Top Metrics to Watch

We all want to be successful in our line of work, and in this day and age website marketing can make or break your success. With everyone in the world being so reliant on their digital devices, you do NOT want to get caught with a website that leaves little to be desired. Your website is typically the first impression someone gets of your company, so do not let it slip through the cracks! Right now it is not enough to simply have a website or a landing page. You need to have a website that is a top performer and stands out from the crowd! To accomplish that, your website will need to have several key aspects. It will need to be uniquely designed, include a lot of call-to-actions, and include different sections such as a blog, meet the team, resources, etc.

In this blog post, we will go over how to measure the success of your website marketing efforts and also go over some of the top metrics you'll want to watch. We will really hit this topic on all angles to make sure that you are armed with every last bit of information you need to make sure your website marketing is killing the game! If you didn't read last week's post on increasing engagement on your blog posts, check that one out here! Now, let's get into it.

When it comes to your website, it is critical to track your analytics so that you can ensure everything is running as it should be. In this post, we will talk about several different metrics but a big chunk of them will be found within Google Analytics. Inside Google Analytics, there are THOUSANDS of metrics to look through and it can be easy to become overwhelmed, but do not be scared away! Today we are going to be breaking down 7 of the most important website marketing metrics and why they are useful. Keep reading to learn more!

Website Marketing Metric #1: Overall Traffic

Overall traffic is a key metric to start with, as it will show you the total amount of visitors that are visiting your website. If you are just starting out, this number will be on the lower end. That is okay! Take this information and use it to formulate a marketing plan to bring in more visitors. You can also use your findings to better assess how your website is performing based on your specific industry standards.

To find the Overall Traffic, first, click on Audience and then Overview. From this page, you are able to see a live count and can even mess around with date ranges in the upper right-hand corner to see how certain periods of time compared to others. *This is useful when tracking promotions/special offers or any kind of advertising campaign you ran.*

Website Marketing Metric #2: Time Spent On Your Website

Our society is impatient. We know what we want and if a website isn't delivering, we will click off faster than we clicked on! Research shows that you have on average, about 15 seconds or less to rope a visitor in and make them stay. Based on this statistic, it is critical that you are quickly and effectively communicating your UVP (Unique Value Proposition) so that you can portray to your visitors exactly what it is your company is about and why they should choose you to work with.

By tracking and monitoring the number of time visitors are spending on your website, you are able to get a better understand if your graphic design and content is catching the viewers attention (and better yet, keeping it!). It is typically advised that you aim for a session that lasts a little bit above 2 minutes for a more niched website. To find this information, go to Audience and then Overview.

Website Marketing Metric #3: Returning Visitors

It is a great idea to track your returning visitors because they are coming back to check out your website again! This behavior is showing that they have vested an interest in your brand and your business. If your website is creating and producing top-notch blog content, videos, eBooks, and more, then people will continue to return to see what new information you have to offer them.

In order to locate this information in Google Analytics, go to Audience, then click the Behavior drop-down and select New vs. Returning!

Website Marketing Metric #4: Pages Per Visit

Pages per visit an important metric because it helps you to understand if your entire website is providing value to its visitors. A lot of times, someone might be coming to read a blog post or check out a specific landing page. They then might go visit your Meet The Team page, your resource library, or your Services tab. It is fairly common to have about 1 to 2 pages per session.

To locate this, go to Audience and then Overview.

Website Marketing Metric #5: Social Sharing

This is a huge one! The world revolves around social media and social sharing. Allowing those who visit your site to share your content goes beyond a good idea, it is necessary! If you are going to ask people to share your content, make sure you are providing them with value that will make it easy for them to share. By doing this you are opening yourself up to a whole new audience and a lot more traffic opportunities!

A big mistake that a lot of advisors make is that they aren't generating traffic and quality leads to their website. In our (almost) completely digital world, it is more important than ever to be generating leads for your website. Lead generation can be tricky. In fact, according to Hubspot, 61% of companies say that lead generation is their biggest marketing challenge. If you worry that you are missing out on an opportunity with your lead generation efforts, you can go to tryhyperchat.com and set up a call with us. We will handle all of it for you!

Website Marketing Metric #6: Traffic From Social Platforms

It is important to make your posts shareable to get the word out about your brand. Your social platforms can also supply you with important analytics. You can use these analytics and insights to structure how your whole platform is working. Let's break down some of the most common social platforms and where you can find your analytics within them.

First up, Facebook! You can find your analytics for Facebook by going to your company page and clicking Insights. After that, you can view many different things such as Page Views, amount of likes, Post Reach, Post Engagement, and more.

Next is Twitter. Once on your company Twitter page, simply click More on the left-hand column, then click on Analytics. From there you will be able to see how many tweets you have sent, number of impressions, profile visits, and much more!

Last, let's cover LinkedIn analytics. Simply go to the analytics tab near the top left bar on your company page. Inside the analytics section, you will find many cool things such as Visitors, Updates, Followers, and more. You can also note which pieces of content are getting the most engagement!

By staying up to date on all your social media analytics, you can tailor your content around what is performing the best and which topics you can potentially make future blog posts about. In addition to that, it is generally just fun to see how your posts are performing over time!

Website Marketing Metric #7: Organic Search Ranking

Let's talk a bit about organic search. Organic search is referring to any unpaid search results based entirely on certain keywords and the relevance of the search. It is super important that you are measuring your organic search ranking! This way you can track how your website is showing up in search engines (like Google) for certain keywords. When Search Engine Optimization is done properly, it can lead to amazing things! Some of those include more brand awareness, a boost in long-term results, and an increase in clients. Don't put SEO on the backburner!

Take-Home Thoughts

It can seem difficult to keep up with the ever-changing marketing industry. There are so many different tools and platforms out there. It can be hard to know where you should be focusing your efforts. In addition to monitoring these metrics, make sure you are covering your content strategy. Are you producing high-quality content on a regular basis that your target audience would want to read? It is key to consistently put out several different types of content in the form of blogs, podcasts, videos, etc. By keeping up with your content marketing, you will build brand awareness and grow your traffic organically. This will in turn help your website metrics as long as you are always directing people back to your website.

So, keep tracking those numbers and use them to your advantage! If you need more help or have any questions, click here and we can set up a call to over all of your specific needs.