You need good data. Without data, it’s impossible to know where you should be spending your time and budget. But not all data is created equal. Follower numbers, views, and likes are all metrics that make it seem like your post is doing well. But are these numbers just an ego boost? Let’s discuss content marketing metrics that matter and what that data can show you. You’ll also learn what those metrics mean, and why they’re more helpful than vanity metrics. Keep reading or watch my video.

Lead Quality

While it’s a huge ego boost to see that a lot of people have visited your page, the number of page views alone don’t tell you much about who has visited. Are you attracting visitors who are likely to buy what you’re selling? And what actions are they taking when they’re on your site? When you understand who is visiting and what they do while they’re there, you can insert more opportunities to convert those visitors into clients. By measuring lead quality you’ll find out if you’re creating the right content for audience members throughout the buying journey.

Web Traffic  

Do you know where your web visitors are coming from? If not, you might be making content that doesn’t help you sell your offer. For example, are you busting your ass to make TikTok videos, only to find out that only 1% of your website traffic comes from TikTok? That’s a sign that TikTok isn’t an effective platform for you. It doesn’t matter if have a lot of followers if those followers are never going to buy from you. It doesn’t matter that you’re on the “hottest new platform” that “absolutely everyone is on” if it’s not where your audience is.

Session Time And Bounce Rate

Session time and bounce rate are different metrics, but they answer the same question: are potential buyers staying on your site? Or are they leaving? Session time is the length of one visit to your site. Bounce rate is the time it takes a user to click off your site and onto someone else’s.

Both these metrics can tell you if your content is working. If your content is valuable, easy to read, both entertaining and educational, your audience will stay on your site in order to learn from you. Bounce rate and session time can also help you determine if your offer is working. If users don’t want to know more about what you have to offer, it might be time to reexamine what you’re selling.   

One way to increase session time and decrease bounce rate is to put an internal linking structure into place. Linking posts together in a logical order takes your reader on a journey. The more time someone stays on your site, the more chances they have to take action, like sign up for your email list or even buy from you.

Domain Authority 

Domain authority is a measure of how likely your site is to rank in search engine results. If your site has a high domain authority ranking, you’ll be more likely to show up higher in search results. It’s not a guarantee that you’ll rank, but it makes it that much more likely.

One way to increase your domain authority is to get high-quality backlinks to your site. A backlink is when another site links out to yours. Which means that you’re doing something right. If your content is high quality enough, (i.e., It offers real value, it’s not a copy-paste job filled with regurgitated facts, it’s easy to read, and links out to other content on a high domain authority website) it means that your content is cutting through the noise. Not only is your content genuinely helpful to your audience. It also means you’re being recognized by other content creators for your expertise and they’re linking to your content.  

Engagement (Likes, Shares, Comments)

I know, I know. At the top of this post, I said that measuring likes only boosts your ego. But that’s not entirely true. When your audience likes your post, it means that they, well, LIKE your post. If your content is special enough to rise above all the other content, if it’s so compelling that it makes your audience members do something,  It’s a good indication that you’re making the right kind of content for your audience. It also means that the algorithm will keep serving up your content, keeping you at top of their feed, and at the top of mind the next time they are ready to make a purchase.  

These content marketing metrics may not be the most important for your business. You will need to choose the metrics you measure based on your goals. But knowing that there’s a whole world of metrics out there ready for you to measure gives you more control over your business and your success. Once you have the evidence you can make changes to your marketing strategy with purpose.

Need help figuring out which content marketing metrics matter for your business? Call me, I can help. I include a personalized report with custom metrics you need to know in order to see how your content is performing.