If you're using Buttondown to host your archives, you know that every email basically has two phases:
- The initial send into your subscriber's inboxes
- The 'long tail' as it circulates throughout the internet, through forwards and social media and whatnot
While the emails page now does a terrific job at showing you the results of the first phase — initial sending, open and click through rates — it's been a bit of a black box for the second phase. You could see the total number and overall trends in web traffic through the Analytics page, but it was nigh-impossible to answer what should be a very trivial question:
How many page views did this email get?
Let alone:
Which of my emails are the most popular on the web?
I am here to report that this is no longer an issue. You can now view (and sort by) page views in the Emails page, as you likely spied in the screenshot above. (If you can't find that section in the columnar drop down, make sure you have page views enabled in your settings!)
This is a feature that I've wanted for a long time, and I'm glad it's finally here. I hope you enjoy it! There are a number of fast-follows slated:
- The ability to sort by incoming subscribers by each page, since traffic is only half the story when it comes to subscriber acquisition
- Addition of pageviews to the other analytics modals (e.g. the one you see when you click on a specific email)
I hope you love this! If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out.