The Metrics That Matter
What you see isn’t necessarily what you get. It is a common misconception that the most important indicator of website performance is ranking first. That metric alone doesn’t necessarily mean you’re getting more customers. This is a common misconception among business owners who optimize for their industry’s niche language, rather than what their customer is typing in search engines.
If your website ranks high for a keyword whose search volume is really low, the likelihood that you reached are target demographic is also, well, low. This is just one example of a key performance indicator; i.e. keyword performance in search results, that confuses how you calculate your website’s success.
A seasoned marketer will piece together performance indicators for a more effective internet marketing strategy. With that in mind, here are five, key performance indicators that appropriately depict your online presence.
These key performance indicators are crucial to the success of your business.
Historical Time Comparisons
Historical time comparisons give your business a tangible narrative from with to enliven the story.
Study of these historic time comparisons inspires important questions you need to ask such as, Why is “x” going up or down? Did doing “x” make a difference? What is different between this time period and last? Comparing trends leads to questions, and questions lead to the analysis that drives solutions.
Repeat Business
The Customer Retention KPI measures the ability of your business to retain recurring customers and to generate repeat business. It is very rare for new customers to convert on their very first exposure to your business. Returning customers, therefore, are paramount to success. Keep your content fresh and informative, and chances are repeat business will be the backbone of your success. A sure indicator of successful repeat business is a high or increasing customer retention rate.
Kiddie Pool vs the YMCA
When Google refers organic searchers to any page, rich keywords masquerade under the nebulous category of “Not Provided”. But be mindful you can still see keyword ranking data within search console.
Stay mindful of the sampling size (i.e. traffic volume) you’re analyzing. If it’s too small, it’s unlikely to depict authentic patterns and trends.
With the “not provided” category housing the majority of your total queries, it would be perilous to rely strictly on inference, and the remaining categories. Therefore, focus on quality content directed specifically at your targeted demographic. Then analyse content-driven traffic as opposed to just the keywords.
Competitor Comparison
Comparing your site’s performance to that of your competitors is a common and necessary marketing strategy. Benchmarking, as it is often referred, is an effective and necessary way to improve the performance of your business by measuring it against that of your competitors. Comparing your competitor’s website design, content, technical factors, and Calls-To-Action can highlight areas for your site to improve.
Convert, Convert, Convert
At the end of the day, no benchmark means anything if the traffic to your site is not converted or monetized in some way. Conversions are the bottom line in any business. This applies to all websites, not just obvious e-commerce sites that sell products and record transactions. Conversions can be anything from a customer relinquishing contact information to actually making a monetary purchase. Essentially, conversion happens when interested customers go to your site and complete a desired action.
The Conversion Rate (CR) is the percentage of customers who have completed the action that is being tracked, such as purchasing a product or service or filling out a form. For example, if you have 100 people visit your site, and ten of them sign up for your newsletter, you have a conversion rate of 10%. Conversion Rate is a key performance indicator that helps evaluate success of specific campaigns or sites in general.
The Value of KPIs
By not monitoring these key performance indicators you miss out on an accurate portrayal of your website’s performance.
Historical time comparisons are an invaluable metric to gauge how well your business is doing in a relative time frame, and to evoke the important questions that can lead to improvement.
Make sure to focus more on quality content than on mere keywords. Relying heavily on keyword assumptions should be a last resort.
Key performance indicators evaluate website success
Do periodic competitive comparisons to see how and what your competitors are doing online. This could lend invaluable feedback into your site’s strengths and weaknesses. Conversion is the ultimate goal of any business or site. It is an absolute must to monitor and improve.
When harnessed in tandem these five, key performance indicators unveil the truth about your website’s performance. Find them. Measure them. After all, you can’t fix what you can’t see.
Are you lost in data or need a boost in your company’s KPIs? Contact the seoWorks team now!
