Engagement
The Web Analytics Engagement page shows how far people read your pages, where they tap in vain, and why visits end after one page.
The Web Analytics Engagement page shows if people read your pages, where they get stuck and why they leave. It has three tabs: Reading, Tapping in vain and Leaving.
Before you start
- Install the Web Analytics script. See Analytics script. Without the script, the page shows Install Web Analytics to see whether people read your pages.
- Verify the domain. See Verify ownership.
- In the sidebar, select Web Analytics > Engagement.
- Select the dates in the filter dock. The default is Last 28 days. This page has no comparison, and it counts whole days in UTC.
VitalSentinel calculates the Engagement reports in advance, so the page has no refresh button. If you select other dates or add filters, the reports calculate when you open the page.
Scroll depth and active time come from engagement readings. A visitor who closes the tab very quickly may send no reading. VitalSentinel leaves these visits out of the averages, so a missing reading does not count as zero.
Tiles
The Web Analytics Engagement page shows three tiles:
| Tile | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Reached the middle of a page | The share of page views where the reader scrolled at least halfway down. It counts only page views with a scroll reading |
| Bounce rate | The share of visits that ended after one page, including readers who read the whole page and left satisfied |
| Visitors who tapped in vain | Visitors with at least one burst of three or more quick presses in the same spot (a "rage click") |
If no scroll reading arrived, the first tile shows No scroll readings in this period. If Web Analytics found problems, a banner such as Engagement: 2 open issues shows above the tiles. It links to Site Health.
Reading tab
The Web Analytics Reading tab shows how far down visitors read. A page that few people finish may be too long or too slow.
Do readers get to the end?
The card Do readers get to the end? shows a funnel of scroll depth. Each bar is the share of page views that reached a point of the page: Reached 25% of the page, Reached 50% of the page, Reached 75% of the page, Reached 90% of the page and Reached 100% of the page.
A steep drop shows where readers stop. The ? shows how many page views VitalSentinel measured, and their share of all page views. If no reading arrived, the card shows No scroll data yet for this period.
Pages where readers stay
The card Pages where readers stay splits your pages into two groups:
- Readers stay: pages where the active time is at least the typical time for your site.
- Readers leave quickly: pages where the active time is shorter.
Each address counts on its own. Open the losing group first.
Reading tab: traffic, time and scroll depth by page
Lower on the Web Analytics Reading tab, two more cards show each page.
Pages by traffic and time spent
The card Pages by traffic and time spent shows each page as a dot on a chart. Across is page views. Up is active time per page. Both use a log scale. Dashed lines at the median split the pages into four groups:
| Group | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Busy pages, readers stay | High traffic, visitors stay long |
| Quiet pages, readers stay | Low traffic, visitors stay long |
| Busy pages, readers leave quickly | High traffic, visitors leave quickly |
| Quiet pages, readers leave quickly | Low traffic, visitors leave quickly |
The tiles Page groups at a glance count the pages in each group. The table Pages by group has the tabs Busy, readers leave quickly and Quiet, readers stay. Its columns are Page, Page views, Visitors, Average active time and Average scroll depth.
Fix the busy pages where readers leave quickly first. Promote the quiet pages where readers stay.
Scroll depth by page
The card Scroll depth by page shows how far visitors scrolled on each page. Its columns are Page, Page views measured, Average scroll depth, ≥50%, ≥75% and 100%. The last three columns are the share of measured page views that reached that point.
Tapping in vain tab
The Web Analytics Tapping in vain tab shows where visitors tap or click and nothing happens. A burst is three or more quick presses in one spot. Usually the element looks clickable but does nothing.
Where readers tap in vain
The card Where readers tap in vain has two tabs.
What was tapped lists the elements:
- What was tapped: the kind of element, such as a button or an image. Its id and style classes follow in grey.
- Bursts of taps: how many bursts hit this element.
- Visitors: how many people pressed it in bursts.
- Where: one page where it was tapped. The same element can appear on many pages.
On which pages lists the pages with Page, Page views, Bursts of taps, Visitors and Bursts per page view.
If no burst happened, the card shows No bursts of repeated taps in this period.
Tapped in vain: exact figures
Lower on the Tapping in vain tab, the card Tapped in vain: exact figures shows the tiles Repeated taps at a glance: Bursts of taps, Bursts per page view and Pages affected. Use them to see if your fixes work.
Leaving tab
The Web Analytics Leaving tab shows where and why visitors leave. A bounce is a visit that ends after one page. Many bounces are readers who found what they needed.
Why do readers leave?
The card Why do readers leave? splits all visits into four parts:
| Part | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Went on to another page | Visits that viewed more than one page |
| Read one page and left | Left after one page, but scrolled or spent time on it |
| Left without engaging | Left after one page without scrolling and with almost no time on it |
| Left, engagement not measured | Left after one page, and VitalSentinel has no engagement reading |
Readers who engaged are not a problem. The ? shows the exact figures: Visits, Bounce rate, Left without engaging, Engaged bounces and how much was Measured.
Where readers leave without engaging
The card Where readers leave without engaging has two tabs.
Entry pages: Entry page, Visits, Left without engaging, Share of visits, Active time and Scroll depth.
Source and device: Source, Device, Visits, Left without engaging and Share of visits.
Improve the entry pages with the highest share first. A clearer next step on the page helps.
Troubleshooting
Why does Engagement say "No engagement data in this period"?
No visits with tracking arrived in the dates you selected. Check that the script is installed, then select a longer date range.
Why is scroll depth missing for some pages?
A visitor who closes the tab very quickly may send no scroll reading. Pages with only such visits have no scroll depth. VitalSentinel does not count them as zero.
Why is my bounce rate high when people read the page?
Bounce rate counts every visit that ended after one page, also readers who read the whole page. Open the Leaving tab. Read one page and left shows the readers who engaged.
What does "Tapping in vain" mean?
A visitor pressed the same spot three or more times quickly. This often means that an element looks clickable but does nothing. Open What was tapped to find the element.
Related
- Overview - bounce rate and time per visit over time
- Performance & Reliability - if slow pages make visitors leave
- Authors - reach and reading depth for each author
- Page views - page loads measured by RUM Monitoring
- Performance & engagement - if pages that visitors leave fast get fewer Google clicks
Acquisition
The Web Analytics Acquisition page shows which campaigns, linking sites and Google Search pages bring readers who stay, and which lose them.
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.
