Blog metrics are numbers that tell important information about processes in a blog.
While these metrics aren’t 100% accurate, they’re still helpful in understanding how various blogging processes function.
In my view, the metrics are a way of measuring your blog’s success, so it’s important to take them seriously if you want to become a successful blogger.
Metrics Every Blogger Needs to Track to Measure Success
The most important metrics track include Bounce Rate, Social Shares per Blog Post, Average Inbound Links per Blog Post, Conversion Rate, Number of Blog Posts, Total Email Subscribers, and Pageviews.
1. Bounce Rate
Bounce Rate is the number of times visitors come to your blogs, look at your content, don’t interact with either of the posts and then exist your website.
The bounce rate metric is a more useful than traffic stats because it measures your readers’ interest.
If the content on your blog doesn’t provide what your visitors are looking for, you end up getting a high bounce rate. It may also mean you are getting the wrong visitor to your site.
A bounce rate of 25% to 40% is great but any rates higher than 70% mean the wrong people are visiting your blog.
2. Pageviews
Pageviews are the number of times visitors view your pages on your blog. Pageviews are recorded when visitors land on pages on your website, with any refresh done considered a page visit.
Use your hosting provider to track accurate pageviews or you can use Google Analytics for the same.
The number of visitors visiting different pages on your blog will differ because of the radical difference in audience, goals, and niche.
3. Time Spent on Page
Knowing the amount of time your visitors spend on your blog pages is also important. Although this might be a hard metric to track, Google Analytics offers an average breakdown for every page on your website.
This metric is important because it tells you whether your blog is attracting the traffic you intended. A low time on the page can mean a lot, from low-quality content to a poorly designed page.
The average time a visitor should spend on either of the pages should be at least 15 seconds. A well-designed page with high-quality content will keep your visitor on the page for a long time.
4. SERP Rankings
Every page on your blog falls on a different position in SERPs for keywords and a group of words. You can use the Semrush or Ahrefs to monitor your SERP rankings. Tracking your ranking on SERP is important because it tells whether your SEO efforts are paying off.
5. Social Shares per Blog Post
Knowing how your posts are performing on social media in terms of shares is also important, even if your targeted platform is distinctive to your marketing plan.
A tool like the Hootsuite will help you to keep track of how your pages are performing on social media platforms.
Why Should You Track Metrics on Your Blog?
You should track your blog’s metrics because they help you to:
1. Measure Blog Growth over Time
Keeping track of your blog metrics gives you an insight into how your website is performing over time as it continues to grow and thrive.
Blog metrics make it possible for you to know what’s working and what’s not working, making it easy for you to make the necessary adjustments to keep your blog on track for success.
2. Know Your Audience & Create Relevant Content
Knowing your audience makes it easier to create content that will serve their needs and interests.
Therefore, take time to come up with relevant topic ideas and campaigns that will serve your readers when creating content for your blog. That way you are also able to attract more visitors to your blog hence developing leadership.
3. Boost Traffic and Conversion
Monitoring how your blog is doing gives you an idea of how you are getting new visitors to your website. Tracking the metrics also tells you what content on your website makes visitors your subscribers.
The metrics can also give the idea of what causes your audiences to unsubscribe from your newsletter. With blog analyses, you can adjust your email pop-ups, landing pages, and lead magnets to increase traffic and conversions.
Best Tools for Tracking Blog Metrics
Once you start a blog, it is important to monitor how readers are interacting with the content you publish as well as how the search engines treat your work.
You not only want to make sure your content attracts more visitors but also keep them engaged throughout the buyer journey.
With that said, here are the five tools that I recommend you use to track your blog’s metrics:
1. Tableau
Tableau is an all-in-one analysis tool that helps website owners to understand and visualize their blogs. With Tableau, you can keep an eye on the numbers that matter.
2. Google Analytics
Google Analytics is one of the best blogging tools that doesn’t charge you a cent and is still rich in data. Google Analytics can combine all your marketing efforts since it is part of the larger Google marketing platform.
3. Semrush
Semrush is also an awesome tool that will track your blog’s rank position, keywords, social shares, traffic, and backlinks among others. The tool also offers recommendations for optimizing posts on your blog.
4. HubSpot Marketing Hub
HubSpot Marketing Hub will help you identify what is working and what’s not working for your blog. The tool will monitor your searches, social media ads, and PPC to mention just a few.
5. Momently
Momently will tell you how long visitors were on an article, and where next they went after landing on the page. The terms used on Momently are simple and the analytics dashboard is the same as that of Tableau.
In my view, Momently is an analysis tool to opt for if you are looking for term simplicity.
For example, instead of using terms such as session duration and bounce rate, the tool frames the terms in simple language that is to understand.
Conclusion
I take blog metrics seriously because they’re important.
I suggest you do the same because there is no better way to know if your blog is growing than with the help of blog metrics.