The page statistics in the project interface show you how your project page is being used and the history of contributions. You can select a time period and analyze which sources and campaigns are bringing people to your project. With marketing referrers, you can create custom links for individual marketing campaigns. You don’t need your own Google Analytics account to access the page statistics.
Select a time period and dates
The Page Statistics feature compiles Startnext's central Google Analytics report for your project. In the "Statistics" view, you'll also find key metrics related to contributions.
- Open your project in the project interface.
- Go to Communication → Site Statistics.
- Under "Time Period & Dates," select one of the following options: "Start Phase," "Funding Phase," "To Date," or "Custom."
- Use the checkboxes to select which data series you want to display. Under "Visitors & Page Views," you can also select individual page sections.
- Click "View Data" to open the report.
What data you can select
| Data series | What you're looking at with it |
|---|---|
| Visitors & Page Views | Using your project pages; in the expanded menu, you'll find "Project Details," "Blog," and "Crowd," among other options |
| Number of Supporters | Number of grants during the selected time period |
| Daily Support Amount | Breakdown of Daily Support Payments |
| Total Amount of Support | Breakdown of the Total Amount of Support |
Next to the data series are the "Single Value" and "Total" columns. An "Ø" indicates an average value. The colors of the data series help you identify them in the chart.
Read the analysis
Visitors, Page Views, and Time Spent on the Site
Under "Analysis," you'll find a chart. Use "Average Session Duration," "Visitors," and "Page Views" to switch between the usage metrics displayed.
- Visitors and page views are different metrics: One person can view multiple pages.
- Ø "Time spent" refers to the average recorded time spent.
- The selected support data helps you compare the timeline of usage and support side by side. However, a temporal correlation alone does not prove which action triggered a support measure.
Sources and Campaigns
Below the chart, you'll find two tables:
- Source: Where does the visitor come from—for example, from Instagram, Facebook, or a referring website?
- Campaign: What campaign name was recorded for this visit? Here, in addition to your own campaign names, you'll also find entries such as "Referrals," "Direct Traffic," or "Search Results."
Marketing referrers help you identify your own initiatives in campaign analysis. Not every row in the “Campaign” column is a marketing referrer you created yourself. Both tables show the corresponding figures; they do not show contribution amounts per source or campaign.
Entries such as “not set” or “(data not available)” do not include specific source or campaign information. Do not assign them to a specific action without further verification.
Create Marketing Referrers
A marketing referrer is a unique project link for a specific communication campaign. Instead of sharing the same project link everywhere, you use a separate link for each campaign. You can then track the associated page views under the assigned campaign name.
Marketing referrers are available to you starting from the launch phase. This feature is included in the Pro, Premium, and Enterprise plans, but not in the Basic plan.
- Open your project in the project interface.
- Go to Communication → Marketing.
- Create a marketing referrer and assign a unique campaign name, such as “Instagram – Project Launch.”
- Save the entry. You'll receive a custom project link as a short URL.
- Use this link for the related communication initiative.
Name and insert links appropriately
Choose the names based on what you want to compare:
| You want to compare … | Example of separate campaign names |
|---|---|
| different channels | "Instagram" and "Newsletter" |
| several mailings | "Newsletter – Project Launch" and "Newsletter – Final Push" |
| Contributions from team members or advocates | One unique campaign name per person or collaboration |
While you can create your own marketing referral links for team members or influencers, personal referral links (affiliate links) are better suited for personalized tracking: They attribute not only page views but also donations and confirmed donation amounts to the person making the referral. No commission agreement is required for this. A commission agreement is needed if a paid partnership is to be arranged. Learn more: Creating and Using Personal Referral Links.
Use a separate link for each distinct campaign. For example, if you use the same marketing referrer in your newsletter and on Instagram, you won't be able to analyze these two campaigns separately based on this campaign name.
Evaluate Communication Initiatives
- Open Communication → Page Statistics in the project interface.
- Look for the campaign names of your marketing referrers in the report.
- Compare the corresponding values in the Campaign table to see which of your links the visits were attributed to.
Example: You share one link in your newsletter and another on Instagram. The separate campaign names let you see which views are attributed to each link.
Compare periods that are as similar as possible, and take into account when and how often you shared a link. A frequently shared link and a single post have different starting points.
What You Can Inference from the Results
Page views do not equal donations. A clicked link initially shows that your communication has directed people to the project page. From that alone, you cannot determine how many of those people have contributed or whether paid advertising is financially worthwhile. Similarly, the contribution figures shown in the chart do not, on their own, indicate a connection to a specific marketing referrer.
Difference Between Your Own Tracking and Personal Referral Links
Your Own Google Analytics and Meta Pixel: These integrations send data to your own Google or Meta accounts. There, you can analyze the usage of your project page and your advertising campaigns. Startnext page statistics, on the other hand, use Startnext’s centralized analytics and are accessible directly within the project interface.
Learn more: Set up your own Google Analytics and Meta Pixel.
Personal referral links: These link visits and support to a specific referrer. Marketing referrers, on the other hand, are used to distinguish between your various marketing efforts. A marketing referrer does not replace a personal referral link and does not entitle you to a commission.
Learn more: Create and use personal referral links.