While there are some standard success metrics, such as impressions, clicks, cost per acquisition and other online marketing industry standards that are commonplace in nearly every digital analytics program, there are plenty of other dimensions that are often overlooked. What’s more, the world of Internet advertising and marketing changes constantly, so keeping up with — and staying ahead of — the industry standards is one of the characteristics that ensures you and your team’s products stand out from the competition.
1. Variety of Traffic Sources
More traffic is generally a good thing, but not all sources are created equal — some definitely lead to more conversions than others, and your clientele will want to know that. Furthermore, a range of sources can help ensure there is a constant stream of visitors if an issue such as a search engine penalty or social media crisis pops up.
2. Engagements per Visit
Lots of visits are good, of course, but quality visitors that view several pages, spend a lot of time on the site and otherwise engage with the content are more valuable than one-page visitors. Consider a way to “weigh” or “rank” visitors according to their activity on the site.
3. Bounce Rate by Referral Source
Knowing which sources lead to the highest or lowest bounce rates can help inform future ad buys, content placement and other marketing activities. Plus, it can help make your current campaigns more effective — you have to know when and where visitors are bouncing quickly before you can figure out why and take steps to mitigate any problems.
4. Lead-to-Conversion Ratio
The number of warm or qualified leads (e.g., high-value visitors or clicks) who actually convert is always important to know, and today’s software can make that easy to calculate automatically. Save your clients’ time and resources by helping them calculate this ratio and understand how to make it (even more) positive.
5. Time on Site by Referral Source or Keyword
Knowing which sources send the visitors who spend the most time on your site can be a remarkable insight. For instance, knowing that users from search engines (especially if you can track it down to particular keywords) stay longer on your site or other areas of your brand’s digital presence versus, say, social media users or users who click on your paid search ads is valuable for a number of reasons, including where they click (positioning and placement) and at what time of day.
6. Sentiment by Platform
Facebook users may love you, but LinkedIn users might be indifferent — or vice versa. Knowing where users like you the most and why can help you focus efforts or improve upon problem sites or platforms.
7. Number of Mentions on the Web
The number of times people mention your company’s name or other branded products online is a useful way to measure overall brand awareness; what’s more, you can dig deeper and see where, when and how they discuss your brand — and use that information to adjust and improve your marketing efforts.
8. Branded Search Queries
Ideally, as your company or brand becomes more popular, more users will be searching for your brand or specific products that you offer versus broader key terms. This shows both brand awareness and positive sentiment toward your company or client — which is always a good thing, especially for relatively new products or businesses.
Overall, getting more granular and detailed with your metrics and analytics program tends to pay off, even if takes more effort to set up initially. Basic metrics such as clicks and impressions are useful and necessary of course, but they only tell part of the story.