14 A Blog Measurement Guide: Learn to Track Blog Comments
If you're a blogger, you know the feeling of joy when someone comes along and leaves a comment on one of your posts. You helped someone or started a conversation that was compelling enough to warrant a response. Your post mattered to someone. But beyond the happiness comments provide bloggers, is there a larger message your comments are trying to tell you? That's where blog measurement comes in. Using web analytics tools, today we'll learn how to track blog comments on your blog or website.
We use Google Analytics here on Big Picture Web (along with Quantcast, 4Q and Get Satisfaction) to measure things that happen on our blog. You may be using a different tool. That's fine. Just be sure you're using something to measure and track your site. You can track pretty much everything that matters on your site... for free. Ok, I'm done with my measurement rant. Moving on.
In order to track blog comments, you must first set them up as a goal in Google Analytics. Once you've logged in, access your Analytics Settings, then your Profile Settings. You'll then see a section on goals. You can set up to 20 goals for each Google Analytics profile. Some goals can be specific events such as submitting a contact form. These goals are reached when a visitor arrives at a very specific URL on your site. Some goals can measure broader engagement metrics, such as the number of page views each visit yields. We're going to set up a goal that will allow us to track blog comments.
This next part promises to get just a bit technical but it's worth it to continue on. There are three basic steps to setting up a new goal in Google Analytics to track your blog comments:
Goal Information- Goal Details
- Goal Funnel
Goal Information
The first step in setting up a new goal is to define it. Provide a name and select the type of goal you're going to measure. Provide a name, control whether your goal is active and select the positioning of your goal in Google Analytics' reports. To track blog comments, select a URL Destination goal type.
Goal Details
Now it's time to define the point at which a visitor has reached a goal and identify the corresponding URL. For example, when someone posts a comment on your blog, they'll land on a distinct web page immediately after hitting the "Submit" button. That's the URL you're after. Select a Match Type (a whole other topic, but see here and here for help) and Goal URL. Then enter a Goal Value. Enter a specific dollar amount if one exists for your goal. Otherwise, you may be able to estimate an approximate value.
Goal Funnel
The last step is to define the goal funnel. A goal funnel represents the multiple paths people can take to complete your goal. For example, your visitors can most likely "Add a Comment" to a blog post from either the post itself or the home page if that post is featured there. Goal funnels are optional to set up but can provide some really neat blog measurement insights so it's usually best to define your funnel.
The really gratifying part comes when you look at your goal funnels in Google Analytics reports. From your dashboard, you can select Goals, then Funnel Visualization to see your goal funnel. For example, you can see that 45 folks reached my blog post for the time frame I selected. Two of them went on to fill out the comment form. Both of them ended up submitting the comments they created. I know that 4.4% of my blog readers end up leaving comments.
That wasn't so hard, right? Just a few minutes' worth of work and you just learned the basics of blog measurement and how to track blog comments. But now it's your turn. What are you trying to measure? Feel free to connect with me on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook. I'd be happy to help you with any specific questions you have about measuring your blog or website. Or you can simply leave a comment below and make my day.
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Reader Comments (14)
is there a way you could add this to a blogger blog? comments are displayed in an iframe so it may be hard to detect when they fill out the form and submit
Good question, Carter. To be honest, it's a bit too far down into the details for me to have the answer. There are, however, several conversations about using iframes and Google Analytics that may be of use to you. Check this out as well as here.
Ultimately it does seem possible as long as you're able to add the Google tracking code to the source of the iframe.
Josh,
Thanks for walking the the process of setting up goals. I just set up a goal to track comments and I'm excited to see it in action. Google Analytics isn't real-time data is it? 'm thinking that it's 24 hours behind.
Glad to see you found it to be useful, Grant. Google Analytics is typically only a few hours behind in reporting, but 24 hours is a safe bet to let the cookies settle.
This is a great tutorial, thanks. I hadn't even considered tracking comments as a measurable stat in GA so not only is this a great step-by-step guide, but an excellent suggestion as well. Cheers!
Hey you're right there is a feeling of joy when people leave a comment! I live for them! LOL. I do have Google Analytics installed on my blog (StarbucksMelody.com) but had never thought about setting goals. But no matter what goals you set, the hard part is actually getting people to leave a comment. Easier said than done.
Thanks for the feedback, Marty! Melody, getting folks to comment IS hard to do but it seems like you're having no problems. And once you hook up your comments to a goal funnel, you'll be able to segment your traffic to see what content/source/etc is responsible for meeting these goals, giving you the feedback you need to create more and better content. It's a lovely cycle.
Wonderful post... Very informational and educational as usual!
Edit (JB): Removed spammy link.
Thanks for walking the the process of setting up goals.
Hey, your posts have inspired me! - I love the way you directly get to the point, and then work outwards. I’ve been trying to do figure out what I want to say about ,that would allow me to do exactly the same thing.
@ Jay and "louis" - Thanks for the kind words!
@ air - To be honest, the flow of my blog posts has been one of my greatest challenges. As I've written posts and then looked at the analytics, it's very clear that posts that get the point right away are the ones people actually read. Most web copywriters will tell you to speak your point right away and then spend the rest of the page describing the main points. It's a bit different from traditional writing (i.e., setting, rising action, climax, resolution) and so it's a bit tricky. That's why tracking blog comments and other aspects of your blog can really help you improve as a blogger. Thanks for the comment (P.S. You have a great site!)
this is real fun
I am going to try and set goals as soon as I get home. After reading your article I do have a sense of comfort that I did not have before. Wish me luck!
Thanks for sharing your genius and passion!
Paula
Thank you Paula. Even small steps help significantly. Being more mindful of growing your blog through measurement and goals is actually a huge step in itself.
Have patience with Google Analytics if you're new to setting goals. There's a bit of a learning curve, but it's well worth it. Web Analytics 2.0 is the standard book in this field. Best of luck!