Title: Comparing and analyzing with benchmarks
Author: bethurban
Published: July 17, 2025
Last modified: September 19, 2025

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 1. [User handbook](https://docs.parse.ly/user-handbook/)
 2. [Tools and features](https://docs.parse.ly/user-handbook/tools-features/)
 3. [Benchmarks](https://docs.parse.ly/user-handbook/tools-features/benchmarks/)
 4. Comparing and analyzing with benchmarks

#  Comparing and analyzing with benchmarks

The histograms at the top of an author’s (or section or tag’s) [benchmarks](https://docs.parse.ly/tools-features/benchmarks/)
page allow comparisons between that author and other authors (or section and other
sections, tags and other tags).

Tabs on the left of this section allow focus on various priorities: Performance,
Growth, Engagement, Loyalty, Referring Traffic, and Conversions.

![Histograms on the benchmarks page allow comparison.](https://docs.parse.ly/wp-
content/uploads/sites/5/2025/07/Benchmarks-histograms.png)

Histograms on the benchmarks page allow comparison.

Click “Add Comparison” to more clearly compare a section, for instance, to up 6 
other sections. Each selected section is highlighted on the histograms in a different
color to compare to the original section’s blue bar.

![Comparing a section to 3 others.](https://docs.parse.ly/wp-content/uploads/sites/
5/2025/07/Add-comparison.png)

Comparing a section to 3 others.

## Compare an author, section, or tag’s performance over time

Click “Compare time-over-time instead” to adjust the histograms on an author, section,
or tag’s benchmarks page to represent performance month-over-month or quarter-over-
quarter.

![Adjust the benchmarks histogram view to time-over-time.](https://docs.parse.ly/
wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2025/07/Time-over-time.png)

Adjust the benchmarks histogram view to time-over-time.

Now each bar in the histograms represents a month or quarter.

![Adjust the time-over-time histograms.](https://docs.parse.ly/wp-content/uploads/
sites/5/2025/07/Adjust-time-over-time.png)

Adjust the time-over-time histograms.

 1. Adjust the time periods in the histograms — choose “Month” or “Quarter.”
 2. Click “Add comparison” to more clearly compare multiple months/quarters, which 
    are highlighted in the histograms in different colors to compare to the original
    month/quarter’s blue.
 3. Sort the histograms by chronologically or by performance.

## Analyze post performance

The Posts Performance section of the benchmarks page buckets content performance
for an author, section, or tag by different metrics. This allows you to analyze 
how posts or pages are performing for an author, section, or tag: which are leaders
and which have struggled.

![The Posts Performance section can be adjusted.](https://docs.parse.ly/wp-content/
uploads/sites/5/2025/07/Posts-Performance.png)

The Posts Performance section can be adjusted.

 1. Tabs above the bubble graph adjust the focus: Best Day Rank (By [Page Views](https://docs.parse.ly/measuring-reporting-performance/calculations/page-views/)),
    Average [Engaged Minutes](https://docs.parse.ly/measuring-reporting-performance/calculations/engaged-minutes/),
    [Visitor](https://docs.parse.ly/measuring-reporting-performance/calculations/visitors/)
    Quartiles, Engaged Time Quartiles, Page Views Quartiles.
 2. Selecting the lowest range displays a list of the least successful content. (Selecting
    the highest displays a list of the most successful.)

Last updated: September 19, 2025