5 Performance Metrics You Should Be Using
Thanks to Performance Metrics tools like Google Analytics, analyzing your content has never been easier. Every website owner, no matter how big or how small, should be monitoring Performance Metricss like page views, CTR, and time on site to evaluate their site’s performance.
Performance Metrics For Your Website
Not all content has the same purpose so applying the same metrics for two completely different blogs may not be the best decision. You should be monitoring the most important performance metrics for you specific blogs.
However, here are the 5 most important performance metrics you should be using, regardless of your content:
#1 – Blog Comments
Blog comments help spread the word of your content and can help your content go viral. The “comments per post” metric is increasing in popularity and the formula is simply the total number of comments/ total number of posts = comments per post.
The reasoning behind the comments per post metric is because the comments add social proof and stimulate new discussion about your content. Comments also can help you understand what parts of your content were most important to readers.
Increasing Blog Comments
Here are some things you can do to increase the number of blog comments on your content:
— Ask The Readers A Thought Provoking Question At The End Of Your Content
— Share Your Content On Facebook Or Reddit
— Install Disqus, Which Notifies Your Readers When You Respond To Them
#2 – Pageviews
Most publishers use pageviews as one of the metrics to determine the value of blog content. Since most publishers sell advertising on a CPM basis, the more pageviews a blog has – the better.
The one minor drawback to pageviews is that pageviews may determine your blog’s popularity but it will not determine influence or quality. This is affirmed based on your bounce rate or lack of comments, which indicates a lack of quality.
Pageviews also don’t apply to very specific niches – where the audience is likely smaller. Still, if you’re running a general or unspecific niche site, then page views are very valuable.
#3 – User Engagement
User engagement is another fancy term for “time on site.” The longer a reader is viewing your website, the more engaged they are into your content. If they comment and post, that’s an even better sign.
The longer your visitors spend reading your content, the more likely they will be to sign up to your mailing list, contact you about your products, or share your content on social media.
Writing longer individual posts or creating a mini-series of posts will help keep your users engaged and keep them on your site longer. You can also target a micro-section of your audience to address specific issues to keep visitors on a site longer.
#4 – Sales
Chances are you’re end goal is to sell something from your blog. Whether this is in the form of lead captures or actual product sales, you’re going to want to monitor your sales on a week-to-week and month-to-month basis.
Keep in mind, many niches are seasonal, which means you should expect sales dips at certain times of the year. For example, most people aren’t too worried about losing weight in November as the holiday season begins. However, come January, you should expect a lot more web traffic.
#5 – Social Sharing
Is your content being shared on FaceBook, Twitter, and other social platforms? Tracking social engagement will help you learn more about your content and how well your site is performing.
This metric goes hand-in hand with user engagement. If someone is on your site for twenty minutes, he or she is much more likely to share your content than the guy who just skimmed your content in one minute.
Increasing social sharing is incredibly easy nowadays. There are several social sharing plugins that can automatically code in social buttons onto your site. You can also have content published right on to FaceBook using “newsfeed ads.”
