Understand online marketing metrics.
Marketing metrics and where traffic comes from are issues that are becoming part of a marketer’s everyday job, yet there are so many online marketing metrics to choose it can be difficult to know where to start.
Online measurement is an essential part of keeping on top of whether or not online marketing efforts are feasible. There are many key performance indicators, or KPIs, to pay attention to, but a few are a pivotal part of driving traffic to a website. Here are five core online marketing metrics to note.
The rate at which a site visitor exits a website before investigating other links and information on the site constitutes its bounce rate. For instance, a high bounce rate can indicate that something on the actual website is hampering the browser from adequately using the site. Bounce rates can also help online marketers identify keywords and traffic sources that may be helping direct traffic to their sites. That’s why it’s important to have a solid understanding of the different channels that can potentially drive traffic to a site.
However, a bounce rate can also be high as a visitor has achieved their goal. Perhaps they needed your telephone number, or perhaps they visit the website to go to the online customer service area. So bounce rate can be useful, but must be understood in the context of the organisation.
If there is no good reason for a high bounce rate, this is an indicator of lack of quality on the content. A content audit may be needed.
Understanding where online traffic originates from is vital to knowing where to target potential customers. For example, if a high volume of traffic is originating from social media accounts while on mobile devices, then considering promoting in social media would make sense. Knowing the original path of traffic can also make it easier for online marketing professionals to know what keywords are working for them. This helps them to better optimize their websites so that visitors can find it with ease.
The time it takes to convert an individual from browsing a site to buying, or whichever action an online marketer intends for the individual to take, is a vital metric to include as part of any online marketer’s KPIs. This action could include buying shoes from a fashion e-commerce site or registering for a webinar for an online learning website. Many web analytics programs provide conversion rate KPIs as a standard, because it can provide business profitability insight. For example, conversion rates can be used to predict future sales based on a specific time frame.
Although different industries can have different standards for conversion rate metrics, 1.5 percent is considered the average conversion rate for e-commerce sites, as of 2016. Since it can directly affect revenue, the rate of conversion is one of the most important metrics to consider.
The amount of times a site visitor comes back to the site is important to know, because it can provide a clue on what may be driving interest. For example, if the visitor loyalty rate decreases during the summer as opposed to the winter, it may be indicative of peak within a season for a product or service. This can be helpful in knowing what campaigns to deploy at specific times to increase site traffic. Additionally, online marketing professionals can gain insight by understanding why visitors are loyal to the site. If the loyalty rate is increasing at a specific step, this may be indicative of a specific item of interest.
Retention rate is also known as ‘dwell time’ and online marketers should note the rate at which buyers or existing customers stay on their sites. For example, a retention rate can help unveil if a sale helped to influence the amount of time a customer stays on the site or not. Although these rates can be complex to measure if a service or product life cycle is short, it still plays an integral role in online measurement.
Measuring the performance of a website does not have to be a hard task. It’s important for online marketing professionals to consider metrics that make sense to fulfill business needs, including business goals. Additionally, online marketers should choose metrics that fit into their online measurement requirements and directly impact their business. By taking these tips into consideration, online marketing professionals can gather the insight they need to better formulate optimization strategies to make the site more productive.
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