When you look at your website tracking tools, you will probably see lots of different metrics. Depending on what tool you are using, you might find that some metrics are more prominently displayed than others, while some are hidden away in separate tabs and might not get as much attention.
Whether you are brand new to search engine rankings and websites, or whether you have been trying to get your page to rank for months or years, the amount of information given to you might be overwhelming and you might not understand fully what information is the most important for you to know. Here are the five most important website metrics you need to be keeping track of:
1. The Number of Visitors
Your total number of visitors is a good indicator of how successful your website is. While there are other significant metrics, some of which can give you an even better idea of how well your website is performing, the first thing you should be concerned with is getting people to visit your website. This should be your primary goal, so tracking this metric first and foremost will tell you how well you are achieving that goal. Look at any sudden increases or decreases in traffic. You should be able to identify the source of a big spike in traffic or the cause of a sudden decrease. In addition to the number of total visitors, you are also going to want to look out where exactly those visitors are coming from. Are they coming from social media? Do they find you through an organic search? From a referral link? A guest blog post? This will tell you what is working to generate traffic so you can do more of it.
2. Your Bounce Rate
Your bounce rate will tell you how many of your website visitors are actually sticking around to see what your website has to offer. Visitors that bounce are any visitors that leave the website by clicking a link on that website that leads them away from your site, back up in their browser, navigate to another URL by typing it in their browser, close the tab, or don’t interact for your website for a set amount of time. In short, these are the visitors that do not really engage with your website. While they still count towards your traffic, these visitors are less valuable than those that do interact with your website. If you have a disproportionately high bounce rate, it could mean that your website is not welcoming to visitors. Inadequate design, clunky copywriting, slow load times, and more can send people running from your page before they even really give it a chance. You need to know whether or not people are staying on your website and if they are not staying on your website, why they are leaving.
3. How Long a Visitor Stays on the Page
How long does the average visitor spend on your page? Do they stick around for just a few seconds and then click away (this would likely be counted as a “bounce”)? Or do they stay on your page, interact with the text, scroll up and down, click on the links there or fill out the forms? Let’s say, for example, that you have a four minute video on your website. Does the average visitor stay on that webpage long enough to watch the entire video? If they did, they would be staying for at least four minutes. As you track this metric, be sure to connect it to the source of the traffic.
Do people who come from social media stay longer than people who find you through a guest blog post? Do people who find you through organic search stay longer than people who clicked a referral link? This will help you analyze where your best traffic is coming from, so you can decide where you want to invest more time and money. Keep in mind that the longer a person stays on your page, the more likely they are to actually take the action you want them to take (call you, subscribe, make a purchase, etc.). It should be noted, however, that if they do not actually interact with anything on that page, they are not helping you achieve your goals.
4. How Often People Click on Your Calls to Action
For example, say that the ultimate conversion you want someone to perform on your page is to sign up for your newsletter. You have a large, clearly delineated form on that page where visitors can provide you with their email address, so they can start receiving your newsletter. What percentage of your page visitors actually fill out that form? What percentage of your visitors start filling out the form but ultimately abandon it before clicking “Submit?” No matter what your call to action is, you want to be tracking how many people click on it (in addition to how many people actually convert). If someone interacts with your call to action, that likely means that it is effective. It is attracting their attention and is interesting enough that they want to click on it. Your calls to action are a good opportunity to do a little bit of testing. Change the wording, the size, the font, and the design of the call to see what is most effective on your visitors. Remember that what your visitors are going to be looking for more than anything else is value.
Related: Conversion Rate Optimization – Why You Should Stop Guessing
5. Your Conversion Rate
In the world of website metrics, conversion rate is king. You could be getting one million new visitors to your website every month, but if none of them are converting, you might as well be getting zero visitors. On the other hand, you might only see on hundred visitors a month, but if ninety-nine of them are converting, your website is a staggering success! Conversion rate, simply stated, is how many of your site visitors do the thing that you want them to do. What is the goal of your website? On very rare occasions, the goal of a website may simply be to provide information and you might not actually want your visitors to do anything but read that information. Most of the time, however, what you want is for someone to make a purchase, sign up for your newsletter, etc. In order for your website to truly be a success, you want as many visitors as possible to convert. All other metrics are secondary to this metric. Carefully track it. Test your calls to action to see which improve not just your click rate, but your actual conversion rate.
Knowing whether or not your website is successful can be difficult—but it doesn’t have to be. Keeping track of these metrics can seriously improve your understanding of your website and help you create a website that is much more effective at both attracting visitors and converting them into subscribers, clients, or customers.
When you look at your website tracking tools, you will probably see lots of different metrics. Depending on what tool you are using, you might find that some metrics are more prominently displayed than others, while some are hidden away in separate tabs and might not get as much attention.
Whether you are brand new to search engine rankings and websites, or whether you have been trying to get your page to rank for months or years, the amount of information given to you might be overwhelming and you might not understand fully what information is the most important for you to know. Here are the five most important website metrics you need to be keeping track of:
1. The Number of Visitors
Your total number of visitors is a good indicator of how successful your website is. While there are other significant metrics, some of which can give you an even better idea of how well your website is performing, the first thing you should be concerned with is getting people to visit your website. This should be your primary goal, so tracking this metric first and foremost will tell you how well you are achieving that goal. Look at any sudden increases or decreases in traffic. You should be able to identify the source of a big spike in traffic or the cause of a sudden decrease. In addition to the number of total visitors, you are also going to want to look out where exactly those visitors are coming from. Are they coming from social media? Do they find you through an organic search? From a referral link? A guest blog post? This will tell you what is working to generate traffic so you can do more of it.
2. Your Bounce Rate
Your bounce rate will tell you how many of your website visitors are actually sticking around to see what your website has to offer. Visitors that bounce are any visitors that leave the website by clicking a link on that website that leads them away from your site, back up in their browser, navigate to another URL by typing it in their browser, close the tab, or don’t interact for your website for a set amount of time. In short, these are the visitors that do not really engage with your website. While they still count towards your traffic, these visitors are less valuable than those that do interact with your website. If you have a disproportionately high bounce rate, it could mean that your website is not welcoming to visitors. Inadequate design, clunky copywriting, slow load times, and more can send people running from your page before they even really give it a chance. You need to know whether or not people are staying on your website and if they are not staying on your website, why they are leaving.
3. How Long a Visitor Stays on the Page
How long does the average visitor spend on your page? Do they stick around for just a few seconds and then click away (this would likely be counted as a “bounce”)? Or do they stay on your page, interact with the text, scroll up and down, click on the links there or fill out the forms? Let’s say, for example, that you have a four minute video on your website. Does the average visitor stay on that webpage long enough to watch the entire video? If they did, they would be staying for at least four minutes. As you track this metric, be sure to connect it to the source of the traffic.
Do people who come from social media stay longer than people who find you through a guest blog post? Do people who find you through organic search stay longer than people who clicked a referral link? This will help you analyze where your best traffic is coming from, so you can decide where you want to invest more time and money. Keep in mind that the longer a person stays on your page, the more likely they are to actually take the action you want them to take (call you, subscribe, make a purchase, etc.). It should be noted, however, that if they do not actually interact with anything on that page, they are not helping you achieve your goals.
4. How Often People Click on Your Calls to Action
For example, say that the ultimate conversion you want someone to perform on your page is to sign up for your newsletter. You have a large, clearly delineated form on that page where visitors can provide you with their email address, so they can start receiving your newsletter. What percentage of your page visitors actually fill out that form? What percentage of your visitors start filling out the form but ultimately abandon it before clicking “Submit?” No matter what your call to action is, you want to be tracking how many people click on it (in addition to how many people actually convert). If someone interacts with your call to action, that likely means that it is effective. It is attracting their attention and is interesting enough that they want to click on it. Your calls to action are a good opportunity to do a little bit of testing. Change the wording, the size, the font, and the design of the call to see what is most effective on your visitors. Remember that what your visitors are going to be looking for more than anything else is value.
Related: Conversion Rate Optimization – Why You Should Stop Guessing
5. Your Conversion Rate
In the world of website metrics, conversion rate is king. You could be getting one million new visitors to your website every month, but if none of them are converting, you might as well be getting zero visitors. On the other hand, you might only see on hundred visitors a month, but if ninety-nine of them are converting, your website is a staggering success! Conversion rate, simply stated, is how many of your site visitors do the thing that you want them to do. What is the goal of your website? On very rare occasions, the goal of a website may simply be to provide information and you might not actually want your visitors to do anything but read that information. Most of the time, however, what you want is for someone to make a purchase, sign up for your newsletter, etc. In order for your website to truly be a success, you want as many visitors as possible to convert. All other metrics are secondary to this metric. Carefully track it. Test your calls to action to see which improve not just your click rate, but your actual conversion rate.
Knowing whether or not your website is successful can be difficult—but it doesn’t have to be. Keeping track of these metrics can seriously improve your understanding of your website and help you create a website that is much more effective at both attracting visitors and converting them into subscribers, clients, or customers.
Published on May 3, 2016
About the Author: Chris Williams
