Top 10 Digital Marketing Metrics You Should Know

20 September 2021 6 min read

By Blank Theory

Digital marketing is the present and future of connecting with customers. It is no longer an optional extra but a necessity. And with so much riding on digital marketing, it’s important to know when yours is succeeding. That’s why you need digital marketing metrics. Digital marketing metrics are the various methods of measuring your marketing plan to see what’s working and what isn’t. While there’s a mass of them out there, we at Blank Theory know there’s 10 metrics you have to watch if you want to ensure your business not only survives but thrives.

1. Overall Website Traffic

Getting people to your website is the lifeblood of your business, so it must be measured. Measuring overall website traffic determines if your overall marketing strategies are working. Further, it allows you to factor in variables, like if your website performs better at different times of the year. Generally though, overall website traffic should be trending upwards.

2. Source of Traffic

With so many possible channels out there, it’s important that you aren’t wasting time, money, and effort in the wrong places. Measuring where your traffic comes from will tell you which platforms are your most important and which strategies are working. It also shows you areas you might want to improve in, like if you wish to generate more organic traffic you may need to improve your search engine optimisation strategies.

3. New Versus Return Visitors

New versus return visitors is a crucial measure of your overall performance. If you’re driving new visitors to your site your marketing is crushing it. If lots of people return to your website, then your content is killer. But if lots of people come but few choose to return then it might be telling you you’ve got a problem with your content.

4. User Demographics

Every business envisages a group or person they want to sell to: their target audience. User demographics are the reality. It’s the sex, age, location and more of those most interested in your brand. By measuring who’s actually interested in your business, you can adjust either what you’re selling or adjust your marketing to attract your desired audience.

5. Bounce Rate

Your bounce rate is how many people visit your site and leave without interacting or continuing their customer journey. The fact they made it to your site is great but if they don’t do anything while they’re there, then they might as well not have come. Your bounce rate should be as low as possible. If you have a high bounce rate, it can indicate either a problem with your content or with your website design. Though it’s important to keep in mind people may have bounced off because they found what they were looking for quickly.

6. Exit Rate

Your exit rate is like your bounce rate, but it measures exactly where and after how long a user left after spending time on your website. Measuring your exit rate pinpoints drop-off points in the conversion process, issues about usability, and where people have lost interest. Once you have this information you can keep people on your site for longer or get them to the point where they either complete a purchase or sign up.

7. Page Views

Pages views is the broadest measurement of digital marketing but also one of the most important. Beyond simply telling you the number of people viewing your website, this metric can tell you what pages are the most popular. For example, if one page has a high number of views, you could create a marketing campaign that links people directly to that page. You can also change the content of other pages so they’re similar to your most popular pages. This indicates what content you should avoid or promote in future.

8. Conversion Rate

A conversion rate is the number of people that complete a desired action, be it making a purchase or signing up to a mailing list, compared to the number of overall visitors. Measuring conversions is essential for your business because if you don’t convert visitors into customers, then your business won’t make money.

Your conversion rate judges the overall quality of your digital marketing strategy, website design, and content. A high conversion rate is the ultimate goal for any business. However, it’s important to note that conversion rates are generally low and vary wildly from industry to industry. But there are a variety of strategies you can implement to ramp up conversion rates to where you want them. If you want to find the perfect conversion strategies to empower your business, Blank Theory has you covered.

9. Return On Investment

Your return on investment (ROI) is the ultimate metric for judging if your marketing efforts are paying off and if you’re getting your desired results. ROI is simply how much money your digital marketing earns versus how much it costs. While it can be difficult to track the costs of marketing expenditure, the ROI has an advantageously clear-cut determinable outcome — if your ROI is positive, you’re doing well; if it’s negative, you’re not doing so well. 

Linked with ROI are other metrics such as cost per lead and cost per acquisition, which can also provide valuable, but more specific insights. ROI should be a crucial part of your digital marketing plan to ensure you’re getting value for money.

10. Click-Through Rates

Your click-through rate (CTR) measures, as it sounds, how many people click on an advertisement through to your website. Your CTR indicates how effective and attractive your advertising is to potential customers. Given how many people will see a digital advertisement, your CTR is generally going to be low. However, there are a variety of strategies, such as testing different ads, that you can implement to improve your CTR.

How to Master These Metrics

While there are a variety of services you can use to trace and improve these various metrics, running a business can be stressful enough without having to be constantly monitoring, managing, and modifying metrics and digital strategies. That’s why Blank Theory provides the technical expertise you need to empower your business. 

We use Google Analytics and SEMrush to get real-time information on how your digital strategies are performing. Further, our team monitors campaigns daily and tweaks them regularly to ensure that your business is always getting the results it deserves. 

With experts in SEO, website design and development, and digital marketing campaigns, we know what it takes to make sure your metrics are always improving.