If your intranet¹ is connected to the Internet, you can hook up Google Analytics and get quite a bit of information about how your intranet is being used.

This info will be valuable for your intranet editor. It will be easy for her to see it, for example, if management issues are being attended to and where and how members are communicating.

Here are six metrics to consider when you start seeing your intranet through Google Analytics. With a little practice you'll expand on these and come up with others.

1. Time on site - are members using the site as you intended? If not, why not?
2. Length of visit - how long are members on the site? This is a relative measure because some folks stay logged in all day. You need a lot of data to make a good decision using this metric.
3. Network location - from where are members logging in? Lots of local networks might show that members are working from home. An address in the Ukraine might be cause for concern.
4. Top content - what is getting the most attention. By contrast, is important content being ignored.
5. Site search¹ - can be the best source of user feedback. Are they searching for data that is not there but should be? Are they often searching for data that is there, but hard to find? Are they having trouble navigating your site?
6. Event tracking - what's getting downloaded?  What outside links are being clicked?

People reveal more by their actions than by what they say. A good intranet manager/editor can learn to interrpret members' actions on the intranet and address them before anyone has to say anything.