Ghostboard

Brief Overview of Ghostboard

Ghostboard is a privacy-centric analytics platform designed exclusively for the Ghost publishing ecosystem. This analytics platform provides blog owners with detailed performance tracking insights without compromising visitor privacy. Its core approach is built on being a GDPR-compliant, European-based entity that utilizes cookieless tracking methods. This means it collects valuable data on posts, authors, and traffic sources without storing any personally identifiable information (PII), using browser cookies, or generating device fingerprints. The tool solves the problem for Ghost creators who need a robust analytics solution that respects data privacy laws from the ground up. All data is securely hosted and encrypted on servers within the European Union, offering a transparent and secure way to understand and grow a blog's audience.

Ghostboard Key Features for Content Creators

• Privacy-Focused, Cookieless Tracking: Ghostboard's tracking is performed without collecting or storing any personal data or PII. It does not use cookies, browser cache, local storage, or device fingerprinting, ensuring full compliance with GDPR and respecting visitor privacy.

• SEO Weak Spot Detection: The platform automatically flags common SEO issues within posts. This includes identifying content with missing meta descriptions, poorly constructed slugs, absent featured images, titles that are too long, and images missing alt text, allowing creators to quickly fix errors and improve search rankings.

• Broken Link & Image Reports: Ghostboard scans for and reports on broken or redirected links, covering both internal and external URLs. It also identifies broken images, helping creators maintain a healthy site structure and positive user experience, which are crucial for SEO.

• Comprehensive Click Tracking: The tool tracks every click on a Ghost blog, providing data on what links, buttons, and calls-to-action are most effective. This allows creators to understand user behavior and optimize their content strategy based on real engagement data.

• Scroll Depth Analysis: Creators can track the scroll depth percentage of their audience to see how far down a page visitors are reading. The report visualizes drop-offs in 10% increments and can be broken down by device, language, and country to identify points of friction.

• Author Performance Reports: For multi-author blogs, Ghostboard offers reports to compare author contributions. It visualizes publishing productivity, reader attraction, and traffic generated from search engines versus social networks, offering insights into team effectiveness.

• Simple Installation & Sync Options: Getting started is straightforward with a one-line install directly in the Ghost Admin panel. The platform supports both an Auto Sync via API and a Manual Sync that does not require API access, making it suitable for all Ghost plans, including Ghost(Pro) starter.

• Historical Growth Reports: The platform provides reports to view growth by month, year, or all-time. This helps creators visualize their progress and understand long-term content performance trends.

• 99.99% Uptime SLA: For customers on PRO+ or CUSTOM plans, Ghostboard provides a Service Level Agreement guaranteeing 99.99% monthly uptime, with service credits available if the commitment is not met.

• Public Dashboards: Users can create and share custom, public-facing dashboards to display their blog's analytics transparently.

Ghostboard Target Users & Use Cases

Ghostboard is built for any content creator, marketer, or business using the Ghost platform for their blog. Its feature set caters to a range of users, from individuals to full content teams.

• Primary Creator Types: The tool is ideal for solo bloggers, content marketers, digital publishers, and businesses running their content operations on Ghost.

• Experience Level: The simple setup makes it accessible for beginners, while the detailed SEO, click, and scroll reports provide the depth needed by experienced marketers and data-driven creators focused on optimization.

• Team Size: Ghostboard supports both solo creators and larger teams. The tiered plans accommodate single-user needs, while the Pro plan includes Team Access and author-specific reports for collaborative environments.

• Specific Use Cases:

  • Monitoring website traffic and top-performing content without invasive tracking.
  • Performing regular SEO audits to find and fix on-page issues.
  • Maintaining site health by identifying and correcting broken internal and external links.
  • Analyzing which calls-to-action and outbound links are driving clicks.
  • Evaluating the performance and productivity of different authors on a team blog.
  • Optimizing article structure and introductions based on scroll-depth data.
  • Creating public reports to share progress with stakeholders or the community.
  • Ensuring the blog's analytics practices are fully compliant with GDPR.

How to Get Started with Ghostboard

Setting up Ghostboard is designed to be a quick process that takes only a few seconds.

1. Create an Account: Sign up for a Ghostboard account. A 7-day free trial is available and does not require a credit card.
2. Choose a Sync Method: Select either Auto Sync, which uses the Ghost API for seamless integration, or Manual Sync, which is ideal for plans without API access like the Ghost(Pro) starter plan.
3. Install the Tracking Code: Copy the single line of tracking code provided by Ghostboard and paste it into the appropriate section of the Ghost Admin dashboard to begin collecting analytics data.

Frequently Asked Questions About Ghostboard

• Does Ghostboard use cookies? No, Ghostboard provides analytics without using cookies, browser cache, or local storage. It does not track or store any personally identifiable information (PII).

• Is Ghostboard GDPR compliant? Yes, Ghostboard is a European entity and is fully GDPR compliant. All data is processed and stored on servers in Ireland, covered by the EU's data privacy laws.

• Where is my blog's data stored? All website data is securely stored and encrypted on Amazon Web Services (AWS) infrastructure located in Ireland. The data never leaves the EU.

• Is there a free version of Ghostboard? Ghostboard is a premium service with paid plans. However, it offers a 7-day free trial that does not require a credit card to get started.

• What platform is Ghostboard for? Ghostboard is an analytics tool built exclusively for blogs and websites running on the Ghost publishing platform.

• Can I delete my data? Yes. You can permanently delete all stats for a specific blog at any time from the Ghostboard dashboard. To delete an entire account, you must contact their support.

• Is there an uptime guarantee? Yes, a 99.99% monthly uptime Service Level Agreement (SLA) is included for customers on the PRO+ and CUSTOM plans.

Bottom Line: Should Content Creators Choose Ghostboard?

For creators and businesses operating on the Ghost platform, Ghostboard presents a highly specialized and compelling analytics solution. Its primary advantage is its unwavering commitment to privacy, offering robust, cookieless tracking that is fully GDPR compliant. This makes it an excellent choice for anyone who wants to respect their audience's data rights without sacrificing valuable insights into content performance.

The platform's features are tailored specifically to the needs of bloggers, with actionable reports on SEO health, broken links, click engagement, and author productivity. These tools go beyond simple traffic metrics and provide a clear path for content optimization. While it is a paid tool, the value is evident for serious creators who need reliable, privacy-first data to inform their growth strategy. Ghostboard is a purpose-built analytics tool that empowers Ghost users to make better decisions with data they can trust.