How to Track Blog Performance: Blogging KPIs
A blog is an integral marketing channel for any business, so it is important to know how to track blog performance. A blog is where you can showcase your expertise and share knowledge with the world. But how do you know if yours is successful? In this post, we will cover 8 key metrics that every blogger should track to identify trends and measure their performance against set benchmarks.
Why Is It Important to Track Blog Performance?
Tracking your blog’s performance is crucial because it helps you understand how well it is performing. You can use this data to guide future strategic decisions about what types of content to create for continued community engagement. For example, if a certain type of post does much better than others, then it’s your cue to focus on creating more like that. If people are commenting, social sharing, and reading something to the end, it shows they found value in that piece of content.
How to Track Blog Performance
Many know the importance of having a blog but don’t know how to track blog performance. Make sure the metrics you track align with your business objectives. Most businesses blogs fail to increase website traffic or email subscribers. If that is the case for you, then focus on the key metrics to improve and measure blog performance:
- Engagement Rate – The ratio of likes, shares, and comments divided by total views
- Bounce Rate – The percentage of visits that last less than 30 seconds before leaving your site
- Time Spent on Site – How long visitors stay on a page (the longer they stay, the more engaged they are)
- Referrers – Where did they come from? Google Analytics will tell you what keywords drove traffic to each article so you can optimize future posts based on these findings.
8 Blog KPIs to Evaluate for Measuring Success
One could evaluate many blog KPIs (key performance indicators) to measure a blog’s success. Let’s go over eight main ones:
Organic Traffic
This is the number of visitors that came from search engines. Google Analytics (GA) tracks organic traffic by measuring how many people visit your website through a Google search, then visit one page on your site and leave without going any further.
To increase your organic search rankings, make sure all of your content is written with high-quality keywords. This will help customers find you when they search those terms online.
Bounce Rate
Bounce rate is a popular metric used to measure the effectiveness of your content. It refers to the percentage of visitors who land on your site but do not visit any other pages. Bounce rate is a good indicator of how well you can engage your visitors and keep them interested in what they are reading. The lower this number, the better.
Time Spent on Page
Time spent on page is the amount of time a user spends on your site, which can be broken down into two parts:
- How long they stay (time spent)
- What they do while they're there (actions taken)
As you might imagine, the more time people spend with your content and the more actions they take while browsing it, the more likely they will become engaged with your blog.
Page Views Per Visit
To calculate page views per visit, divide your total page views by the number of visits. Use this metric to understand how your readers are engaging with your content by comparing it to other metrics. For example, do readers who read more pages have higher conversion rates? Or do they usually bounce right away?
Pages Per Session
Pages per session is a metric that measures how many pages each visitor views on your blog. It gives insight into which stories are resonating most with readers.
A high average of pages per session shows that your visitors are reading through multiple posts and spending time on your site. The more they read, the greater their chances of seeing ads or clicking through to offsite links.
Exit Rate
Exit rate is the percentage of visitors who leave your site from a given page. It can be calculated by dividing total exits by total visits to that page. Exit rates are used as an indicator for content engagement.
The higher the exit rate, the more likely it is that people aren't finding what they came looking for. They are leaving quickly instead of scrolling through your content library, looking for something to keep them around.
Social Media Shares
Social media shares are a great way to measure whether your blog content is thought-provoking to your audience. People tend to share the posts they find interesting, so it's a good indication of how much engagement the post gets.
Conversion Rate
Conversion rate refers to the number of people who convert your desired action divided by the total number of visitors. This can be a monetary conversion, like when someone makes a purchase on your site. It can also be an action that doesn’t involve money, like filling out a contact form or subscribing to your newsletter.
![](https://sevenoaks1.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Content-Marketing-KPIS-infographic-1-410x1024.png)
Measure Your Blog’s Impact by Studying Its Data
What is the best way to measure a blog? That depends on your goals and how you define success. This article looked at eight KPIs that can help you manage your blog and track its impact on your business. In addition to keeping these KPIs in mind, always prioritize quality content output. It builds brand trust, increases website authority, and improves engagement.
Ready to level up your marketing game? Get in touch with Seven Oaks Consulting to discuss your business goals and how we can help you achieve them!
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