Your corporate website is your center of operations. As far as your customers are concerned, your website is a reflection of your brand as a whole.
When you use your website, not only Attract potential customers But in order to generate income, it is very important to understand the relationship between people and it.
When you click on your Site structure And the journey of your visitors on your website, it can help you identify weaknesses in public-facing business areas, The hole in your funnel, And missed the conversion opportunity.
This is why it is so important to identify and measure the correct network metrics.
What are network indicators?
Web metrics are numerical indicators of your website’s performance and usage.
Any data that can be measured and related to your website is a network indicator. For example, the number of users your website receives in a given time period is a network metric that can indicate the size of your customer base or the success of your marketing campaign.
Web metrics are useful because they can help you improve specific areas of your website, which in turn can have a greater impact on your business. For example, certain network metrics can help you spot errors on unconverted pages on your website.By correcting the problem and making the page more user-friendly, you can not only increase the conversion rate, but also maintain Repeat customers Switch to this page again and again.
You can collect web metrics in many ways, but the simplest and most effective method is to use the built-in data collection function of the host. If your site host does not have these features, you can choose to purchase software that can collect this data for you.
Top 10 Web Metrics to Monitor
You can collect many metrics for your website, but choosing the right metrics can save time and labor costs. These ten web indicators are one of the most useful indicators for making practical and effective changes to your website and business.
1. Average time on page
This metric will tell you the average time customers spend on each page of your website. The usefulness of this indicator depends on the site area it refers to.
For example, imagine using this indicator in a long blog post on “How to conduct a successful Instagram marketing campaign.” Through a quick test, you determine that it takes seven minutes to read the full text and about two to three minutes to browse important information.
Users who stay on this page for less than a minute may think this is not helpful to them.Due to the specific nature of the title, you may need to recheck your Content creation strategy.
In contrast, users spending far more than 7 minutes on this page may have difficulty understanding certain concepts. This may indicate that you need to add more practical tips to your content.
2. Error rate
This indicator will help you improve the overall usability of your website.
Simply put; customers want an effective website. If your business page has a high error rate, you may encounter many frustrated customers who may be interested in your product or service but cannot access it.
In order to reduce the error rate, you need to look at the possible causes. These can include:
- The server is under too much pressure
- Too many plugins
- Too much content on the page
It is always worth running usability tests on all pages of your website to reduce errors from the start.
3. Conversion rate
There are many ways to measure Exchange rate, Depending on what the customer action is required.
A conversion is when a site visitor completes a prohibited operation, such as buying or registering for a mailing list.
The conversion rate of your website is the ratio of the number of conversions to the total number of visitors.A high conversion rate shows that your brand message is effective and your Sales funnel Strong.
If your analysis shows a low conversion rate, please consider the possible reasons. For example, mailing lists. Do you display the mailing list pop-up window at the appropriate time? Customers are more likely to sign up for a mailing list that they think provides useful advice or some kind of reward.
To increase conversion rate, try Use pop-up windows On the page that contains the most useful information, such as your blog page.
4. Number of visitors
This may seem like a vanity indicator, but if you know how to use the data, there is nothing.
The number of visitors to your website will tell you how big your active audience is.You can compare it with your size Target audience Usually to understand your competitiveness in your own market segment.
This indicator can be used to determine The success of online or content marketing campaigns also. If your number of visitors increases sharply after the event, it is likely to be successful. If the number of visitors increases but sales do not increase, you can analyze which pages are common exit pages and check the weaknesses of these pages.
Repeat visitors show that your brand message is strong and you are retaining customers.
5. Equipment used
It’s always a good idea to know which device your customers use to access your website.
This is because desktop (accessed from a computer or laptop) and mobile (accessed from a tablet or smartphone) sites usually have different layouts and cannot run on other types of devices.
The percentage of mobile traffic to the total network traffic. Image Source.
Most websites have a powerful desktop version because it is built using desktop sites.
However, if you find that many customers come from mobile devices, consider investing resources in Optimize your mobile websiteThis includes ensuring a clear layout and fast loading of any content.
You should also consider whether your customers come to you through a mobile browser or an application.yours App retention rate Will be severely affected by bad functions.
6. Loading speed
Related to the error rate, poor loading speed may affect whether your customers stay on your website for more than a few seconds.
You can produce a great product or service, but first you need to let your customers see it. They need to read its benefits and see what industry advice you have. All of this involves ensuring that website visitors have a positive first impression.
To fix a website that loads slowly, there are a few things you can do. Of course, this is not always a problem for you, but it is best to keep your website in its best functional state.
Plug-ins often slow down websites, especially when they take up a lot of space on the server. You can disable these to see if it can increase your loading speed. You should also make sure not to overload pages with large content files such as videos or large images.
A functional website is the cornerstone of any website Customer cultivation activitiesIf this is part of your strategy, you will need to pay special attention to direct functional indicators, such as loading speed.
7. Exit the page
These pages are the final pages your visitors visit before they leave your website.
Some pages will naturally have a large number of exits-sales confirmation pages or independent blog posts-but other pages may indicate a problem.
If you find that the exit page is not the natural end, you should consider optimizing these pages to prevent visitors from leaving during the visit. For example, test the function of the page and useful information.
8. Session duration
This metric is different from the average length of time on the page, because session duration refers to the overall time the user spends on your website.
A very short session duration may indicate that your sales channel is not strong. Customers may face difficulties logging in, finding the correct information or the correct page.
You can use this indicator to find weaknesses on your website. Ideally, you would know where customers came to your website and the page that caused them to leave.
9. Number of requests per second
This is the number of requests your server receives per second. A large number of requests indicates that you have many people trying to access a certain part of your website.
The main benefit of this indicator is the ability to foresee and prevent future functional problems. A large number of requests means that you should work hard to ensure that your server can handle these requests to avoid timeouts and error messages.
10. Bounce rate
Finally, the bounce rate is the percentage of visitors who enter your website and leave after a single page session.
High rebounds are not always a cause for concern. For example, if a useful blog post gets a lot of traffic, this may result in a higher bounce rate.
However, if a page in your sales funnel has a high bounce rate, then this is most likely wrong.
Final thoughts
Tracking the web metrics of your business website will help you optimize for customer use, promote good customer relationships and potentially increase conversion rates.
If testing each of these indicators is time pressure that your business cannot bear, you can automated test Certain elements of your website. Where this may be beneficial includes simple metrics such as the number of visitors, devices used, and requests per second.
If these indicators indicate that your business website is performing poorly, you should take action based on these indicators. This is an easy way to make your company more competitive.
About the Author
Kate Passby is the marketing director of Global App Testing, A trustworthy and leading end-to-end functional solution to meet challenges Agile testingKate has more than eight years of experience in the marketing field, helping brands achieve extraordinary growth.She has extensive knowledge in brand development, potential customers and demand generation, and marketing strategies — DMaximize business impact.You can contact her LinkedIn.
