How to Measure Website Success
Do you have a highly effective website? If you aren’t sure, it’s time to roll up your sleeves and find out. Tracking key metrics over time will give you valuable insights and allow you to capitalize on opportunities and track improvements.
But, what numbers should you be looking at? With the plethora of data and information available, it can be difficult to pinpoint key metrics. That’s why we’ve pulled together 10 key metrics to determine your website’s design and development effectiveness. From engagement to usability to functionality, these metrics will provide a comprehensive overview of the health of your website. Best of all? You can access them all in Google Analytics.
“A websites success is measured by how well it achieves business goals.”
– John Vachalek, Founder Webolutions Web Design Company
Top 10 Website Performance Metrics to Determine Website Effectiveness
1. Overall Traffic
This is the first place to start when determining the overall effectiveness of your site. Healthy ranges will vary, but ultimately this will determine how effective your overall marketing campaigns are. If you are just beginning to track these measurements, this will serve as an essential benchmark to determine if your site is growing.
2. Organic Traffic
Organic traffic comes to your site through unpaid search results (aka Google, Bing, etc.). This traffic is extremely important because it is not only essentially free, but means your site is ranking well in the search engines, indicating that your site is healthy and measuring well across hundreds of factors. Tracking organic traffic will allow you to see how effective your SEO efforts are.
3. Bounce Rate
A visit is only valuable if they stay to see your site. Bounce rate measures visitors who navigate away from your site after only visiting one page. A low bounce rate indicates an engaging website with great design and content. There are some occasions where a high bounce rate may be okay – like a website designed to provide users with everything they need on one page (ex. Q&A or help section), but as a whole, the lower the better.
4. Average Time on Site
Similar to bounce rate, average time on site is a great indicator of the engagement on your site. Visitors aren’t going to spend much time on a site they don’t find valuable or engaging. However, depending on your business, too much time on a site could indicate problems for the user experience. If the goal of your site is to move customers quickly through a process (ie find directions, order a pizza), then you may want to investigate where hang ups are occurring.
5. Average Page Views Per Visit
Paired with time on site, average page views per visit should give you a pretty good picture of your sites content and design as it relates to engagement. Visitors viewing multiple pages means your website is engaging and has a good flow. Typically the higher the better.
6. Conversions
Conversions extend far beyond sales and can be set up in Google Analytics to track actions taken. Typical conversions range from form completions to email sign ups to even click-to-chat options. Since every business is different, you’ll want to configure the conversions that matter most to your company’s bottom line. Keep in mind, some conversions may not directly impact revenue, but mark an important step in the customer journey.
7. Keyword Rankings
It’s hard to beat free and keyword rankings are a great indication of free traffic potential. Consistently tracking movements of your top keyword rankings provides accountability for your SEO efforts and allows you to quickly jump on keyword opportunities.
8. Website Speed
Website speed has massive implications on your user experience and overall site performance. Visitors won’t want wait around for your site to load. Site speed is also a Google ranking factor. You should shoot to have a site load time under 2-3 seconds. Anything above 5 seconds will likely cost you tremendously. Be sure to keep an eye on your site speed as it can change frequently and will wreak havoc on your other KPIs.
9. Broken Links
Broken links can be detrimental to your visitor flow. If your site is performing well and getting clicks, one of the worst things it can do is bring users to an invalid page via a broken link. Shoot for zero broken links by addressing any you find as quickly as possible.
10. Backlinks
Measuring and tracking the quantity, quality and velocity of backlinks (links back to your site across the web) will provide great insight into the relevancy of your content. Visitors who find your website valuable are likely to share links with their network. As a result, backlinks are one of the ultimate signs of credibility which is why they’ll help your SEO rankings too. A site that people want to share is a high performing website indeed.
How to Measure Website Success / Effectiveness
We recommend tracking each of these ten metrics on a regular basis (typically monthly). This will allow you to see improvements over time and also alert you of any anomalies. User behavior and websites are constantly evolving, so it’s important to use these metrics to dictate what changes may be needed over time. What worked for high effective websites five years ago isn’t the same as what’s working today. Even still, what’s working today will eventually be outdated as well.
Should you need help in setting up your reporting or improving any of these key metrics, give Webolutions a call at 303-300-2640. We are a website design company in Denver, specializing in designing highly effective websites, creating and analyzing data and developing unique marketing strategies designed to succeed.
