How To Add Author Tracking in WordPress with MonsterInsights?

Are you working on a website with several authors? Is that making it difficult for you to track individual author’s performance, and identify the best performers?

The standard configuration of Google Analytics doesn’t let you track blog authors. It means that you need to add a custom dimension to Google Analytics to fulfil your requirements for author data. One of the easiest and simplest ways to enable author tracking on WordPress is by using MonsterInsights. 

In this article, we’ll guide you on how you can use MonsterInsights and benefit from its features.

Introduction to MonsterInsights

MonsterInsights is one of the must-have WordPress plugins.

Once you turn on tracking, the plugin will automatically track authors on every page view on your site. Your reports will include data about page views, bounce rate, and the best performing author on your WordPress website. 

Install & Activate MonsterInsights Plugin

To begin, you need to install the MonsterInsights plugin on your WordPress dashboard. Here’s how you can do that:

• Log in to your WordPress Dashboard.
• Visit the ‘Plugins’ tab and click on ‘Add New’.
• Search for the ‘MonsterInsights’ plugin.
• When you see the right plugin result, click on ‘Install Now’.

Upon activation, visit ‘Insights>Settings’ to complete license verification. This license key is available on your MonsterInsights account.

Note: The Author Tracking features comes with the MonsterInsights Pro plan. The investment is worthy as you receive multiple benefits such as features to track digital downloads, product pages, forms, outbound links, ads, and affiliate links.

In the field for License Key, enter the key from your MonsterInsights account and click on ‘Verify Key’.

Connect Google Analytics With WordPress & MonsterInsights

Some users might already have their Google Analytics account linked with MonsterInsights. If that is the case, you can skip this section.
For those who still need to connect:

• Go to ‘Insights>Settings
• Click on ‘Connect MonsterInsights’ under the ‘General’ tab

It will allow Google to obtain information for your website visitors and record it in your MonsterInsights account. 

You will be redirected to the main login page for Google where you will need to enter your Google sign-in details. Click on ‘Next’ to continue and successfully connect Google Analytics with MonsterInsights. 

Please remember to click ‘Allow’ and give MonsterInsights permission to access your Google Account. 

Next, you need to choose the website/profile you wish to track. This is important if your Google account is used to manage several websites and profiles. Click on ‘Complete Authentication’ after selecting the desired website. 

You have now successfully set up and installed Google Analytics with MonsterInsights on your WordPress website. You can return to the WordPress dashboard to continue.

Setting Up Author Tracking in WordPress With MonsterInsights

Start by clicking on the ‘Tracking’ tab and go to ‘Custom Dimensions’ in the left-hand menu. 

Now, click on ‘Add new custom dimension’.

The dropdown will show several options and the dimension type you need to choose is ‘Author’. Click on ‘Save Changes’ before you proceed. 

Set Up Custom Dimensions on Google Analytics

After setting the custom dimension on your WordPress site, you need to set it up in Google Analytics. To do this, follow the steps mentioned below:

• Step 1: Log in to your Google Analytics account. Choose the blog or website for which you want to track author performance. 
• Step 2: On the left-hand menu, click on the ‘ADMIN’ tab. Under the ‘Custom Dimensions’ category, click on ‘Custom Dimensions’. 
• Step 3: You will see a table. On top of the table, there will be a button for ‘+ New Custom Dimension’. Click on it. 
• Step 4: Fill in ‘Name’ as ‘Author’ and click on ‘Create’ to proceed. You do not need to change any other settings. 

Now, you need to match the ‘Custom Dimension ID’ with the index number of Google Analytics. The table on the page for ‘Custom Dimension’ displays the index number under the ‘Index’ column. Make a note of this number as shown in the image below.

Go back to your WordPress Dashboard to match this with the Custom Dimension ID on MonsterInsights. 

Click on ‘Insights>Settings’. Go to the ‘Tracking’ tab and click on ‘Custom Dimensions’.

If the index number of Google Analytics and Custom Dimensions ID are already identical, there’s nothing that you need to do. If they are different, just enter the number in the field for ‘Custom Dimension ID’ and click on ‘Save’.

And you’re done. That’s how simple it is to add author tracking in WordPress with MonsterInsights. You now have access to detailed, in-depth reports and actionable insights. 

How to Access Blog Author Stats in WordPress?

To access your author report, on the WordPress admin, visit ‘Reports’ and select ‘Dimensions’.

You will see a list of the most popular authors along with the number of sessions. These authors drive the maximum traffic to your website. Their content is high-quality and should be promoted to achieve your monthly traffic goals. 

How to Track an Author in Google Analytics?

Author data can also be tracked in Google Analytics. For this, login to your Google Analytics account. You will see an option for ‘Customization’ on the left-side menu. Click on it and choose ‘Custom Reports’.

Provide a ‘Title’ and ‘Name’ to your report and select at least one metric for tracking. This can be page views, bounce rate, etc. 

Add ‘Author’ in ‘Dimension Drilldowns’ and click on ‘Save’.

You will now be able to access your Custom Traffic Report for different authors. This report shows bounce rates, page views, time on page for an individual author. 

Why Should You Use MonsterInsights?

MonsterInsights helps you obtain the blog author analytics report within your WordPress dashboard. It allows you to track your authors’ performance. Using this information, you can understand:

• who is the most popular author on your blog/site
• page views for every author’s articles
• the author driving the most traffic to your blog/site
• the author keeping visitors on your website for long – bounce rate

Author stats can be used to optimize your website and content marketing strategies. You can choose to publish more content from the most popular author to increase your traffic and your website’s overall performance.