Data dictionary: VA.gov Content KPIs
Definitions of metrics used on the Standardized VA.gov Content KPI dashboard and guidance for how to interpret them.
Highlights
Chart title | Definition | How should I use this? |
|---|---|---|
Usage trends | Unique users: count of users who visited a page related to the product. Total interactions: count of clicks on links, buttons, anchor links, and accordions on a page related to the product. | How have visits and engagements changed over time? Do these trends seem to move together or do different patterns seem to be at play? This chart should give you a high-level overview of how often users are visiting your pages and what they do once they get there. |
Unique users | Users identified as new vs. returning. | Learn whether new or returning users are driving your overall traffic. |
Unique pageviews | Total visits to pages. Calculated by counting distinct combinations of url, page title, and session. | This shows the total number of pages that were visited across all sessions. If it’s increasing and the number of visits is staying the same, this may indicate that users are visiting more pages because the information is useful – or they’re having trouble finding what they’re looking for. Compare this to the dashboard’s engagement KPIs or the Interaction Timing section to dig deeper. |
Total clicks by device | Total click interaction events, broken out by type of device used. | How are people engaging with your content? Do these breakdowns change over time? This information can be used to identify potential device-specific bugs or prioritize future improvements. |
Depth of engagement
Chart title | Definition | How should I use this? |
|---|---|---|
Scroll depth distribution | Shows the distribution of all scroll depth events. For example, the “50% viewed” bar will display the total number of times users made it halfway through a page. Note that not all pages include 25% viewed scroll events, since shorter pages may activate these when the page loads. | While the metric above shows a measure of center, this KPI shows the distribution of scroll depth events, which makes it easier to visualize the funnel of how often users are making it to the bottom of a page. |
Avg. scroll depth | Scroll events capture when a visitor has made it through 25%, 50%, 75%, or 100% of the landing page. Calculated by averaging the scroll depth by session. | The higher the percentage, the further down the page readers are scrolling. |
Avg. minutes on page | Total time on page ÷ total visits. | More time on page could mean that the information is useful and engaging – or it could mean that it’s dense and difficult to understand. Likewise, less time on page could mean users are finding what they need quickly or that they’re abandoning the site. Compare this KPI to trends in scroll depth to interpret this data. |
Click interactions
Chart title | Definition | How should I use this? |
|---|---|---|
User engagement rate | Users who clicked links, buttons, anchor links, and/or accordions ÷ all users who visited pages. | What percentage of the people who have visited your page have ever clicked a link? This KPI should give you a quick picture of how many of your users are engaging with this type of content. |
Total interaction clicks | Number of times users clicked a link, button, anchor link, and/or opened an accordion. | Increases or decreases may be driven by changes in user behavior, total traffic to pages, or by links being added/removed as content pages are refined. |
Avg. link clicks per session | Total clicks ÷ all users who visited pages. | This metric could be impacted by a greater number of users engaging with links or by a small segment of users increasing the number of links they click in their sessions. Dig into your data to learn more. |
Interaction clicks with highest engagement | Top 10 links, buttons, anchor links, and/or accordions with the highest number of clicks. | Do these rankings change over time? Are newly added links seeing more engagement? Click through to the drill path charts to see how total clicks change week to week. |
Finding the page
Chart title | Definition | How should I use this? |
|---|---|---|
Top pages previously viewed | Previous page: URLs for most common pages viewed before visiting the content page. Views: Total sessions where the user visited a content page. | Where are your users coming from directly before visiting your content pages? Does it match your expectations? |
Devices used to access the page | Unique users who visited the page, broken out by type of device used. | How are people accessing your content pages? Do these breakdowns change over time? This information can be used to identify potential device-specific bugs or prioritize future improvements. |
Top browsers used to access the page | Unique users who visited the page, broken out by type of browser used. | See above. |
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