Chartbeat

Tracking the second-by-second, pixel-by-pixel user engagement on a website, Chartbeat is able to get inside the minds of digital readers and understand how the content on webpages is actually being consumed. The cloud-based analytics solution helps publishers build better audiences by offering insights into the type of content that piques readers’ attention. Chartbeat aligns editorial, video, and social teams around the right audience development goes, and it provides them with the data they need to identify future opportunities for growth.

Chartbeat works with 80% of top news sites on the web and 50,000 domains across more than 60 countries. The platform is designed for organizations of all sizes, from mid-size firms all the way to enterprise businesses. Key features of the Chartbeat platform include real-time audience attention data, editorial analytics, editorial reporting, multi-platform tracking, browser overlay heat maps, multivariate headline testing, historical report building, visitor frequency and referral source tracking, and section/author tagging.

What is Chartbeat?

Chartbeat is a web analytics firms that empowers publishers and brands with the data they need to optimize their online properties. Audience analytics features can be used to build more loyal audiences, with an Editorial Dashboard that shows exactly which pieces of content or specific authors are holding the audience’s attention. Much of this real-time data can be displayed via Chartbeat’s Heads Up Display, which projects the information on top of existing home, section, and article pages. A headline testing tool also enables Chartbeat users to create multiple headlines for a story and then test which one is attracting the most attention online.

By tracking more than just clicks, Chartbeat inspires publishers to think more about how their readers consume all different types of content online. It also aligns editorial, video, and social teams. Rather than simply tracking how many people click on a link, Chartbeat looks at the entire picture and guides teams toward creating the content that’s most likely to grab—and hold onto—their readers’ attention. This, in turn, keeps people on the website and builds value in the experience. It also promotes loyalty to the brand, which is a valuable metric for both publishers and advertisers.

Chartbeat Main Features

Editorial reporting

Chartbeat tracks the attention of visitors on a second-by-second basis. This type of in-depth detail helps publishers and other reporting teams know immediately if the articles they’re publishing are interesting to readers, and what they need to do to keep their most loyal readers coming back for more.

One of the metrics you can look at to tell how well visitors are engaging with your content is your return rate. You can also use Chartbeat to see how many visitors are moving from one article to another in the same visit, and you can filter this view based on location, referral source, device, or visit frequency depending on the demographics you’re trying to target.

Multivariate headline testing

Chartbeat’s Engaged Headline Testing tool gives publishers the ability to create and test multiple headlines for a single story. Publishers can test two headlines to see if one captures reader attention in a more significant way than another. If one headline performance is significantly better or worse than the other, then editorial teams can make a switch to immediately increase clicks.

In addition to adjusting headlines based on real-time audience data, Chartbeat also lets you test promo text and index pictures. This should let you know immediately how the changes you’re implementing will impact traction on the content you’ve published.

Cross-platform analytics

Chartbeat’s real-time analytics tools can track video data right alongside editorial data. Audience engagement for top performing articles can be viewed right in the main dashboard, alongside real-time video data, and promotions can quickly be adjusted to increase video start rates. Engaged time and re-circulation metrics also show what content is resonating with the audience, so publishers know which articles to promote at certain times.

When you use Chartbeat, you can also track visits from mobile devices. See what your mobile visitors are checking out, find out if those visitors are more or less likely to click on your video content, and get detailed insights into which referrers are sending people to specific articles within your site.

Browser overlay heat maps

The Heads Up Display gives editorial teams an efficient way to see data for their websites, overlayed directly on their sites. Integrating data into the editorial workflow with real-time visual form feedback gives Chartbeat users a more immediate sense of what’s happening on their websites and offers immediate signals about the health of any page.

Install the Chartbeat HUD to start using the Heads Up Display. Once you refresh the webpage, your overlay will appear. Overlays will tell you the total number of concurrents for the page, traffic sources, and most clicked articles. You’ll also be able to see how well your homepage is driving traffic to the articles you’ve promoted. Overlays provide you with a seamlessly way to consume the information that’s also displayed in your dashboard.

Chartbeat Integrations

Chartbeat integrates with a number of third-party business applications, including Slack and WordPress. Chartbeat also offers a Google Chrome widget.

Chartbeat Pricing

Free trials are available for new users. Chartbeat charges publishers based on the size of the audience (concurrents), with core and premium bundles available.

Chartbeat Bottom Line

• Tracks second-by-second, pixel-by-pixel user engagement
• Aligns editorial, video, and social teams around audience development goals
• Show publishers what’s resonating with their audiences
• Offers uniquely accurate assessments of active visits
• Integrates with Slack and WordPress