Setting up and tracking content performance metrics in Frase analytics dashboard

If you’re churning out articles, blog posts, or landing pages, but have no idea if they’re actually working, you’re not alone. Content teams, solo marketers, and even founders can fall into the trap of “publish and pray.” But let’s not kid ourselves—without tracking performance, you’re just guessing. This guide is for anyone who wants to move past vanity metrics and start getting real value from the Frase analytics dashboard.

If you’re new to Frase, it’s an AI-powered content tool that’s mostly known for content research and optimization. But its analytics dashboard can help you actually see what’s working—if you set it up right. Here’s how to get started, what to focus on, and what you can probably ignore.

Step 1: Get Your Content into Frase

Before you can track anything, Frase needs to know what content you have. This sounds simple, but there are a couple of ways to do it—and a few things to watch out for.

Option 1: Connect Your Google Search Console

This is by far the easiest and most reliable way to pull in your site’s data. Here’s how:

  1. Go to the Frase dashboard.
  2. Find the “Analytics” section (sometimes called “Content Analytics”).
  3. Click “Connect Google Search Console.”
  4. Authorize access to your account and pick the right property.

Why Search Console? - It pulls in clicks, impressions, and average position directly from Google. - You get actual search data, not just guesses based on traffic.

Heads up: If you don’t have Search Console set up for your site, do that first—it’s free, and you should honestly have it running anyway.

Option 2: Manual Import

If you can’t use Google Search Console, you can import URLs manually. Just know: - You’ll only get limited metrics (mostly what Frase can crawl or what you enter). - No real-time data. - You’ll have to update it yourself.

Bottom line: Connect Search Console if you possibly can.

Step 2: Pick the Right Metrics (and Ignore the Fluff)

Frase offers a bunch of metrics out of the box. Not all of them matter for everyone. Here’s what you’ll see—and what’s actually worth tracking.

The Key Metrics

  • Clicks: The number of times someone clicked your content in search results. Pretty much the gold standard.
  • Impressions: How often your content appeared in search. Decent for spotting opportunities, but don’t obsess over it.
  • Average Position: Where your content ranks. Good for tracking improvement (or decline) over time.
  • Click-Through Rate (CTR): Clicks divided by impressions. Low CTR? Maybe your title needs work.

The “Nice to Haves”

  • Queries: The actual keywords sending traffic. Great for finding surprises or gaps.
  • Top Pages: Obvious, but useful for spotting your real winners.
  • Change Over Time: See if things are trending up, down, or flatlining.

Stuff to Ignore (at Least at First)

  • Word Count: Unless you’re testing super short vs. long-form, don’t get hung up on this.
  • Estimated Traffic: These are usually rough guesses, not gospel.

Pro Tip: It’s easy to get lost in the weeds. Focus on metrics that tie to your actual goals (leads, sales, signups), not just what’s easiest to track.

Step 3: Set Up Your Dashboards

Once your data is flowing, Frase will show you a bunch of default dashboards. Here’s how to make them actually useful.

Start Simple

  1. Overview Dashboard: Stick to the basics—clicks, impressions, top pages, and average position.
  2. Custom Dashboards: If you’ve got a big site or multiple content types, set up dashboards by topic, author, or content type.

How to Customize

  • Use filters to zero in on landing pages, blog posts, or product pages.
  • Group by date to see monthly or weekly trends.
  • Save views you check often, so you’re not rebuilding them every week.

Don’t Overcomplicate

You don’t need a dashboard for every possible slice of data. Start with: - One general dashboard for “all content” - One for “new content” (published in the last 3-6 months) - Optional: one for “priority pages” (your most valuable pages)

Honest take: If you’re spending more time tweaking dashboards than improving content, you’re overdoing it.

Step 4: Set Benchmarks and Goals

Metrics are only useful if you have something to compare them to. Here’s how to set goals that won’t waste your time.

Pick Realistic Baselines

  • Look at your average clicks and positions over the past 3-6 months.
  • Don’t set goals based on best-ever results—start with your real average.

Set Simple Targets

  • Clicks: Aim for a % increase over last quarter or month.
  • Average Position: Try to move more pages into the top 10.
  • CTR: Small improvements here can make a big difference.

Avoid Vanity Goals

Don’t set targets just because they look good. “100,000 impressions” means nothing if none of those people click, let alone convert.

Pro Tip: It’s better to improve 10 key pages than chase incremental gains across 1,000 low-value ones.

Step 5: Track Performance Over Time

This is where most people drop the ball—they look at metrics once and never come back. Here’s how to make tracking a habit.

Schedule Regular Check-Ins

  • Once a week: Quick scan for major changes.
  • Once a month: Deeper dive, look for trends.

What to Look For

  • Are your key pages moving up, down, or stuck?
  • Did a new post actually get traction, or is it invisible?
  • Are certain topics or post types performing better than others?

Use Insights, Not Just Numbers

  • If a page’s CTR is low, test new titles or meta descriptions.
  • If you see a rankings drop, check if competitors upped their game or if something broke on your page.
  • If something’s working, double down—don’t reinvent the wheel.

Don’t Panic About Short-Term Dips

Google rankings bounce around. One bad week doesn’t mean your strategy is toast. Look for sustained trends.

Step 6: Act on What You Find

Metrics are just numbers unless you do something with them. Here’s how to turn analytics into action.

Spot Underperformers

  • Pages with lots of impressions but few clicks: Try rewriting titles or meta descriptions.
  • Pages dropping in position: Update content, add new info, or improve internal links.

Double Down on Winners

  • If a post is getting traction, consider updating it, adding related posts, or linking to your product/services.
  • Turn top-performing blog posts into lead magnets or email sign-ups.

Ignore the Rest (for Now)

It’s tempting to “fix” every page. Don’t. Focus on what moves the needle.

Pro Tips and Honest Warnings

  • Don’t obsess over daily swings. Content takes time to rank and perform.
  • Frase isn’t a replacement for Google Analytics. It gives you SEO-focused data, not on-site behavior.
  • Don’t blindly trust “estimated” metrics. Always take these with a grain of salt.
  • If you’re lost, default to clicks and rankings. Everything else is secondary.

Keep It Simple, Iterate, Repeat

Setting up and tracking content metrics in Frase isn’t rocket science, but it’s easy to overthink. Start small, focus on the stuff that matters, and don’t get distracted by a sea of numbers. The best analytics setups are the ones you actually use—so keep it simple, check in often, and keep tweaking as you go. Your content will thank you (eventually).