These metrics will help you determine whether your content is successful.
Content marketing is one of the most effective and highest-ROI strategies in your marketing arsenal, but how can you tell if it’s working?
Too many content marketers make the error of flatly assuming that their content work is effective. Instead, it’s better to rely on objective evidence; what do the numbers tell you about your strategy, and what actions can you take from here?
If you have a Google Analytics account (as you should—it’s completely free) you’ll already have access to some of the most important metrics to determine your content’s performance, including:
- Organic traffic. Organic traffic is a measure of how much traffic your post has generated through search engines. Assuming your domain authority is reasonably high and you’ve targeted decent keywords, you should be able to get a good position in search engine results pages (SERPs). If you get lots of traffic, it means your headline and description are good at pulling people in.
- Referral traffic. You should also support your onsite content with offsite content, including links pointing back to your page. These links will generate referral traffic; how much are each of your posts producing?
- Time spent on page. Time spent on page is a measure of how long your readers spend engaging with your material. Generally speaking, the longer, the better.
- Exit rate/bounce rate. Exit rate and bounce rate are separate metrics that tell you the same thing: how many people leave your site after seeing this page. Some people will bounce no matter what, but the lower this rate is, the better.
- Conversion rate. How many people convert after reading this post? This could be a result of the strength and placement of your CTAs, but it could also be a result of your content quality.
If you’re practicing search engine optimization (SEO), it’s also a good idea to scope out your keyword rankings over time—though this may not be a direct indication of the quality of your content.
If you’re interested in better evaluating your content marketing performance, or if you’re looking for assistance creating content, contact Quez Media for a free consultation today!
