6 October 2025
The intranet is a central entry point for internal communication: it brings together information, communication, documentation, business applications, and practical tools. Measuring its usage and effectiveness not only helps to better understand how employees are adopting this channel but also to identify areas for improvement to enhance its impact.
In our previous article, we explained why measuring internal communication has become essential: because it must demonstrate its value, support the company’s strategy, and meet employees’ expectations. But today, internal communicators can no longer rely on superficial indicators. To move forward, they need structured KPIs* and reliable tools.
For example, take Arctus' Intranet Observatory 2025: it perfectly illustrates this measurement approach. Although it is a global analysis tool and not specific to a single organization or intranet, it provides valuable insight into major internal digital trends.
In this article, let's explore how the analysis tools of 2025 make it possible to understand usage, identify high-value content, and guide strategic decisions, turning your intranet into a true data-driven management lever.
For a long time, intranet evaluation relied on a few basic indicators: number of logins, most viewed pages, or volume of published content. This data provides a solid starting point, laying the foundation for a data-driven culture and raising stakeholder awareness of the value of measurement.
But these indicators remain descriptive: they provide a useful snapshot, without offering the full depth needed for effective management.
Three limitations quickly emerge:
The goal is not to replace “primary” indicators but to consider them as a starting point to be explored further.
To move forward, they must be supplemented with more detailed, more qualitative data directly linked to strategic objectives. Going beyond measurement means shifting the approach toward a management mindset: turning data into recommendations, recommendations into decisions, and decisions into tangible improvements.
In practice, the approach must be progressive:
The solutions available today for analyzing intranet data can cover different levels of need. Generally, we distinguish three categories:
Most platforms include their own statistical modules.
SharePoint (Microsoft 365) offers reports on traffic, page views, and contributions.
Many vendors (Powell, Unily, LumApps, etc.) also offer simplified interfaces to track statistics through dashboards.
These solutions are easy to implement as they are included in the existing ecosystem. Their limitation: they remain focused on a few indicators (sometimes basic) and do not always provide the depth needed to analyze behaviors that may be specific to a company.
In addition to the native tools integrated into your intranet, you can use free, included in your licenses, or paid solutions to obtain more detailed exports or dashboards.
They sometimes require more advanced technical integration but offer a richer level of analysis that goes far beyond primary indicators.
Unlike integrated or specialized tools that focus mainly on analyzing intranet usage, BI solutions make it possible to cross-reference this data with other strategic indicators from the company.
They therefore go beyond measuring a single channel and help to understand how the intranet contributes to your company's internal digital transformation.
The choice of tool should not be driven by trends but based on the organization's maturity, resources, and above all, its objectives. The challenge is not just to collect numbers, but to understand how this data can be used to inform decisions, guide priorities, and strengthen the intranet's contribution to the overall strategy.
Now let's look at how to give real strategic dimension to the data collected.
Once the system is chosen, a key question remains: What should we measure on our intranet?
The answer depends on the company's level of maturity and its strategic priorities.
Keep in mind that updating the data (if not automated), analyzing it, and turning it into concrete actions requires time and dedicated resources.
In general, organizations regularly track a set of KPIs to assess usage and effectiveness of their intranet.
Here is a list of indicators categorized by theme to deepen data analysis.
The value of a measurement system is judged not by the number of indicators, but by their relevance to your priorities. After identifying what your intranet and chosen tool can track, focus on a few truly useful KPIs.
Once collected, the figures only have value if they are analyzed, shared, and used to take action. The challenge is therefore not just to measure, but to turn the numbers into concrete actions.
It’s also important to adapt how the data is presented depending on the audience: a CEO won’t expect the same level of detail as an editorial manager, and a frontline manager doesn’t need a comprehensive dashboard to understand how to better relay information to their team. This differentiation helps build a true management culture.
Beyond format, it’s the consistency that makes the difference. Analyzing usage at regular intervals (every two months, quarterly, or semi-annually) helps identify trends and adjust the strategy. In specific contexts, such as a sensitive campaign or a crisis situation, much closer monitoring (hourly, daily) may be necessary to track comments, reactions, or changes in view counts.
For example, a spike in searches for “security” may signal the need for urgent action, while a drop in activity within a community could indicate a lack of engagement.
Thus, the data no longer remain mere numbers; they become levers to anticipate and make decisions.
For the approach to be fully effective, analysis must be integrated into intranet governance.
By linking indicators to the organization’s priorities, measurement becomes a strategic tool: there is no point in multiplying KPIs if they do not reflect the real challenges, whether it’s employee engagement, security, or support for onboarding.
The other challenge is cultural: data should not be seen as a control tool, but as a lever for collective improvement. Regularly sharing results with contributors, managers, and executives helps establish this constructive perspective and strengthens the intranet’s legitimacy.
It is still necessary to support this culture: an indicator only makes sense if it is understood and correctly interpreted. Training teams in reading and using data equips them with the means to act on their content, their practices, and more broadly, on the company’s digital experience.
It is also good preparation for using generative AI to manage your intranet. We’ll share more on this topic soon!
Lord Kelvin said: « What cannot be measured does not exist ».
One thing is certain: measuring is already progress. The first indicators, even basic ones, lay the foundation for a data culture, which has now become essential in measuring internal communication.
But to turn the intranet into a strategic lever, you need to go further: enrich the KPIs, link measurement to the company’s priorities, and integrate analysis into a clear governance framework.
Analysis tools then become powerful allies: they enable you to go beyond mere observation, guide editorial choices, strengthen engagement, and improve the user experience.
👋🏼 Chez Arctus, nous accompagnons les organisations à franchir ce cap : cadrage des besoins, sélection des bons outils, mise en place from tableaux de bord adaptés et accompagnement des contributeurs dans la lecture des résultats.
Want to go further? Let’s talk to identify your needs and transform your intranet into a true strategic asset.
☑️ Clarifier ses objectifs : pourquoi mesurer ? Quels résultats attendus ?
☑️ Commencer simple : mettre en place quelques indicateurs primaires pour installer une culture de la donnée
☑️ Enrichir progressivement : ajouter des KPIs qualitatifs (engagement, recherche, adoption)
☑️ Choisir les bons outils : privilégier ceux alignés avec vos besoins
☑️ Construire des tableaux de bord différenciés : adaptés aux rôles (direction, managers, communicants)
☑️ Analyser régulièrement : instaurer des cycles de revue pour ajuster en continu
☑️ Partager et impliquer : diffuser les résultats aux parties prenantes pour nourrir l’amélioration collective
KPIs*
Key Performance Indicator(s)
Consultant
Sylvain Soundararadjou is an internal digital transformation consultant. He is passionate about all issues relating to the mastery of digital tools, the employee experience and the digital facilitation of internal tools.
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