Tracking Content Readers, Scrollers & Scanners in Google Analytics

Tracking Content Readers, Scrollers & Scanners In Google Analytics

A couple of weeks ago Justin Cutroni wrote 2 awesome blog posts about Advanced Content Tracking using Google Analytics.

In Part 1 he shared the script he has written and is using, and in Part 2 he shared his findings and experience with this method.

I have been using his method with some small tweaks since before he published these blog posts, and since someone asked me if I could publish the script with my tweaks – here it is.

Differences between this script & Justin’s script

  • Reader classification: 30 seconds. If you use more than 30 seconds to scroll the Content Area you will be classified as a Reader.
  • Check if content area has to be scrolled: Tracked as Scrolling Allowed.
  • Tracking of Content Length in pixels: Gives you more opportunity to analyze Readers vs. Scanners.
  • All tracking is done using Non-Bounce Events: You can change that, but I wanted to be able to compare Bounce Rate on a article level with Readers and Scanners.
  • Naming are different: The naming I’m using in my script is different from Justin’s naming. I used a different Content Tracking script earlier, and kept the namings I used in that script.

The Google Analytics script for tracking Readers & Scrollers

  • The script requires jQuery.

Bonus: Analyzing your content in Excel

As Justin wrote, this data begs for Excel.

Tracking Content Readers, Scrollers & Scanners In Google Analytics

You can therefor download this Excel spreadsheet to analyze your data further. The spreadsheet requires the Next Analytics Excel plugin.

Using the Excel spreadsheet

In the _actions tab, change the following values:

  • Site Name
  • Date Start & Date End
  • Google Analytics Profile ID

Some final words

Before starting to use this script, you should read both blog posts from Justin Cutroni to get a grip of the differences between this script and his script.

Other people I should thank for this content tracking method is Thomas Baekdal (and I really recommend his Plus Content).

If you think the tweaks I have done to the code could be improved, feel free to comment (I’m not a programmer).

1 Comment on "Tracking Content Readers, Scrollers & Scanners in Google Analytics"

  1. Thanks Eivind, your script has been very helpful!
    I have migrated your excel spreadsheet to google sheets. In case somebody needs it just let me know.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published.


*


This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.