At SWOOP we regularly get asked about why and how our SharePoint Intranet Analytics are different from those built-in to SharePoint by Microsoft.
The basis for our analytics are similar to those Microsoft displays as we both look at the number of times a page is loaded and served to a user - often call a page view. Additionally, we both use tracking code on a page to pick up on who is accessing pages. This information, along with data from the Microsoft Graph and SharePoint API data, is then processed through various algorithms and calculations before being displayed in our reports. This is where the first difference comes in, as we each use our own algorithms which may display as a difference in what seem like they should be the same numbers.
For this reason we wouldn't expect our analytics to exactly match with those provided in SharePoint. It's better to use the metrics from a single system so the analytics will be comparable between pages and sites.
Visitors vs. Page Viewers
SWOOP for SharePoint counts visitors as users that have viewed a page one or multiple times in a browser session. Microsoft shows Page Viewers include guest accounts and anonymous users in addition to M365 account holders. This may cause a difference in the numbers between these when comparing.
The other factor can be the timezone you are in. SharePoint uses Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), whereas SWOOP will use either your browser timezone or have one set for your organization. The time impacts the cut-off for each day, so it is possible that visitors and viewer counts end up being logged against different dates. This can contribute to further differences in numbers between SWOOP and Microsoft.
Visits vs. Page Views
Microsoft filter their raw page view data to remove repetitive views such as page refreshes. However, they do display multiple views in their overall page views. SWOOP in place of page views, uses a specific Visit metric. The first time a page is viewed in a session we count it as a visit. If the page is then viewed more times in the same session, we do not count it again. This means our Visit numbers will not be the same as Microsoft's Page Views.
Detailed comparison of SharePoint's Site and Page analytics
Here we outline the key differences between the built-in SharePoint site and page analytics and SWOOP for SharePoint. These are important to note as some concepts are different and some of the terms have been used interchangeably when they mean different things in different systems
The sources used to determine SharePoint’s definition of metrics is:
- SharePoint Site analytics: https://support.microsoft.com/en-au/office/view-usage-data-for-your-sharepoint-site-2fa8ddc2-c4b3-4268-8d26-a772dc55779e
- SharePoint pages and news: https://support.microsoft.com/en-au/office/view-usage-data-for-sharepoint-pages-and-news-e3186199-ccc8-4445-9162-bb1bcec8b7ee
SharePoint's Site analytics versus SWOOP for SharePoint (Site Dashboard)
SharePoint (Sites dashboard)
SharePoint Site Analytics |
SWOOP for SharePoint - Site Dashboard |
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Date ranges
Limited to last 7, 30 and 90 days
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Date ranges
You can choose between several date ranges and select your custom date range. Defaults to 30 days.
Always check you have selected the same date range!
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Unique viewers
Usage data accounts for user activity for site content such as pages, documents, and news, including 'news for email' inbox viewers. This data is presented using the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).
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Unique visitors (and visitors)
This is the same concept, but with some differences:
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Site visits (should be labelled "Site views")
Shows the total number of visits to content on this site. Site content includes pages, documents, and news, including 'news for email' inbox views. This data is presented using the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).
Microsoft's documentation says "The algorithm used to calculate Site visits is designed to filter out repetitive, continual operations by the same user on the same item (page, document, or news). For example, when a user repeatedly refreshes a page, document, or news post."
Microsoft has confirmed with SWOOP that site visits are calculated the same as page views. They have further explained to SWOOP that SharePoint has a 5-min rolling window logic to ensure that views in succession are not over-logged, which means that repeated views within this 5-min rolling window are ignored. |
Visits
If you view a page multiple times during a session it counts as one visit. Therefore, the visit count will always be lower (often significantly) because people's browsing behaviours include reading a page, then navigating away, and then coming back later during the same browser session. You therefore can NOT compare SharePoint's Site visits with SWOOP's visits.
The nearest thing you can compare is that just above Key Statistics we report on ‘views’, however, don’t expect these to be the same due to their filtering of views.
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Average time spent per user
The report calculates the time when users are actually active on the page or news post, not counting the time when the page is minimized or when the user has the page open but is inactive. The average metric for 7 and 30-day period is calculated by measuring the total time spent on that page and the number of the unique visitors on that page in the given timeframe. This data is presented using the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).
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Typical visit time is a very different concept that we use in SWOOP to more accurately reflect how much time most people spend on the site.
The typical time reflects what most people do rather than what the average is (which can be misleading).
This can NOT be compared to the average time spent per user.
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Popular content
You can see content by number of unique viewers or total views.
jpg, png, js, css, gif, jpg5_1, jpeg, one, onepkg, onetoc2, spcolor, sptheme, spfont, eot, ico, onebin, svg, woff, woff2, xslare excluded from the report.
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Files
SWOOP does not exclude views of particular files types.
SWOOP does not show the count of viewers.
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Site traffic This is represented as an average of unique views during the shown day/time slot. It is presented in the viewer's local time zone. |
Activity by Time
While the patterns of the two charts may match the underlying data is measuring different things (visitors vs views), the two charts can NOT be compared. |
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Popular Platforms Shows percentage of visits to the sites' content organized by the platform (desktop, mobile web, mobile app, tablet.)
This report is generated based on "user agent" headers which are part of the received metadata when a user visits any site content. |
Device Activity |
SharePoint's Page analytics versus SWOOP for SharePoint (Content Dashboard)
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SharePoint Page Analytics |
SWOOP for SharePoint - Content Dashboard |
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Date ranges Limited to last 7, 30 and 90 days |
Date ranges You can choose between several date ranges and select your custom date range. Defaults to 30 days.
Always check you have selected the same date range! |
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Page views Shows the total number of page views. This data is presented using the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).
The algorithm used to calculate page views is designed to filter out repetitive, continual operations by the same user on the same item, such as when a user repeatedly refreshes the page. Microsoft has explained to SWOOP that SharePoint has a 5-min rolling window logic to ensure that views in succession are not over-logged, which means that repeated views within this 5-min rolling window are ignored. |
Views A view is recorded are recorded as pages are loaded. SWOOP we may not get all views due to browser ad blockers. In SWOOP we consider view counts as less relevant as you can easily manipulate the numbers by navigating to the same page many times. Therefore, SWOOP focuses on visits and it is the visit count that appears in most places in SWOOP. The only place you will find the view count is just above the key statistics.
When you compare SharePoint’s page views and SWOOP’s page views, they should reasonably close. If they differ more than 10% something might be wrong.
The biggest potential cause of confusion is comparing SharePoint views with SWOOP visits. The visit count will always be lower which validates SWOOP’s position that counting views is a poor metric as it hides the true number of visits by including multiple views in the same session. |
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Average time spent per user A small amount of traffic will not be accounted for in this report due to web browser restrictions.
Is calculated by measuring the total time spent on that page and the number of the unique visitors on that page in the given timeframe. This data is presented using the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).
Usage on the SharePoint mobile app is currently not incorporated in calculation of this report. |
Typical visit time Very different concept that we use in SWOOP to more accurately reflect how much time most people spend on the site.
This can NOT be compared to the average time spent per user. |
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Page traffic Shows the hourly trend of visits to the page. Darker shades on the chart refer to time slots when there are more views. |
Activity by Time SWOOP and shows the total number of visitors for the given day/time slot.
While the patterns of the two charts may match the underlying data is measuring different things (visitors vs views), the two charts can NOT be compared. |
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