How to Use Analytics to Optimize Confluence
As a content editor or space administrator responsible for your company’s Confluence, you’re delighted to see that your team is creating tons of new pages and content. But with so many people accessing the platform, you might see issues like clogged page trees or redundant data that slows down the system. You might also get frequent questions like “Isn’t this page out of date?” or “Why can’t I find the information I’m looking for?”.
Don’t let those issues get out of hand. Here are some tips on how you can optimize Confluence and stay on top of all your content.
Identify content that is no longer read or updated
With so much content accumulating in Confluence, it’s easy for page trees to get messy and slow down the users when confronted with redundant and outdated data. A regular content audit or spring-clean is a must to ensure your system is running smoothly – and one of the best places to start is by removing all the unused or “dead” content.
You can do this by filtering your content by views and dates modified. Confluence Analytics allows you to view a page’s view count and latest updates. A page with a low view count, especially if the last view was registered years ago, is a sign of minimal to no interest. It should therefore be safe to archive or delete that content.
Caption: Confluence Analytics provides basic page analytics, but you’ll need Confluence Cloud Premium or Data Center to see more than just the top row. Alternatively, consider an app that filters content by views and latest updates!
Optimize active content
During your spring-clean, look for content that gets a lot of views or interactions. Pages and spaces with a lot of comments and edits are active content that should be preserved or enhanced to make it even easier for readers to use.
Keep an eye out for content that may have been created a while ago but is still getting a lot of attention. You’ll want to keep these pages updated so that everyone accessing that page gets the most recent information.
Use analytic tools
If you’re struggling to filter through all the raw data, consider using an app. Analytic apps like Viewtracker - Analytics for Confluence, Page View Analytics for Confluence Cloud, or Page Views give you a summary of all page and user activity across Confluence. Look for an app that has a central overview with helpful metrics analyzing the overall performance of your Confluence spaces, content and user activity.
If you intend to dive more deeply into your Confluence data, consider using apps to filter your usage data. An app like Viewtracker includes many filters and sorting options to find the most popular or outdated content, or discover new content that you might have missed with just a few clicks. We’ve assembled a list of use cases that might sound familiar to you.
Caption: Viewtracker allows you to filter Confluence content to find "Sleeping Beauty" content that everybody forgot about but is still highly relevant. Other filters display unedited content, new content, etc.
You’ll also need to ensure that whatever tool you use includes data privacy protection, especially if you're based in the EU and need to remain GDPR-compliant. Check to see if the app has an extended privacy mode that removes all user-specific information and only displays the number of views.
See what your users are searching for
The Confluence built-in search is another helpful tool for content editors. Typing in a keyword will pull up a list of closely related content with filters to refine your search by space, contributor, type, date updated, among other filters.
If you want to get more search insights, consider an app like Viewtracker. The app shows you some of the most popular topics or keywords that users are interested in, and can also highlight gaps in your content. For example, if a search for a particular keyword yields no results, this is an opportunity to create new content or update existing pages with the necessary information. Doing so will help you improve content proactively and based on real user data.
Keep Your Confluence Optimized
Confluence is more than just a repository for knowledge; your Confluence should be up-to-date, contain information relevant to your company, and be easy to search. In short, make sure that it’s never a chore for your team to use.
📣 What other tools or processes do you use to optimize Confluence content? Share with us in the comments below!
👋 I’m Cora from bitvoodoo, an Atlassian Platinum Solution Partner and Silver Marketplace Partner. If you’re a content editor, space admin, or just interested in getting more data out of your Confluence, our app Viewtracker - Analytics for Confluence is a great help to power up your content.
4 comments