7 Blogging KPIs You Should Be Tracking to Measure Success


November 18, 2015

So, you’ve tackled your writer’s block and established a strong content strategy with some of Nick’s blogging tips. You’re consistently producing quality content. You’re on a roll! Don’t stop there. Whether you’re blogging to increase brand awareness, establish thought leadership, or connect with potential customers, tracking your blogging KPIs (key performance indicators) will help you optimize your content.

Here are seven blogging KPIs you should be using to measure the success of your brand’s content marketing efforts:

  1. Visits — How much traffic is coming to your blog? How does this compare to your total site visits?
  2. Visitors — How many people does your blog reach? Compare visits to unique visitors to see how frequently people are coming.
  3. Pages viewed — How many posts are visitors reading? Check pages viewed per visit to see if visitors are engaging with multiple posts.
  4. Time on site — How long are visitors staying? Look at both an overall visit level and a page level to see if posts are being skimmed or read in their entirety.
  5. Leads — How many visitors are potential customers? Leads can include email and RSS subscriptions in addition to your primary lead form.
  6. Inbound links — How many other sites are referring visitors to your blog? This includes social shares, which are inbound links on social networks.
  7. Conversions — How many visitors are converting? If visitors can’t convert on your website, track this by asking customers how they found your business.

In addition to tracking these KPIs, consider the whole picture. Identify top traffic sources and top posts. What topics get the most interest? How do visitors move through your site? Where do they spend the most time? Do they leave, or subscribe? Ask questions, then look to the numbers for the answers.

Think critically about which KPIs are the most important to your objectives and focus on those. Use analytics to gain insights and optimize your content strategy. Take your blog from good to great.

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is a strategist, speaker, educator, and author of Brand Now: How to Stand Out in a Crowded, Distracted World and Get Scrappy: Smarter Digital Marketing for Businesses Big and Small. He is the Chief Brand Strategist at Brand Driven Digital, an educator at the University of Iowa, and host of the On Brand podcast. More about Nick.