Understanding your analytics
Podbite tracks every time someone plays one of your bites and surfaces that data at Analytics. This guide explains what the numbers mean and how to get the most out of the dashboard.
Analytics are available on the Promote plan and above. Referrer and embed domain breakdowns require the Curate plan or above.
The analytics hub
Go to Analytics to see a portfolio view across all your bites.
Period
Use the period toggle (7d / 30d / 90d / All) to change the time window. All metrics on the page update to reflect the selected period.
- 7d / 30d / 90d — plays recorded in the last 7, 30, or 90 calendar days
- All — every play since you started using Podbite
Stat cards
| Metric | What it measures |
|---|---|
| Total plays | Number of times any of your bites were started in the period |
| Completion rate | Percentage of plays where the listener reached the end of the bite — the clearest signal a bite resonated |
| Top source | The channel that sent the most plays — bite page, embed, episode page, or playlist |
Trend indicator — for 7d, 30d, and 90d periods, a small ↑ or ↓ below Total plays shows how the current window compares to the equivalent prior window (e.g. the 30 days before the current 30-day window). No trend is shown for All time because there is no prior window to compare against.
Plays over time
A daily chart of play counts for the selected period. Useful for spotting spikes after a share or a newsletter drop.
Top bites
Your five most-played bites in the period, linked to their per-bite analytics page.
All bites
A full ranked list of every bite you have created, ordered by plays in the period. Bites with zero plays in the selected window appear at the bottom with a count of 0 — they are still live and accessible, just not played during this window.
Per-bite analytics
Click any bite in the hub, or use the Analytics link in the owner bar on a bite page, to open the per-bite analytics view.
The same period toggle applies here. The three stat cards show plays and completion rate for that individual bite.
Plays by source
A breakdown of where plays came from:
| Source | Where the player was |
|---|---|
| Bite page | The public bite page at podbite.link/bites/... |
| Embed | An embed player on another website |
| Episode page | Your episode page at podbite.link/@username/podcasts/.../episodes/... |
| Episode embed | An episode embed player on another website |
| Playlist | Your playlist page at podbite.link/@username/playlists/... |
| Playlist embed | A playlist embed player on another website |
Referrer and embed domain breakdown (Curate+)
Curate and Automate subscribers also see:
- Referrers — which domains sent traffic to the bite page (where someone clicked a link to your bite)
- Embed domains — which external sites are hosting an embed player for this bite
These are per-bite only. The hub shows a preview of these sections for Promote subscribers — they are available on upgrade to Curate.
What counts as a play
On Podbite, a play is recorded each time the audio player starts. If someone plays a bite more than once without navigating away, each press counts as a separate play and the replay count appears next to the play total. Completion is recorded when the listener reaches the end of the clip. This gives you insight into how people engage with specific segments of your content — not just that someone clicked through, but that they actually listened.
When you play your own bite while logged in to Podbite, those plays are automatically excluded from your analytics. Plays from your own account via an incognito window, a logged-out session, or an embedded player on a third-party site are not filtered — these are treated as audience plays.
Bites also stream audio directly from your hosting platform. When someone plays a bite, the audio comes directly from your podcast host's CDN — so each play is a real request to your host. Whether it registers in their own stats depends on how long the listener plays.
Most platforms align with industry thresholds: the AMP standard (used by Spotify and others) recognises 30 seconds of playback; the IAB standard sets 60 seconds downloaded. Making your bites at least 30 seconds long gives each play the best chance of counting where it matters most — on your hosting platform, not just here.
For more on why this matters: Why bite length matters for your podcast stats →
See also: Does bite length affect whether plays count? →
Frequently asked questions
Why are my play counts different from what I see in social media insights?
Social platforms count link clicks and impressions — Podbite counts audio player starts. Someone can click through to the bite page without pressing play. Both metrics are useful but they measure different things.
My plays dropped to zero when I switched to a shorter period.
The period filter only shows plays recorded within that window. Switching from All to 30d does not delete data — it narrows the view. Switch back to All to see your full history.