Websites can be stunning. In fact, the most outstanding ones can be true works of art. Uncluttered, easy-on-the-eyes, and simple-to-navigate websites are among the most appealing.
You can’t, however, judge a website by its cover. You must go into the data and statistics to properly understand how effective your website is.
While it’s not always about the nice colors, fonts, and textures when it comes to gauging performance, Google Analytics is color-coordinated for all of you right-brainers. And for all the left-brainers out there, this is your opportunity to shine.
When evaluating the effectiveness of your website, data and analytics must be the foundation. The best marketing agencies provide expert analysis in this field. So, what metrics should you be paying attention to? Let’s have a look at what we’ve got.
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Contents
What are the key metrics you should be tracking for your site?
Traffic reveals more about the effectiveness of your advertising than it does about your website. So, not to waste money on futile advertisements, you should track metrics to help you see where there’s room for improvement.
For example, most websites are built and maintained for a single audience. This means if you have a product that only appeals to that audience, a high amount of traffic to your site will be unnecessary, and it is less likely that the customers will be returning to your site often.
However, if your website is of a renowned web design agency in Florida, chances are that you will have not only many new customers but also returning customers, to brush up on the design or see what else the company has to offer.
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How metrics reflect in revenue
Most websites generate revenue in one of two ways: by running ads on your website or by charging a fee to those who would like to purchase what you are offering.
In order to understand this, your website’s performance has to be broken down by revenue streams.
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Unique Visitors
Identifying a website’s visitor demographics is a relatively straightforward task. You need only measure the number of visits to your site as opposed to other sites within a similar vertical.
Chances are, you’ve already figured out how many unique visitors your website has. But what about how they arrive? This metric is important because it reveals the type of content that leads to each unique visitor, as well as a visitor’s demographics.
Do you know the average age of your website visitors? This metric is critical because, contrary to popular belief, not all visitors are the same age. Take time to determine the average age of your visitors. Then, measure how this number changes with different user data sources.
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Pageviews
When it comes to measuring website usability and analytics, pageviews are king. It all boils down to what most website owners get wrong, and a big part of that is always measuring by numbers and not focusing on conversions.
Pages in Google Analytics are measured as ‘visits’ (includes app installs), and they’re one of the key signals to compare between websites, regardless of their operating systems, network access, or technology used. So, if you don’t get your conversions right, you won’t see progress towards your goals.
Did you know, for instance, that people on desktop have as much difficulty reading multi-page forms as people on mobile? This should be a huge wake-up call for those of you who are still measuring your site based on pageviews alone.
Organic Traffic
Unpaid search results bring organic visitors to your site. This traffic is crucial since it is not only practically free, but it also indicates that your site is ranking high in search engines, showing that it is healthy and performing well across hundreds of variables.
You can measure how effective your SEO efforts are by tracking organic traffic. The higher the organic traffic is, the more successful your SEO is, and you need to keep doing it.
If months go by and your organic traffic is still close to zero, you are due for a little change of pace in your marketing efforts.
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Bounce Rate
In 2013, Google announced that the average bounce rate for desktop users worldwide was 20%. In order to pinpoint which pages are responsible for setting users free, Google began calculating bounce rates for both desktop and mobile devices. The difference in these figures is a significant 60%.
Despite being a standard metric for measuring bounce rate, bounce rate only tells you a portion of the story. At the end of the day, these numbers don’t tell you how many users are actually able to find your content on the first or second pages of Google.
Instead, it’s your visitor’s intent and keywords that matter. And a better understanding of these variables can help you better reach your goals.
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Average time spent on a page
How much time do your visitors spend on your pages? Is it long enough for you to convey your message?
Perhaps you have educational videos on your site that you want your users to view. Is your average time on page reflecting that your visitors are staying long enough to view the videos if the videos are on average four minutes long?
Examine which sources are providing you with the most qualified visitors who spend enough time on your site, just as you would when assessing your bounce rate.
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Click-Through Rate of CTAs
CTAs (calls-to-action) are an important part of any web page. You must send your visitors to the next step in the process (i.e., download now, view more, add to cart).
If your CTAs aren’t being clicked, you’ll need to make some adjustments to encourage your visitors to take the next step toward becoming customers and click for info.
CTAs are a great spot to experiment with placement, size, style, and language to see what motivates people to click through.
Make an effort to choose colors that stand out yet do not appear obnoxious. Make your CTAs appealing enough to click while remaining valuable and unobtrusive. It’s a balancing game, but with some trial and error, you’ll find the best approach.
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Conversion Rate
If your website isn’t converting customers, how will you survive? The conversion rate is a key metric for all businesses, regardless of niche. It reflects how many customers were successfully converted into customers in a given period.
And the conversion rate is determined by the flow of traffic into your website. This is the number of unique users you have on your website in a given period. What’s more, the conversion rate is reported as a percentage.
For example, let’s say that 1,000 users visit your website in a given period. But 1,000 of them complete a purchase. That would mean that of the 1,000, you have 400 conversions. Or 1.4%.
If you can’t convert at least 3.5% of your traffic, you’re not optimizing for the customer’s benefit.
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Goal Conversions
Goals are created by the people who visit your website, and the data collected from your website is an indication of what’s important to the visitor.
You’ll get the most valuable insights into what your visitors value most by looking at where they land within the website:
By simply looking at the navigation bar of your website, you can gauge how many goals your visitors have. Which type of goal should you focus on to make the most of your website?
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Number of Pixels Visited
The number of pixels that have been “zoomed in” on your website may not mean much to the first-time visitor. However, when you focus on the details of your website and where visitors spend most of their time, the data tells the story of your site.
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Social Media Sharing
Social media is a major driving force for website visitors. But it can be difficult to see what’s working and what’s not.
You may have thought that being present on social media was the critical component of your website’s success. Now you know differently. You should have many social media profiles, and this information can be stored in your Google Analytics account.
This will allow you to keep a detailed inventory of the social media outlets for your website. If you’re putting a lot of effort into optimizing your social media presence, consider using your analytics to take a closer look at the organic reach of each social media platform.
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Conclusion
There is no set-in-stone list of metrics that every website must achieve in order to be successful.
However, there are a few metrics that every website owner must at least be aware of to make changes as needed and perform at their highest level.
Impress your audience and make them want to keep coming back for more. Pitch headlines that grab attention. Have interesting content, and be present on social media. Create organic traffic with CTAs.
Stay visible, stay relevant, and you will have traffic and customers.
Author bio
Travis Dillard is a business consultant and an organizational psychologist based in Arlington, Texas. Passionate about marketing, social networks, and business in general. In his spare time, he writes a lot about new business strategies and digital marketing for DigitalStrategyOne.
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