Today’s analytics programs allow you to measure any and every aspect of your marketing strategy.
This is good, but there’s a catch.
Some metrics may be interesting to you, but they may not have anything to do with the goals you’re trying to reach.
If you focus more on the metrics you want to measure and not the ones you need to measure, your campaigns could fall flat.
With so many metrics available to you, how do you know which metrics are most important?
The mix you choose will depend on what you want to achieve with your marketing strategy, but the metrics listed below will almost always be among them.
Organic search traffic
Search engines probably account for roughly half of your website traffic, so you want to make the most of your search presence.
In addition to making sure the keywords people use to search are relevant to the content on your page, you need to make sure the keywords are competitive enough to give you a top ranking on the search engine results page.
Measuring organic searches over time will help you reveal important information including cost per click and the popularity of one keyword over another.
It will also identify trends that may impact your strategy going forward, such as a gradual decrease in searches on one term or a boost in another because of seasonality.
Site behavior
Once people enter your site, what do they do?
The answers will give you an idea of how successfully your SEO strategy targets your audience.
Several metrics fall under this category. Time spent on the page indicates interest in your content. Conversion rate shows you what kinds of calls to action generate the best responses. Measuring shares measures engagement and potential reach.
If you’re not happy with your results, there may be a disconnect between your site and SEO strategy — or a problem with your site’s usability (more on that later).
Quality and quantity of backlinks
A link to your site from another site is the most important SEO metric in the world. Google values sites with lots of high-quality links above sites with only a handful, and links give you the chance to attract new visitors from a variety of sources.
In addition, links also boost your credibility among new audiences. If a site they trust is linking to your web pages, it may be worth exploring.
Of course, you want as many backlinks as you can get. But it’s more important that you get backlinks from credible, reliable sources that are already established (like newspapers or high-quality blogs).
Sites like Ahrefs will help you count the number of backlinks to your site.
Links from a handful of industry publications will do more for your ranking than links from 200 low-quality sites with small followings.
Returning customers
While it’s great to bring new people to your site, it’s even more important to bring them back a second, third, fourth, and hundredth time.
When measuring web traffic, find out how many of them are new versus returning visitors, and you’ll find out how well your marketing efforts are succeeding.
There’s no standard benchmark for returning visitors, but if your rate is below 20 percent, it may point to a problem with engagement.
Are you following up with new visitors? How many of them are signing up for your newsletter or following you on social media?
Following return visitors will point you to the more successful elements of your website and give you ideas on how to attract more second-time visitors.
Analytics are critical to the success of your business. The challenge is knowing which analytics matter most.
Start with the metrics above, and you’ll have a good idea of how well your marketing campaigns are performing — or hire an experienced team to do it for you.
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