7 Essential Blogging Metrics Every Business Needs
Blogging is one of the most effective ways for a business to generate quality leads and increase sales.
Or so they say.
But how can you tell if your blog is effectively bringing in revenue? You may have your suspicions about how well it’s performing, but without hard data you don’t really know.
Blogging metrics not only provides a business case for your blog, it also helps you track its performance over time so you can intelligently make adjustments to increase the blog’s effectiveness.
Here are 7 must-use metrics to analyze your business blog’s performance.
7 Blogging Metrics Every Business Should Track
1) Visits
What is it?
Visits measures the number of people who visit your blog. You can track total visits and unique (first-time) visitors.
Why is it important?
Visits tell you how much traffic your blog is generating. Each new visitor is a potential new lead, so it’s helpful to see how much new traffic you’re getting. If all of your visitors are return visitors, you know that you’ve got valuable content that people enjoy, but you’re not generating new leads.
How do I measure it?
There are many tools you can use to track visitors—Google Analytics, KISSMetrics, your CMS stats tools and HubSpot’s analytics.
2) Traffic sources
What is it?
The traffic sources metric tells you where your visitors are coming from.
Why is it important?
Sources data helps you understand your most effective channels and the ones that may need special attention. If you’re getting hardly any traffic from search, chances are your blog isn’t optimized for SEO.
How do I measure it?
Like Visits, you can measure traffic sources with most CMSs, Google Analytics and HubSpot.
3) Top lead/customer gen posts
What is it?
This is the top posts that generate leads or customers.
Why is it important?
Understanding the posts that generate leads or customers gives you insight to see what topics your visitors find most helpful. Capitalize on it by providing related content.
How do I measure it?
Many closed-loop marketing platforms like a quality CRM can provide this information. HubSpot customers can use the Sources tool.
4) Blog leads
What is it?
These are all the leads that came in through your blog.
Why is it important?
This shows the effectiveness of your blog as a whole in generating leads. It’s a critical KPI to demonstrate the value of your blog as a vital marketing tool.
How do I measure it?
Again, a quality CRM can provide this information. HubSpot customers can use the Sources tool.
5) Click-through rate
What is it?
This metric measures the number of visitors who clicked on a link on your blog.
Why is it important?
Click-throughs mean your visitors aren’t just reading and leaving. They’re exploring your site for more valuable information. If a visitor clicks on a link, they’re digging deeper to get to know you more. This helps move them through the buyer’s journey until they’re ready to convert as a customer.
How do I measure it?
Click-through rate is the number of times links (or calls-to-action) are clicked per blog visit. Google Analytics and HubSpot are both excellent tools for automatically generating this metric.
6) Conversion rate
What is it?
Conversion rate is the percentage of visitors who click on a call-to-action (CTA) that converts them to a lead.
Why is it important?
Conversion rate is one of the most valuable blog metrics you can track because it tells you how effective your blog is at converting visitors to leads.
How do I measure it?
Conversion rate is calculated by dividing the number of conversions (clicks on a CTA or link) per unique visitors. A conversion rate of 2% is considered good. You can use Google Analytics or HubSpot to generate the conversion rate for you.
7) Average lead close rate
What is it?
This measures the average rate at which your leads close.
Why is it important?
This shows you the quality of the leads you’re bringing in. A high close rate means you’re bringing in a lot of leads that convert to customers. If you find your rate dropping, then it indicates you may be attracting the wrong kind of lead and you’ll need to start making adjustments in your content. It’s best to track this metric on a monthly basis.
How do I measure it?
Average lead close rate is calculated by dividing the new customers in a month by the leads in that month.
Next Steps
- Want more sales from your blog? Stop trying to sell!
- Want to talk about better business blogging? Connect with me!