Metrics can be tedious and overwhelming to some. I was never great at math in school, particularly calculus. So math and numbers are almost like a foreign language to me, and I’m sure many of you feel the same.
But like any foreign language, with a little bit of practice and training, you can learn to read it. Eventually, as you become fluent, you may even begin thinking and dreaming in your new language.
But to reach that level of fluency, sometimes you have to immerse yourself in the world of your new language. So let’s take a deep dive into the world of metrics with some advanced metrics for content marketers. These aren’t your basic stats like pageviews, shares and clicks. These are stats that add a deeper level of context to your marketing, and give you an idea of how you can improve.
Total Time Reading
Total Time Reading is a metric that has gained some steam over the past couple of years, and it is just as it sounds. This is the time an average customer spent on your page of content before converting.
The bottom line, the longer someone spends on your content, the more impactful it is. If these readers convert into leads, they’re doing so because they already trust you, your brand and your content. They aren’t just converting to download whatever freebies you may be offering in return. These are powerful leads.
The unfortunate thing is that there really isn’t a great way to measure Total Time Reading (yet.) But there are a handful of ways to “game” the system. Say you have a content upgrade or other downloadable lead capture tool installed in your post. You could place a webform high on your page and tag convertees as normal leads. Then bury the same conversion point in the text, maybe at the end of the post. These leads would have had to have spent more time reading the post, so they could be tagged differently in your CRM, and treated as warmer leads.
Visits per Visitor
“Visits per visitor” is pretty self-explanatory, but it is a really good metric for measuring the fandom and dedication of your audience. Business owners are often too focused on driving new traffic, but return visitors are much more likely to convert. Return visitors trust you, your content and your business. If you have a high return visitor rate, your content is drawing people back.
Goal Completions
Goal completions requires some set-up on Google Analytics, but this is how you measure conversions on any goal of your choosing. You can set Google Analytics to track your email registrations, sales, clicks to a particular landing page, almost anything. Here’s how to start a goal completion tracker with Google Analytics:
- Create a new goal
- Select the admin tab
- In the view column, click goals
- Click new goal
- Select Custom or Template goals (The Google Analytics Wizard will help walk you through this set up)
Once you have it set up, you can follow the goals right from your Google analytics dashboard, and save yourself some time calculating your conversion rate.
Metrics are a foreign language for many business owners. But with a little knowledge (and a little practice) you can become fluent.
Photo Credit: Dollar Photo Club
Alex Boyer is a Community Manager and Content Ninja for Duct Tape Marketing. You can connect with him on Twitter @AlexBoyerKC
