Statistics is not a fun topic; however, when it comes to website data, the metrics your site gathers are highly valuable. Data shows if your website design is effective or not, if users have a good experience and so much more. All of this information is important for the overall of success of your business.
Having a beautiful website is wonderful. We all appreciate a lovely website; however, if that beautiful website is converting, then your business has a major problem. Tracking metrics is a way to measure the success of your company.
Why Do Website Metrics Really Matter?
Measuring the performance of your business website is essential—it’s a way to measure not only how well the website is doing but can even affect the success of your business. With website metrics, you know what aspects need to be improved.
For instance, if you have a high bounce rate on content pages, this could mean that site visitors are not finding the information they’re searching for. Or a high bounce rate on a sales page could indicate that visitors wanting to make a purchase have a difficult time with the shopping cart.
Monitoring and analyzing website data is main way to discover these types of issues. With this information, you’ll be able to fix those issues that are causing visitors problems, which can lead to higher conversion rates, which means more revenues for your business. This is why website metrics matter.
Which Website Metrics are the Most Important?
Your company website may generate all kinds of data, so which ones should you focus on? We’ve put together a list of the most important data points to monitor on your website:
1). Number of visitors & their source: do you know how many visitors come to your site each month? Do you know where they come from? These are key bits of data that are essential for your business. Why? Because you need to learn who your audience is and where they come from (what country or region, for instance). If your website isn’t targeted to the right audience, then your company is losing business. With the focus on the right target audience, your business has a chance to grow and flourish.
Drawing in the right audience is done by creating content site visitors need, offering products and services they want, and more.
What about traffic spicks, or those times when traffic decreases. Do you know what causes these? It’s important to try to learn what is causing these spikes and declines in traffic. For instance, have you noticed an increased number of visitors before a holiday, but have low conversion rates? This could mean you’re not targeting the right audience and/or not offering the right services and products to meet their needs.
As well as where visitors come from, knowing the source they are coming from can also provide valuable information. Are they finding your site through a Google search, from social media platforms, or a referral link?
Knowing the trends on your site provides valuable information on your audience, as well as what they need and want. Gearing your website to your audience increases the chances of your business becoming a success, or not.
2). Bounce rate: we mentioned the bounce rate in the previous section, but here, we’ll give you a few more details on this very important website metric.
What is the bounce rate? This is the percentage of site visitors who visit a page and then quickly leave the site. A high bounce rate, even on one page of your site, indicates there’s a problem. It’s crucial to understand what’s causing visitors to leave your site.
A high bounce rate may indicate:
- Visitors are not finding content and information they need
- Visitors may not find the products and services they want
- Changes or updates could have made the site more difficult to use
- And more
Finding and fixing the source of the high bounce rate is crucial to your company’s bottom line. This metric can help you with this process, making it easier to know which improvements and changes will lower the bounce rate, and potentially increase the conversion rate.
3). Average time on page: do you know how long visitors stay on your site or specific pages? Do they stay long enough to convert? People have short attention spans and are frankly short on time. They want to access information and/or make a purchase easily and quickly.
If site visitors stay on your page long enough, then your content is effective, and the buying process is easy and fast. However, if visitors stay on the site for only a short time, this is another important indication that they’re having some kind of issues interacting with the site.
4). CTA click-through rate: this is a crucial metric to watch on your website. Why? Because CTAs (Calls to Action) are what drive your company’s success. If CTAs are not effective, your business will suffer.
If you have low CTA rates, then you’ll need to make some changes to make visitors convert. It may be necessary to conduct A/B testing in order to determine where to place the CTA, its size, as well as which design, text, colors, fonts, and more are the most effective.
One way to improve CTAs is to keep them from looking spammy. Colors should make the CTA standout, without looking sleazy. This process may feel like walking a tightrope, but it’s necessary to conduct the testing. You’ll have the data to help guide business decisions and create the most effective CTA to increase your conversion rate.
5). Conversion rate: we’ve mentioned this metric earlier in the article, but do you know what it is and why this is an important piece of data?
Your site’s conversion rate is very important, especially if you have an e-commerce site. Keep in mind there’s more than one conversion rate including:
- Landing page conversion rate
- Email conversion rate
- Visitor-to-lead conversion rate
- Lead-to-customer conversion rate
- And more
Just know that your conversion rate(s) need to be high in order to earn revenue and grow your company. A low conversion rate is an indication there’s a problem that keeps site visitors from converting into customers.
Your company website is a major resource of crucial metrics. Learning how to interpret website metrics and then apply them means all the difference between your business being a success or not.
