Authors
The Web Analytics Authors page shows the reads and reading depth of each author credited on your articles, and the articles behind their numbers.
The Web Analytics Authors page shows how the articles of each author perform. Use it to see which writers earn the reads and which kind of article works best.
Before you start
- Install the Web Analytics script. See Analytics script. Without the script, the page shows Install Web Analytics to see which authors earn the reads.
- Verify the domain. See Verify ownership.
- In the sidebar, select Web Analytics > Authors.
- Select the dates in the filter dock. You can also turn on the comparison with an earlier period.
- Your pages must name their author in their structured data. Web Analytics reads the byline from a JSON-LD article, or from a
<meta name="author">tag on a page that declares itself an article.
A page that does not declare itself an article credits nobody. For this reason, a home page, a category page or a checkout page never shows here.
Where authors come from
Web Analytics stores the byline as the page writes it. An author can be a person, an organization or a desk name. If a page credits several people, each person gets a row.
VitalSentinel collects bylines from the moment collection starts, and it does not add them to older traffic. A long date range can show few authors at first.
Owners and admins can stop the collection of bylines with Do not store article authors in the tracking settings. See Domain settings.
Who brings the reads
The Web Analytics Authors page starts with one sentence about how the reads spread across authors. Examples: Three authors bring 92% of all reads; Anna Smith alone more than half or Anna Smith brings 95% of all reads.
The ? explains the sentence: it names the fewest authors that together bring at least 90% of all reads that carry a byline. Reads count for every credited author, so a shared article counts for each. If you need every author to reach 90%, no sentence shows.
Authors at a glance
The Web Analytics Authors page shows four tiles. With the comparison on, each tile shows the change against the earlier period.
| Tile | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Authors | People credited on at least one article that was read in the period |
| Reads | Page views of articles with an author credited |
| Top author's share | The share of all credited reads that go to the most read author |
| Read rate | The share of measured reads that got at least halfway down the page |
A high Top author's share means that your site depends on one writer. A falling Read rate means that readers leave before they finish.
Reach and depth per author
The Web Analytics table Reach and depth per author lists each author. Two tabs sort the table: Reach sorts by reads, and Depth sorts by read rate.
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Author | The author name. Click it to open the author's articles |
| Reads | Page views of articles this author is credited on |
| Share | The author's share of all reads that carry a byline |
| Readers | How many different people did the reading |
| Articles | How many different articles by this author were read in the period |
| Per article | Reads divided by articles. Above or Below marks authors far from typical |
| Avg time | How long a reader was active on the page, on average. Counted only while the tab is in focus |
| Avg scroll | How far down the page readers got, on average |
| Read rate | The share of measured reads that got at least halfway down |
Above means at least 1.5 times the reads per article of the typical (middle) author. Below means at most half. A Few reads chip marks authors with too few reads to rank fairly. Their depth figures can change a lot with a few readers.
A dash in Avg time, Avg scroll or Read rate means that nothing was measured. High reads with a low read rate means that the headline does better than the content.
Counted twice over
A co-authored article gives its full reads to each of its authors. The Reads column then adds up to more than your site's page views. A note under the table shows this, such as Counted twice over: +8% from co-authored articles.
Share uses that larger total, so all shares still add up to 100%. When the table shows only some authors, the visible rows add up to less.
Author articles
When you click an author, a panel opens with Articles, most read first. The panel uses the dates and filters of the page.
Tiles at the top show Articles, Reads and Reads per article. The table lists each Article with Reads, Readers, Avg time, Avg scroll and Read rate. A Shared article chip names the co-authors.
If nothing by this author was read, the panel shows No articles in this period. Try a wider date range.
Troubleshooting
Why does Authors show "No authors found yet"?
Web Analytics found no byline in the structured data of your pages in this period. Check that your articles publish the author in JSON-LD or in a <meta name="author"> tag. Also check that Do not store article authors is off in the tracking settings.
Owners and admins see Name your authors to see who earns the reads and the button Open Tracking settings. Authors appear within minutes of the first read of an article with a byline.
Why do the reads add up to more than my page views?
A co-authored article counts its full reads for each author. Pages without a byline are not counted at all. So the reads do not match your site's page views.
Why is Read rate blank for an author?
No reader of this author sent an engagement reading. A visitor who closes the tab at once sends none. A dash means that nothing was measured.
Why does Authors say "No authors match these filters"?
Your filters leave no read with an author. Change or clear a filter in the dock.
Related
- Overview - the Web Analytics pages and the most read pages
- Engagement - reading depth for all pages
- Domain settings - the tracking settings for bylines
- Analytics script - install the script
