When working with clients to improve their website marketing performance, one of the most common questions is, “what metrics should I be tracking?”
Of course, the answer is “it depends.”
Every company will have its own goals for digital marketing and inbound sales. The specific metrics you want to measure will depend on the particular strategy you are running.
For instance, if your focus is on your content strategy and showing up in Google searches, you’ll want to track SEO and content performance metrics. Or, if your focus is on lead generation, you’ll be most concerned with conversions and event-tracking.
I suggest finding 3-5 simple metrics that best align with your overall sales and marketing strategy.
Below are some of my initial suggestions in website metrics that you may want to consider tracking for your organization. I encourage you to reflect on your specific process and customize your reporting further to give you the best insight into your performance possible.
On-Site Performance Metrics
First, let’s look at the metrics that are related directly to marketing objectives ON your website. Most of these suggestions below can be tracked using a simple tool like Google Analytics.
- # of website visits – For a broad understanding of website traffic, you can track the number of website visitors you get. You can further filter traffic by visitor segmenting, allowing you to track exposure to specific audiences.
- Most visited pages – A report of your most visited pages will tell you which pieces of content on your website are getting the most views.
- Sources of visitors – This report will tell you which traffic sources are sending you the most traffic. Sources often include search engines, social media, direct traffic, referrals, ads, and email campaigns.
- Top landing pages – This report will tell you your top landing pages or the first page people view on your website. This is sometimes a homepage, but can often be specific resource pages with high search engine visibility.
- # of conversions – If you have conversion goals set up in Analytics, you can track the number of conversions over time. Goals are best used to quantify a successful website visit based on predetermined user behavior. Some examples might be: contact form pages, length of time on site, ecommerce purchases, or the total number of pages visited.
Search Engine Performance Metrics
To see how you perform on Google searches (before somebody clicks on your website), you can utilize reports in Google Search Console. Here are a few metrics to track for search engine performance.
- # of clicks of top keywords – This metric will tell you which keywords send you the most Google search traffic. You can track by top keywords or track clicks over time of specific target keywords.
- # of impressions of top keywords – This metric will tell you which queries you appear for most in Google Search results. This helps you understand which search keywords have the most potential volume. You can track by top keywords or track impressions over time of specific target keywords.
- Average position of top queries – This will tell you the average position your website is ranking for specific keywords. Tracking this will help you understand how your rankings on Google change over time.
Other Inbound Performance Metrics
Beyond the metrics you can track in Google Analytics or Google Search Console, there are other inbound metrics you may want to track. Depending on your strategy, below are a few other suggestions.
- Average domain authority – Your domain authority metric measures your overall backlink quality and quantity. Over time, you can track this in SEO software (i.e., Moz, Semrush) to see how your link strategy effects your search engine performance.
- Average search visibility – Some SEO reporting services provide a search visibility metric that can be tracked. This is often calculated as an aggregate of your search engine rankings on a select list of chosen target keywords. This is great to see how your rankings improve or decline over time.
- # of qualified leads – Tracking the number of qualified leads your website and/or marketing efforts are generating. This is often tracked in a sales CRM, with the reports pulled based on tags associated with tracked deals. This is a great way to understand the ROI of your website efforts.
- Event-specific tracking – If you have specific actions that you want website visitors to take (button clicks, video views, etc.), you can set up event-specific tracking and reporting. This is great for tracking conversion performance tied to specific campaigns or content.
What other metrics would help you track your website performance? Hopefully, the list above spurred some ideas, but don’t limit yourself. Utilize your analytics software, SEO software, and sales CRM to set up reporting that empowers you with ongoing insights.
