How to use intranet analytics to raise your game

Understanding how your intranet is used is essential to making it work harder for your organisation. With the right analytics in place, you can uncover what’s working, what’s not, and where to focus your efforts to improve the employee experience.

Whether you’re using SharePoint, Google Analytics or Azure Application Insights, this guide will help you make sense of your data and use it to drive meaningful change.

Why intranet analytics matter

Analytics give you a clear, data-driven view of how your intranet is performing. Instead of relying on anecdotal feedback, you can use real insights to:

• Track user engagement and behaviour
• Optimise content based on performance
• Identify issues and areas for improvement
• Demonstrate ROI to stakeholders
• Support strategic decision-making

Key metrics to track

Depending on the tools you use, you’ll have access to a wide range of metrics. Here are some of the most valuable:

User engagement

• Total visits (sessions): How often your intranet is accessed
• Unique users: How many individuals are using it
• Return visits: Indicates usefulness and stickiness
• Average time on site: A measure of content engagement

Content performance

• Page views and session duration: Understand which content is most popular
• Likes, shares and comments: Gauge how engaging your content is
• Search analytics: See what users are looking for and where gaps exist

Navigation and behaviour

• User journeys: Track entry and exit points, and common paths
• Device usage: Tailor content for desktop or mobile
• Demographics: Analyse usage by team, department or location

Feedback and adoption

• Surveys and focus groups: Add qualitative insights to the data
• Adoption rates: Track uptake of new features or tools
• Performance metrics: Monitor page load times and responsiveness

Best practice tips

Before diving into the data, it’s important to set yourself up for success:

1. Define your goals
   What do you want your intranet to achieve? More traffic? Less reliance on email? Easier access to HR policies?
2. Set KPIs
   Align your metrics with your goals. For example, if you want to increase engagement, track page views and time on page.
3. Benchmark your current performance
   Understand where you are now so you can measure progress over time.
4. Review regularly
   Make analytics part of your ongoing intranet strategy, not a one-off task.

Choosing the right analytics tools

There are several options available, each with its own strengths and limitations.

SharePoint site usage analytics

• Pros: Built-in, easy to access, exportable data
• Cons: Limited to individual sites, manual aggregation required

Google Analytics

• Pros: Rich insights, real-time data, customisable reports
• Cons: Requires setup and training, potential data privacy concerns

Azure Application Insights

• Pros: Similar depth to GA, good for organisations already using Azure
• Cons: Less user-friendly, harder to integrate without support

A Fresh approach to intranet analytics

At Fresh, we’ve developed a purpose-built analytics module designed to work seamlessly with SharePoint Online. It offers:

• A single, unified view of your intranet performance
• Insights into page views, engagement, peak usage times and more
• Integration with tools like Google Analytics, Microsoft Clarity and Azure Application Insights
• Coming soon: search analytics, including top queries and no-result searches

You don’t need to be using a Fresh intranet to benefit from our analytics module—it works with any SharePoint Online site.

Ready to take your intranet to the next level?

If you’d like to know more about how analytics can help you improve your intranet, or want a commitment-free demo of the Fresh Analytics Module, speak to our team today.