Metrics and Websites

Metrics and websites—what are we talking about?

Having a functional website for your business is without a doubt a necessity. In a world where there is increasing ongoing activity via the internet, having a website is a pertinent step. This gives your brand the chance to compete in a saturated sphere. We previously outlined 7 key reasons why your business needs a website. That illustrates a need for a website for small and medium business owners intending to grow or scale up their businesses.

Owning a website is not where it ends; you have a responsibility to keep a close eye on certain metrics or performance indicators. These metrics point to the performance of your website. These indicators ultimately measure if the website is on track to help your business achieve its goals.

What are Website Metrics?

Website metrics refer to statistics or figures that measure the performance of a website relative to its goals. They measure the various activities on the website in numbers and draw comparisons between them and what is expected of the website. These are usually presented in rates, percentages, numbers, and ratios.

5 Metrics you should pay attention to on your website

Website Traffic Metrics

This is the measurement (quantitative) of various visitor activities on your website. The website traffic metric is a combination of metrics clustered into one for the convenience of this conversation. This metric involves sub-metrics such as the number of visits to the website, the length of their stay, the pages they visited, and the traffic source itself.

This metric is important as it measures how well your website attracts visitors. A negative trend here will be a pointer to adjusting web content, landing page rejuvenation, and so on. Also, the traffic metric helps uncover visitor behavior on your website; the top pages they often visit and their sessions per page are pointers to their behaviors and interests. By paying close attention to these metrics, you will be in tune with their interests. This informs a web strategy that will in the long run prove efficient in bringing your business closer to its immediate and long-term goals.

Bounce Rate

This metric shows the number or percentage of your website visitors who leave without taking further action on your website. Also called single-page sessions, bounce rates often point to a lot of things being wrong or right. A healthy bounce rate is tallied around 40% and below; sometimes, it gets as high as 70% or higher.

With an enormous bounce rate, there is a need to revisit your website’s content and overall structure. However, a high bounce rate does not equate to ills on the website. Most visitors seeking specific information often just leave after viewing just a page and that is understandable. However, it is still very important to keep an eye on the bounce rates as they go higher or lower.

Engagement rate/Metrics

The engagement rate describes the number of active sessions carried out by website visitors. Directly opposite to the bounce rate, the engagement rate is calculated by computing the total number of interactions divided by the total number of website visitors multiplied by 100%. This metric is pertinent as an increase correlates to an increase in loyalty and brand advocacy amongst your target audience. A decline here most likely signals a slump in the aforementioned and calls for a review of the website’s content, structure, or marketing strategy.

Top Pages

This refers to the pages with the highest visits and activities on your website. This metric points to unexploited strategic opportunities in most cases. If your most-performing page is the homepage, for example, it is a huge pointer to the efficiency of search and paid campaigns promoting such and ought to be utilized in creating leads and conversions for your blooming brand.

Conversion Rates/Metrics

Conversion rates describe the percentage of visitors who carry out the desired action on your site. Signups, downloads, adding to cart, purchases, and orders are all conversions depending on your goals for the website, as long as they are desirable actions. Every business desires an increase in its conversions. This is why it is highly recommended that you keep a close eye on these metrics to observe and take necessary action when they seem to be declining.

Conclusion

There are over a thousand website metrics to watch out for, each equally as important as the next. Keeping an eye on them all, however, can be overwhelming. This is why, in this post, we have focused on key website metrics, which directly point to the performance of a website relative to its goals.

The website traffic metric looks at the source and visit numbers of traffic, the bounce rate, which involves the percentage of web visitors who carry out only the landing action on your website, the engagement rate, which focuses on the successive sessions by website visitors, the top pages, which show the best-performing pages on one’s website, followed by the conversion rate, which translates to the percentage of website visitors who carried out the desired action on the website. Paying close attention to these metrics would ensure you are in touch with your website performance and would immediately notice when anything goes south.

BexIT can help keep an eye on these metrics while offering world-class recommendations to keep your brand ahead of the curve and your competition.