Title: Compare Over Time report
Author: Abdul Rahim
Published: March 15, 2024
Last modified: September 23, 2025

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 1. [User handbook](https://docs.parse.ly/user-handbook/)
 2. [Measuring and reporting performance](https://docs.parse.ly/user-handbook/measuring-reporting-performance/)
 3. [Reports guide](https://docs.parse.ly/user-handbook/measuring-reporting-performance/reports-guide/)
 4. Compare Over Time report

#  Compare Over Time report

Ever wonder how posts compare in their first week, first month, or first three months
after being published? With the Compare Over Time report, select up to 20 posts 
and compare their performance over time, even when publication dates are different.
Alternatively, select one or more authors (or [author groups](https://docs.parse.ly/dashboard/navigating/groups/)),
plus a given publication date range, and see the performance of each author’s posts
at specific periods after publication.

By seeing how posts or authors compare over a period, you can set expectations for
performance. You can also adapt promotional strategies to bring new or existing 
content to a broader audience.

![Example of a Compare Over Time report.](https://docs.parse.ly/wp-content/uploads/
sites/5/2025/06/Compare-Over-Time-example.png)

Example of a Compare Over Time report.

When creating a Compare Over Time report, one of three key metrics can be used: 
[page views](https://docs.parse.ly/measuring-reporting-performance/calculations/page-views/),
[visitors](https://docs.parse.ly/measuring-reporting-performance/calculations/visitors/),
or [conversions](https://docs.parse.ly/measuring-reporting-performance/calculations/conversions/).
The default time periods after publication to compare are 3 days, 7 days, and 30
days — you can also add a custom time period for comparison between 1 and 90 days.

Follow Parse.ly’s [guide to creating reports](https://docs.parse.ly/measuring-reporting-performance/reports-guide/create-new/)
to create a new Compare Over Time report.

## Use cases

 * Quickly identify the top performing post over a set period among similarly themed
   posts.
 * Determine how an author’s posts published within a certain time have performed
   during key periods after publication.
 * Analyze the effectiveness of strategies and experiments, answering questions 
   such as:
    - “Did changing the featured image on one post compared to others with a similar
      theme attract more visitors?”
    - “Did having the subscription module in the middle of a post result in higher
      conversions compared to having it at the bottom of other posts?”
 * Look for trends among top-performing content to replicate success.

Last updated: September 23, 2025