It’s no secret that content marketing is a powerful, effective way to increase brand awareness and trust.
And it’s also known that to produce those results, you need to be strategic about the content you’re sharing to ensure it attracts the right attention. But how do you know if your content is successful? Turn to your analytics for those answers.
Although it may not sound like the most glamorous task, tracking key content engagement metrics will reveal tons of valuable information about the performance of your content once it’s out in the world.
In this article, you’ll learn why these metrics are crucial to track and which ones you need to track at all times. This way, you’ll have a clear idea of what your audience (and Google) loves to see.
Why You Should Track Content Engagement Metrics
If you aren’t already taking the time to track specific content engagement metrics, you might be wondering if it’s that big of a deal. And we’re here to tell you that it is! Diving deeply into your analytics will provide tons of data about your content and engagement, shaping your strategy moving forward.
Conducting an analysis will take some time, then you need to remember to keep up with regular check-ins. Here’s why it’s worth it to put in this extra effort:
- You’ll Learn What’s Performing Well: Your analytics will show you which pieces of content bring in traffic and engagement. You can even see if it leads to conversions. Knowing what resonates with your target audience gives you the chance to replicate these results through similar content.
- And You’ll Discover What Doesn’t Speak to Your Audience: On the flip side, you’ll quickly discover the content that isn’t driving the results you hoped for. It could be a lackluster topic, poor optimization, or content that isn’t as captivating as you thought it would be. With this knowledge in hand, you can identify any potential content issues so you can fix and prevent them in the future.
- You Can Adapt Your Strategy Accordingly: Once you’ve analyzed your content engagement metrics and learned what works and what doesn’t, you can use that information to tweak your content strategy. This way, you can create more content that produces a higher ROI.
You might be wondering how often you should be tracking these metrics. It’s smart to review your analytics at the end of each month in case you want to make changes for the next month. However, you can always do a more in-depth content audit every quarter.
7 Content Engagement Metrics You Should be Monitoring at All Times
If you’re new to the world of analytics, you might be wondering which content engagement metrics are most important to track. And even if you’ve been at it for a while, there may be something you overlook. To help you get a thorough analysis of your content, we’ve chosen a few of the most important engagement metrics to focus on:
1. Page Views
Page views are wise to keep an eye on because it tells you how many times a page a visitor has viewed a page on your website. Whenever a page on your site is loaded, that’s considered one page view. If someone were to reload that same page, it counts as two page views.
But what do you do with this information? Well, when a page receives many views, it’s a good indicator of its popularity. This means it’s worthwhile to not only keep this piece of content updated, but you may also want to create similar content around this topic since it attracts attention.
2. Average Time on Page
It’s not enough to see that people are visiting a webpage. You also want to track the average time on page, which tells you how long a visitor spent on a specific page on your site. Ideally, you’d like to see people spending about three to five minutes on a page because this is a good sign they read your content.
This is one of the most crucial content engagement metrics to track because if visitors spend a lot of time on a particular page, it’s a good sign they’ve found your content engaging. A lower average time on page could indicate less interest in the content, whether it’s because it wasn’t what they were looking for or because the copy didn’t hold their attention. Luckily, there are ways to improve the average time on page for your blog if you notice it’s an issue.
3. Bounce Rate
You’ve probably heard content creators talking about how they want to reduce their bounce rate. And it’s for good reason. The bounce rate specifies the percentage of visitors who loaded a single website page and then left without interacting or visiting any other pages. Essentially, it means they’ve “bounced” off your website as they’ve moved on to other endeavors.
Many take a high bounce rate to mean the content in question isn’t performing well. After all, don’t you want visitors to consume a piece of content and then be so intrigued they check out others? If you have a bounce rate in the 70s or above, you might want to act to lower that number by improving your content and encouraging people to stay on your site with more internal links or a call to action at the end of your blog post.
4. Traffic Sources
Everyone loves to know where their traffic is coming from, which is why it’s one of the most popular content engagement metrics to track. Your analytics reveal how much traffic comes from organic search, email, social media, and referrals. Plus, you’ll discover how many people are accessing your site directly through a browser bookmark or by entering your URL into their browser. And, if you run ad campaigns or other marketing efforts that lead folks to your site, you’ll see how they got there and the other pages they visited.
These numbers are useful because you can see which channels are paying off for you and which aren’t. For instance, if organic traffic seems low, you can take additional steps to optimize your content. If social media could drive more visitors, step up promotion there. Knowing your engagement metrics from traffic allows you to take advantage of the myriad ways you can improve your reach.
5. Top Exit Pages
Everyone leaves your site eventually, but the goal as a content creator is to get them to stick around for as long as possible. Ideally, you want to see people leave your site from thank you pages or download pages, indicating they took action and converted on something. But what if people are exiting on the pages you’re hoping will convert visitors, such as a landing page?
You’ll want to examine your top exit pages and see if they’re okay pages for people to leave from. If you want them to stick around, analyze your content to make improvements to keep people around longer. For instance, improve your copy, make your call to action more enticing, or include internal links to other pages to give them a reason to stay and explore more.
6. Repeat vs. New Visitors
There are two broad classifications of visitors to your site: new and returning. New visitors are those checking out your site for the first time. Returning or repeat visitors have been to your site before.
You might think a visitor is a visitor, so why does it matter if they’re new or have been to your website before? If you have a high rate of repeat visitors, it’s a good sign that your content resonates with people and that they’re confident in turning to you as a trusted resource. They know they can count on you for quality. That’s what keeps them coming back time and time again, so keep up the good work.
7. Conversion Rate
If you want to ensure visitors take action while they’re on your website, conversion rate is one of the top content engagement metrics to track. You may want to pay attention to conversions, such as how many people are joining your email list, signing up for a free trial, or how many are purchasing a product or service.
A high conversion rate is a great sign, but what if it’s on the low side? Usually, that means you need to make some changes to your content. If people just aren’t taking action, improving your copy and the call to action are good places to start. You’ll also want to test to ensure everything (such as links and buttons) is functional.
Improve Your Engagement Metrics through Quality Content
Choose a few of the engagement metrics we’ve discussed today and start tracking them regularly. Then, start producing high-quality, valuable content that attracts your target audience and gets the attention of Google.
And, if you don’t have time to focus on producing content internally, let the expert SEO content writers at Express Writers craft blog posts and landing pages that will drive traffic, engagement, and conversions.
Interested? Contact us to learn more about how we can serve you.
