Tracking Blog KPIs

How to Track Your Blog Metrics to Reach Your Goals

As a business using a blog, it’s important to track your progress and performance over time. This means monitoring key metrics, or key performance indicators (KPIs). By keeping an eye on these you can identify what’s working well and where there’s room for improvement.

There are a number of different KPIs that you can track for your blog, but some of the most important ones include things like page views, unique visitors, time on site, bounce rate, and conversion rate. Tracking these can help you see if there is a decrease in page views or an increase in your bounce rate, for example, and indicate to you that something with your content isn’t working well and needs attention. Similarly, if you see an increase in your conversion rate, this is a good indication that your content is performing well and that readers are finding what they’re looking for.

No matter what KPIs you choose to track, the important thing is to monitor them over time and make changes as needed. By doing so, you can ensure that your blog is always performing at its best and that your content is working for you.

Why Tracking Blog KPIs is Important

There are a number of reasons why tracking your blog’s KPIs is important. First and foremost, it allows you to see how well your blog is performing. If you’re not keeping track of your KPIs, you won’t have any way of knowing whether or not your blog is successful.

Keeping an eye on your blog’s page views, for example, if they begin to decline, you’ll know that you need to take action to increase them.

Common Blog KPIs & Metrics to Track to Measure Success

There are a number of different blog KPIs and metrics that you can track to measure success. Here are a few we’ve found to be the most valuable:

• Page views: This is the total number of times that your blog’s pages have been viewed. This is valuable to understand because it can give you an idea of how much interest there is in your blog.
• Unique visitors: This is the number of people who have visited your blog. This number is important because it gives you an idea of how many people are interested in what you have to say.
• Time on site:  This is the amount of time that people spend on your blog. Tracking this helps you to understand how engaged people are and how long they are spending on reading your content.

Tracking these can give you a good idea of how well your blog is performing and help to identify where improvements can be made. With the knowledge that these provide you can then create a plan and take the necessary steps to address the issue – including,  but not limited to, trying new topics, varying your content, changing your posting schedule, or updating your blog’s design in order to make it more appealing and engaging to readers.

Awareness KPIs

Awareness KPIs are key performance indicators that help you to track the visibility and reach of your blog. Some of the most important awareness KPIs to consider tracking include:

• Traffic: This is the total number of visitors who come to your blog. This is helpful in understanding the overall reach of your blog.
• Social Shares: How often your blog content is shared on social media. Gauging the level of interest in your content and how virally it is spreading.
• Email Subscribers: This is how many people subscribe to your blog via email. This helps you to gauge the level of interest in your content and how many people are willing to receive your content on a regular basis.
• Trackbacks: The number of other blogs that link to your blog. This helps you to gauge the level of interest in your blog and the level of influence your blog has in the blogging community.
• RSS Feed Subscribers: This measures how many people subscribe to your blog via RSS. Determining the level of interest in your content and how many people are willing to receive your content on a regular basis.

By tracking these various KPIs you can get a good idea of how well your blog is performing in terms of reach and visibility. If you see that your traffic or social media engagement is declining, then you’ll know that you need to take action to increase it, such as:

• Promoting your blog content more
• Changing up your content strategy
• Tweaking the design of your blog and content
• Guest posting on other blogs in your niche
• Participating in online and offline communities related to your niche

Analyzing your blog’s KPIs on a regular basis, you can make sure that it’s always heading in the right direction and growing as much as possible.

Engagement KPIs

Engagement KPIs help you to track how engaged your blog’s audience is. To understand how engaged your audience is here are some of the most important engagement KPIs include:

• Average time on page: This is the average amount of time that visitors spend on your blog’s pages and helps you to understand if your content and copywriting is engaging enough to keep people’s attention.
• Bounce rate: This measures the percentage of people who leave your site after only viewing one page. A high bounce rate usually indicates that your content is not relevant to what people are looking for or it’s not engaging enough.
• Scroll depth: This measures how far down people scroll on your pages. Helping you to understand if people are actually reading your content or if they’re just skimming it.
• Comments: This measures the level of engagement with your blog content. Supporting you in understanding if people are engaging with your content and if they’re finding it valuable.
• Social shares: This measures how often your content is shared on social media. This helps you to know if people are finding your content valuable enough to share with their friends and followers.

By monitoring these KPIs consistently you can find out how engaged your blog’s audience is. If you notice that the average time spent on your page is increasing or your bounce rate is declining, you’ll know that you’re on the right track with your content.

Conversion KPIs

Conversion KPIs are key performance indicators that help you to track the number of visitors who take a desired action, such as subscribing to your blog or making a purchase. Some of the most important conversion KPIs include:

• Conversion rate: This number helps you to track how many people are taking the desired action, such as subscribing to your blog or making a purchase and helps you to gauge whether your content is effectively having people to take action.
• Cost per acquisition (CPA): This tracks how much it costs you to get one person to take the desired action and become a customer, such as subscribing to your blog or making a purchase. This also supports you in understanding whether or not your marketing is succeeding in getting people to take action.
• ROI: This is how much money you are making from your website compared to how much you are spending on it. Helping you know whether your website is profitable or not.
• Lifetime value (LTV): This tracks how much money each customer spends on average over the course of their relationship with your company. Providing you with information about whether your products or services are appealing to customers and whether they are likely to continue using them in the future.
• Average order value (AOV): This number tracks the average amount of money that people spend when they make a purchase on your site. Indicating whether your prices are in demand for customers and whether they are willing to spend money on your products or services.
• Sales per visitor: This number helps you to track how much money you are making from each visitor to your website. Helping you determine if your content is effective in getting people to spend money on your site.
• Repeat purchase rate: This tracks how often people come back and make another purchase on your website. Showing the level of customer satisfaction and the strength of your brand.

Conversion KPIs are important because they help you track your progress in achieving your goals. You can see whether your content is effective in getting people to take action and whether your marketing efforts are successful in getting people to become customers.

How Do You Determine Which KPIs and Metrics Are Most Important For Your Blog or Business?

This can be a difficult question, particularly if you are just starting out. A good place to start is by looking at your blog or business goals. What do you hope to achieve? Once you have a good understanding of your goals, you can begin to look at which KPIs and metrics will help you measure your progress.

Some common KPIs and metrics for blogs and businesses include things like traffic, engagement, conversion rate, and revenue. However, there are many other options available, so it is important to choose the ones that are most relevant to your goals.

It can also be helpful to look at what KPIs and metrics other successful bloggers or businesses in your industry are using. This can give you some ideas of which ones might be most useful for you. However, it is important to remember that every blog or business is different, so what works for someone else might not necessarily work for you.

When choosing KPIs and metrics, it is also important to consider how often you will need to track them. Some things, like traffic, might need to be tracked daily or even weekly. Others, like revenue, can be tracked monthly or quarterly.

Choose KPIs and metrics that you can realistically keep track of without getting overwhelmed. Whatever you choose, be sure to commit to reviewing your KPIs and metrics consistently to see how you are doing. This will help you make any necessary adjustments to your blog or business.

Should All Blogs Track the Same KPIs and Metrics, or Should They Tailor Them to Their Specific Niche or Audience?

There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question. The KPIs and metrics that are most important for a given blog will depend on its specific niche or audience. By tailoring your KPIs and metrics to your specific niche or audience, you can get a better idea of what’s important to them and how well your blog is serving their needs. However, there are some general KPIs and metrics that all blogs should track, such as pageviews, unique visitors, time on site, and bounce rate. By tracking these KPIs, you will be able to get a general sense of how your blog is performing and whether or not it is appealing to its target audience.

If you’re not sure which KPIs and metrics are most important for your blog, you can also ask other bloggers in your niche or industry for their advice. Once you have a good understanding of which KPIs and metrics are most important for your blog, you can tailor your content and marketing strategy to focus on those areas.

Which Tools Can Help You Track Your Blog’s Performance and Measure Progress Over Time?

There are a number of different tools that can help you track your blog’s performance and measure progress over time. Some of the most popular tools include:

• Google Analytics: Google Analytics is a free tool that provides detailed insights into your website’s traffic and audience. You can use it to track how many people visit your site, where they come from, and what they do while they’re there.
• Google Search Console:  Google Search Console is a free tool that helps you track your website’s performance in Google search. You can use it to see how often your site appears in search results, and which keywords people are using to find it.
• BuzzSumo: BuzzSumo is a paid tool that allows you to see how your content is performing on social media. You can use it to track which of your articles are being shared the most, and what kind of impact they’re having on your audience.
• Hootsuite Insights: Hootsuite’s Insights platform is a paid tool that provides detailed analytics about your website’s traffic and social media reach. You can use it to track your website’s performance over time, and see which of your articles are being shared the most.
• KISSmetrics: KISSmetrics is a paid tool that provides detailed insights into your website’s traffic and audience. You can use it to track how many people visit your site, where they come from, and what they do while they’re there.

When it comes to tracking your blog’s performance, it’s important to choose the right tools for your specific needs. This will depend on your goals, budget, and  the level of detail you want to see.

But no matter what, using some type of performance tracking tool is essential for understanding your blog’s progress and how it’s impacting your business.

If you’re not sure which tools are right for your blog, it’s a good idea to consult with a professional or ask an expert. They can help you choose the right tools for your needs, goals, and budget.

How Do You Set-up a Dashboard to Track and Monitor Performance (and KPIs)?

There are a number of different ways to set-up a dashboard to track and monitor performance. To get started, you’ll need to create a new account and then add your blog’s URL. Once you’ve done that, there are a few key things you’ll need to do in order to set up a dashboard to track performance for your business:

• First, you’ll need to identify the KPIs that are most important to your business. These will be the metrics that you’ll want to track on your dashboard. It’s also important to remember that your dashboard is only as good as the data you put into it, and you want to ensure that you are choosing the right KPIs to monitor based on your businesses specific needs and goals.
• Once you’ve identified the KPIs that are most important to your business, you’ll need to gather data for those metrics. This data can come from a variety of sources, including financial reports, customer surveys, web analytics, etc.
• Then when you have the data for your KPIs, you’ll need to create a dashboard to display that data. There are a variety of ways to do this, but one popular option is to use a data visualization tool like Tableau or Google Data Studio.
• Make sure your dashboard is actionable. That means, your dashboard should be designed in a way that is easy to use and understand and allows you to take action based on the data you’re seeing. For example, if you’re tracking your blog’s traffic and you see a sudden drop in traffic, you should be able to quickly identify the reason for the drop and take action to fix it.
• Finally, you’ll need to make sure that your dashboard is accessible to the people who need to see it. This might mean sharing it with specific team members or making it available on a company intranet.

By following these steps, you can set up a dashboard to track performance for your business and ensure that you’re always aware of how your company is doing.

Conclusion

Monitoring your blog’s performance is essential for understanding its impact on your business. No matter what KPIs and metrics you choose to track, it’s important to regularly check in on your progress and make sure that you’re on track to meet your goals.

By tracking the right KPIs and metrics, you can get a good idea of how well your blog or business is performing and where you need to make improvements. As detailed above, there are a number of different tools and platforms you can use to track your blog’s KPIs, and it’s important to choose the right ones for your specific needs.

A dashboard can be a great way to keep track of your blog’s performance, by making your dashboard actionable, you can ensure that you’re making the most of the data that you have and using it to improve your blog or business. Thanks for reading!