You want your website to be a success. Of course you do, that’s why you’ve put so much work into it. But once you have your site online and ready for the public, how do you measure how you’re doing?

Without quantifying what success means, you won’t be able to say if you’re reaching your goals or not. So many people think that content marketing is subjective, but the opposite is really true.

The better you can break down your success into measurable metrics, the better you’ll be able to correct for issues and work towards your goals.

Read on, and we’ll walk you through three metrics to measure success that you should be using.

1. Traffic

This one is probably obvious. There are over three billion people online every day, and you want to bring as many as possible to your site.

The first thing you look to after launching your site is probably the general traffic: how many people are visiting. This number becomes key not only because you’ll know how many people you’re reaching, but it will become essential to putting later metrics into context.

It’s less important to look at traffic in total but to notice the increase in traffic over time. Instead of setting an arbitrary number of visitors to reach, consider setting a goal for how much you would like to increase your traffic each month.

2. Time Spent On Site

The traffic to your site doesn’t tell the whole story. Maybe you have 10,000 visitors to your website each month. But what if they only stick around for twenty seconds?

The real measure of the quality of your site won’t be the overall clicks but how long you can get people to stick around. The time spent on the site lets you know how much users are enjoying their experience.

Google Analytics refers to this metric as Session Duration, and it can be helpful in determining how engaging your content is. Knowing the average time users spend on a page can let you know if they’re reading your whole blog or just skimming the first few paragraphs, for example.

If you find that no one is making it to the end of your content, it can be a great incentive to change direction.

3. Returning Visitors

Another key metric for success? How many site visitors you’re bringing back for more. A sustainable business model depends on reliable and returning customers. The same can be said for your website.

The ratio of total visitors to returning visitors can help you gauge where you’re at in the mind of consumers. Many repeat visitors mean that consumers are loving your site and are coming back for more.

A small amount of repeat visitors means you’re failing to keep people’s attention after their first visit. In short, something is wrong. It might be time to consider a redesign, a better content plan, or a better site structure.

This can be one of the most helpful metrics when it comes to evaluating the success of your site.

The Best Metrics To Measure Success

When it comes to designing the perfect website, evaluating your work can be difficult. Understanding which metrics to measure success that you should use can help make the job easier.

Need more help launching your website to the next level? Contact us for assistance.