
  • Sign Ups: the number of signups to your site in the given time period.

Second, you have the Content Graphs.

  • Works like the same as the Audience graphs.
  • The first graph shows the number of new posts generated in the given time period
  • The second graph shows the number of shares achieved in the given time period.

At the very bottom of the Stats Dashboard, you can Export Your Data.

  • The export is a CSV file.
  • On the visual Dashboard we only show the important metrics to you, mostly in round-up figures so editors can immediately check the performance of their content.
  • For those who want to deep-dive in stats, the exported CSV is a great help.
  • In the CSV you will find the exact figures for every metric, segmented figures for engagements (clicks, likes, shares, comments, mouseovers), segmented metrics for social networks, click-through rates, engagement rates, viral percentages and a detailed content performance report.
  • The CSV is easy to work with if you are familiar with any data manager tool.

From the Navigation Bar you can also reach 3rd Party Analytics. Here you can easily add 3rd party analytics of your choice to the RebelMouse site, without any coding required.

  • Currently we support Google Analytics, ChartBeat Analytics and ComScore Analytics.

Also from the Navigation Bar, you can reach the SEO Report. This is a great help for editors to win more search phrases with their content.

  • We show the search phrases you won with which post.
  • You can add search phrases to the post manually which will edit the post's URL slug.
  • You can also further optimise with search discovery and add tags to your posts.

How to get the most out of the Stats Dashboard:

  • Across the Stats Dashboard you can spot little green question marks. These help you with instant definitions of metrics and figures, if you hover your mouse above the icon, you will get the definition for each.
  • Most of the Stats Dashboard is super interactive. If you see a metric with a content that is on the net (on your platform or on a social network) it is most likely clickable so you can check that content directly from the Stats Dashboard.
  • The Stats Dashboard's aim is to get you the most efficient birds eye view on your site and the overall performance of all of your content.
  • For individual content stats, you should check the Post Stats for each pieces of content you publish, you will get a more detailed version of the Stats Dashboard.

Every analytics platform is different.

  • In case you are measuring your site's performance with another analytics platform - such as Google Analytics - you will see some differences between the two platforms in terms of metrics.
  • We suggest you to further investigate in those gaps in figures if that gap is above 5%.
  • Gaps below 5% in figures are considered as the nature of analytics platforms and how they measure different metrics.

How to set up redirects in the 404 Dashboard:

In the left nav, you'll find a link called '404 Dashboard' where you'll be able to set up any 301 or 302 redirects you need on your site.

To set up a new redirect, just click on the '+ Add' link on the top left corner. A lightbox will be displayed and it'll prompt you to enter the old url (what's 404ing) and the new url (where you'd like to redirect it to).

You'll also be able to choose the type of redirect: 301 for permanent and 302 for temporary.

Rank Higher With Keyword Suggestions and Search Volume Data

Take the guesswork out of your search strategy

The art of search engine optimization (SEO) can be tricky to master. A lot of publishers adopt a trial-and-error method in hopes that their strategy happens to align with Google's fickle algorithm. At RebelMouse, we take a proactive approach to SEO, pairing the tools and best practices already available with our proprietary search technology that's designed for keyword wins with every publish.

Writers are already tasked with the responsibility of creating quality content that's shareable, searchable, and monetizable. Ranking high in search is a key factor that makes growth in all of these areas possible. This is why we've taken the guesswork out of choosing the perfect keyword or search phrase to get you onto page one of Google.

In our latest update, we've expanded our proprietary search functionality to include recommendations for keywords that are of high value. Through the creative usage of APIs, we ensure writers and editors on our platform are armed with the right information when optimizing their content for SEO.

When typing in a search phrase to target in our Entry Editor, users will now see suggested key phrases appear:

In the example above, the drop-down list is suggesting phrases that are already performing well on Google. The number next to each recommended phrase is its monthly search volume. This helps you determine which phrases are easy to win, or perhaps too competitive to strategize for, on an article-by-article basis.

At RebelMouse, we premiere game-changing product updates like this weekly in our pursuit to improve our platform and fuel growth for our clients. If you aren't publishing on RebelMouse yet and want to take advantage of features like this, request a proposal today and let's get started.

If you're already publishing on RebelMouse and have questions about this update, please email support@rebelmouse.com or contact your account manager.

Note: This update is currently in beta, but will be available on all RebelMouse-powered sites soon.

A PSA to Brands: Control Your Context

Resonate with your audience the right way

Programmatic Advertising Is a Gamble

For years, brands have relied on display ads and programmatic levers as a cheap and easy solution to spend large portions of marketing dollars. But the major frustration with programmatic advertising has always been the lack of control and transparency on where ads actually show up. And as banner blindness spreads, ad-blocking technology becomes more prevalent, and subpar or broken sites crop up at increasingly high rates, programmatic advertising will only become more expensive, unsustainable, and a huge risk.

According to a recent study from Integral Ad Science, when your programmatic ads happen to show up in high-quality environments, it could lead to a 30% lift in brand recall. But on the flip side, when your ads appear in low-quality environments, the consequences can be brutal: Ads in low-quality environments were perceived 74% less favorably, and even harshly, compared to the same ads seen on high-quality sites. Overall, users were four times less likely to think a brand cared about them after seeing the brand surface next to inappropriate content. Finding your ad in poor-quality environments creates a stronger impression among audiences, and it's not the kind of impression you want. Plus, it means that your paid marketing needs to work harder to boost your brand reputation, convert customers, and do damage control.

It's Time for Brands to Become Publishers and Take Control

As a brand marketer, you need to reclaim ownership of where and how your messaging shows up. One key way to control your context is to become a publisher. According to NewsWhip, 70% of people would rather learn about a brand through content than through ads, and 68% feel more positive about a company after engaging with the brand's content. And it's a good time for brands to go all in and create an advantage with content, too. Now, more than ever, page performance matters for audience reach, retention, and revenue. Google, along with Facebook, have explicitly made page speed a factor in search results and News Feed, while site visitors will quickly leave a page that takes more than three seconds to load. Media companies that have survived in the past with broken sites now feel the consequences of their low-performing properties due to their inability to provide solid returns to advertisers.

As a CMS platform and creative agency, RebelMouse partners with brand teams on best practices and innovative ways to build content experiences that will break through and resonate with audiences. For example, our work with United Airlines has produced a better-performing site and helped them beat out media companies to win travel search phrases for organic audience growth. Our partnership is a key reason why United Airlines' content now drives the most web engagement in their industry.

Choose Your Media Partners Wisely

If you plan to rely on media partners to place your messaging, then be selective and spend on the right context. Build direct relationships with quality publishers that prioritize the user experience and know how to pair editorial with premium advertising (in particular sponsored content) to maximize eyeballs and engagement for brands. RebelMouse powers a tight ecosystem of quality publishers, like PAPER Magazine and Motherly, that have built valuable, new media properties. We can connect brands into this network of quality sites to execute premium and effective campaigns at scale.

Build for the Future

Moving away from the inefficient world and disadvantages of programmatic advertising and creating a sustainable content marketing strategy is not easy — it takes organizational commitment, patience, and the right technologies. If you're a brand marketer, reach out and learn how RebelMouse's full-stack content marketing solution is ideal for your growth into a publishing powerhouse. If you're a media company and sell premium advertising, guide your advertising partners on how to build mutual value on your site when they're tempted to blindly toss marketing dollars on cheaper impressions.

Related Articles Around the Web

30 Days Post Launch: Understand the RebelMouse Growth Effect

We're giving you a glimpse into our power to fuel swift growth

For sites with heavy traffic, or even new media companies looking to spark viral growth, page speed is a do-or-die factor when it comes to building audiences and revenue. Publishers big and small are on the search for a CMS that will set them apart in a saturated ecosystem, and this means making strides on site, search, and social. Usually this translates into shelling out big bucks for custom CMS builds or heavy developer costs on other options like WordPress.

At RebelMouse, we've simplified the open web:

It Starts With Speed: We power some of the biggest new media companies to date, and their PageSpeed Scores rival big-name, legacy publishers.

Speed Brings Search Success: Prioritizing site performance gives us the keys to Google's SEO roadmap and, in turn, accelerates the search ranking of RebelMouse-powered sites. Our proprietary search technology prioritizes key phrases with every publish.

Accessible Content Encourages Engagement: Since our sites are quick to load and even easier to find, they're also naturally shareable across all social platforms. Plus, within our Entry Editor, creators can identify influencers to build organic reach before the article has even gone live.

Intuitive UX Builds Loyalty: Our CMS is an editor's dream toolbox. We create sites that look dev-heavy but really only require a few clicks. Publishing as a mobile-first platform, we offer personal user experiences that are collaborative and increase time on site.

Modern Monetization Secures Stability: Easy-to-use ad integrations provide more opportunities for revenue for publishers without sacrificing the experience of readers. Our pageview methodology has secured a sustainable content lifecycle.

The Data Speaks for Itself

But don't just take it from us. Here's a look at actual data from sites that switched to RebelMouse from other CMS platforms, just 30 days after launch:

At RebelMouse, we focus on the metrics that matter. We live close to our client's data through custom-built Google Data Studio dashboards. This allows us to identify key growth trends and adjust strategy for our clients when needed.

A lot of publishers are just getting started in the competitive digital landscape, and RebelMouse is the perfect launching pad. Here are some data snapshots from publishers who started with zero traffic, 30 days after launch:

So, how much can you grow? We support web properties of all sizes, and can even host hubs of entire content networks. For example, DanceMedia has been a wonderful partner of RebelMouse for close to three years, and in this time they've built out a healthy network of RebelMouse-powered properties that surge together around viral content. They went from a collection of scattered sites to an intelligent, self-growing site network in no time:

Launch on RebelMouse and Grow

Check out the rest of our data-focused case studies here. Experience growth on your site and social channels, too. Request a proposal today and let's start growing together.

Turn Casual Visitors Into Loyal Subscribers With Newsletters

Extend your content with a winning email strategy

For publishers, the effort that goes into creating dynamic, quality content isn't a short-term game. The goal is to always convert casual visitors into committed subscribers. This means content must not only be quick to load, but easily accessible across all platforms.

An email newsletter is a great extension of your site's content that puts the experience back in the hands of readers. After all, users prefer to read and consume content on their own time in familiar interfaces, like Gmail. Data shows that 81% of small and medium businesses rely on email as their primary customer acquisition channel. It isn't just a great idea for small businesses either — 49% of consumers say they wouldn't mind regularly receiving a promotional email from a brand they like.

But what makes a successful email campaign? According to Campaign Monitor, these are the averages you want to be seeing:

While these benchmarks may seem low at first glance, the remarkable upside to email marketing is its ability to reach a targeted audience. The users that are willing to take the extra clicks to interact with your campaign are more likely to take further steps to continue engaging with your brand. This makes content strategy around emails even trickier. Content creators need to ensure they're curating the right content for emails to maximize audience attention.

At RebelMouse, we recommend a newsletter strategy that breathes new life into your most relevant and popular articles to increase the consumption of even more content. Here's how it works.

A Winning Newsletter Strategy: Axios

RebelMouse is proud to have launched some of the biggest new media companies to date, including Axios. The news publisher has mastered the art of the newsletter, shattering industry standards with their daily email updates. According to Nieman Journalism Lab, out of the 10 million unique monthly visitors that visit their site, Axios has 1.5 million non-unique subscriptions across all 19 of their newsletters.

One way Axios is able to do this is through their daily campaigns, Axios AM and Axios PM, which feature the latest top stories of the previous 12 or so hours. Here's what's unique about their daily emails:

  • You Don't Have to Click Every Headline: Each story is summarized so the reader doesn't have to leave their email interface to get the whole story. There are, however, CTAs that allow you to go in-depth on a topic, share it to social, and/or read supplemental content. This strategy allows readers to spend more time reading the email, clicking through only when they're already engaged with a subject.
  • The Newsletters Are Stored on Site: Axios features its "Newsletter" section in the top navigation of their site. It's there that full browser versions of every email are archived and available to read at any time. This means page views and traditional web traffic data can be captured on newsletter content.

Replicate This Content Flow on RebelMouse

RebelMouse's CMS makes creating a newsletter content workflow like Axios easy to create and maintain. Our Entry Editor has functionality that can turn any post into a newsletter. So whether it's crafting daily, weekly, or even monthly emails, each newsletter can be created to replicate the experience of an article page.

By converting a RebelMouse post into a newsletter, you'll automatically get a browser version and a post permalink for the article. This means you can capture page view data and keep an easy-to-read archive of every newsletter in a dedicated section, very similar to Axios' method.

Modernize Your Email Strategy With RebelMouse

RebelMouse's Newsletter dashboard makes it easy for you to set up and manage your newsletters to keep audiences engaged with your content. We offer out-of-the-box Mailchimp, Sailthru, and WhatCounts integrations so you can customize the frequency of how often you contact your subscribers, and we make it easy to maintain your third-party email groups, lists, and template designs.

If you want to update your email marketing campaigns to grow a more loyal readership, request a proposal today and let's start working together. If you already publish on RebelMouse, email support@rebelmouse.com if you need help setting up your newsletters.

Related Articles

Related Articles Around the Web
Subscribe to Our Newsletter