A newsroom’s guide to getting started with Parse.ly

Small newsrooms can still benefit greatly from meaningful analytics data. Parse.ly’s easy-to-use dashboards show editorial teams where their readers are coming from and what content they engage with — critical insights for deciding what to cover and where to share it. For newsrooms publishing a few stories per week, Parse.ly’s focus on historical data provides more actionable information than the minute-to-minute real-time updates other platforms emphasize.

Step 1: Set up and pricing

Parse.ly’s entry-level plan starts at $2,000 per month for websites with up to 5 million monthly unique visitors. For a custom quote tailored to your newsroom’s needs, request a demo at the Parse.ly website.

Parse.ly’s integration team walks new users through getting started, helping newsrooms identify priorities and key metrics and setting up workflows.

Your basic subscription includes:

• Real-time and historical data dashboards
• Metadata extraction
• 30+ audience-centric metrics
• Marketing campaign tracking

Higher-tier subscriptions add:

• Conversion and attribution data
• Audience segmentation
• Geographic segmentation
• Video tracking

Step 2: Installation and integration

• WordPress users simply install the Parse.ly plugin.
• Other CMS users add a line of JavaScript code and follow Parse.ly’s formatting instructions.
• Parse.ly begins collecting real-time data immediately.

Step 3: Configure alerts

Get notifications when story traffic spikes:

• Receive alerts via email, Slack or browser
• Choose alerts for author, section or sitewide
• Set performance thresholds

Step 4: Set up automated reports

Choose to receive performance data daily, weekly, monthly or quarterly.

• Site-wide reports include key data, charts and graphs
• Section-specific reports track topic performance
• Author reports measure individual journalist impact
• Configure your own to focus on strategic objectives

Step 5: Navigate the dashboards

Real-time dashboard:

• See live site traffic and user engagement
• Follow the development of top-performing content
• Determine traffic origins and referring sites instantly
• Observe how many users are active and for how long
• Reorder data based on any metric with one click

Historical dashboard:

• Examine long-term patterns and overall trends
• Benchmark performance between different time ranges
• Filter data by specific articles, content categories or writers
• Download data for in-depth statistical review

Is Parse.ly right for your newsroom?

Choose Parse.ly if you:

• Need intuitive, easy-to-use content performance metrics
• Want insights on performance over days, weeks or months
• Want customizable, easy-to-digest reports

Consider alternatives if you:

• Need minute-by-minute analysis for high-volume publishing
• Want A/B testing of images and captions
• Need a cheaper option
• Want additional features including automated social media optimization, monetization or paywall optimization

Pro tips: Know what metrics matter

Digital Editor Mike Janssen at Current notes that data is only useful if it informs decisionmaking. Don’t “just gather data for the sake of having the data.” 

Current aims to boost subscription revenue, so it’s most important to identify what resonates with repeat viewers because they’re most likely to become subscribers. Janssen adds it’s important to have a plan and set goals. 

“If you understand what your goals are with it, then it helps you narrow what data is actually going to be useful to you.”

Parse.ly alternatives

• Chartbeat: In addition to real-time and historical data, Chartbeat features a heads-up display tracking minute-by-minute how stories on the homepage are performing. Offers A/B testing for headlines, images and captions. (Parse.ly only offers headline A/B testing.) Its lowest monthly cost is $1,100, according to the Help Desk scorecard.
• Marfeel: AI-powered platform with automated social media optimization, advanced mobile optimization, and comprehensive monetization tools. Targets publishers focused on mobile-first strategies. It has a free plan that has real-time analytics but not historical data, according to the Help Desk scorecard.

Google Analytics: Free and provides basic tracking but offers less real-time capability and requires more technical setup. See the Help Desk scorecard for more.

• Category: Getting Started Guides
• Tag: Analytics, Parse.ly