5 Huge Reasons You Should Care About Content Marketing Metrics
As any expert with a reputable SEO agency will tell you, content marketing metrics really do matter. They let you know if the content marketing you have in place is great, if it could be better, or if you need to start all over. Along the way, you'll get quite a bit of returns on your investment. Here are a few reasons why paying attention to those metrics matter.
Your Average Page View Time Lengthens
Up to 43% of the average marketing budget is spent for online content, but only around 23% of CMOs believe they have golden combo of perfect data, format, target demographic, and timing. Could things be better? The metrics will tell you.
The page view time has to do with how long visitors are reading the content on your pages. It's true people often scan to see if what they want is on a page. That's why you are paying for content that has real value. What you should be seeing is that visitors linger there for more than a few seconds. Ideally, you want them to remain there long enough to actually read what's on the page.
Use metrics to see which pages are holding the attention of your visitors. Also use them to identify pages that see a lot of hit and run action. The latter pages need work. If you change the content, images, and make sure everything loads quickly. you will see your page view time improve significantly.
More People Come Back Again and Again
The metrics also let you know when you have recurring traffic. You want content that makes people come back to read something again or look for something else because they liked what your pages provided last time.
Part of any viable SEO strategy is not just to generate one-time traffic. You want recurring visitors as well as new ones. That means keeping the content engaging, informative, and up to date.
Your metrics help you track trends for new and recurring traffic. If you see either one beginning to drop off, that's a sign to make changes and start attracting notice again before everybody finds some other place to hang out. Step back and objectively seek answers to questions about the quality, relevance, and overall value of what's on your pages. If it no longer clicks with your target audience, get rid of the old and bring on some new content.
Generating Leads from Visits
How many of those site visits are converting into viable leads? This is another area where your metrics can come in handy. They can help you understand the real numbers associated with new and recurring visits and people who actually express some type of interest in what your company has to offer.
So how do you motivate readers to become leads? Make it easy for them to give you more information. Have something at the end of every page or every blog post that makes it easy for them to contact you. Make sure you have a process in place to acknowledge that contact without delay.
You'll soon see which pages and which posts resonate with your audience. If you have some that don't seem to click but they have some great information, turn them into infographics and use them to enhance the pages. You can even do that with pages that perform well. The result is often more responses and more leads for your sales team to work.
More Backlinks
Who's linking back to your content from their pages? Are they being shared on social media or referenced on other websites? Metrics help you get an idea of where your traffic is coming from. You may be surprised how much is coming from direct links on other sites and not from organic searches.
In a perfect world, you want love from the search engines and your readers liking your content so much that they are willing to put their reputations on the line and link back to one of your posts or pages. If you know which pages or posts are being backlinked, that provides clues about what people find interesting. It also gives you an idea of which posts or pages need some work before they lead to more backlinks.
Improving Your Search Engine Rankings
If you won't know what keeps people coming back, you kiss the hope of ranking higher in search engine results goodbye. Metrics help you understand how your currently rank and give you ideas on how to improve that ranking.
You can often do that by checking out similar blogs and sites that happen to rank higher than yours. What are they doing that you aren't? Implementing those ideas and measuring how they affect your traffic will tell you if things are on the right track or if you need to try something else.
Metrics also help with social media, guest posts on blogs, and even local ads. Talk with an expert today and learn how to put those metrics to good use. The impact on your bottom line will be surprise you.