Top KPIs to Monitor on Your Website
In order to support marketing goals, there are five key performance indicators (KPIs) that should be monitored on a website. These KPIs provide an overview of how effective the website is towards established goals and if updates to specific pages are required to meet those goals.
The top five KPIs to watch are:
- Website sessions and users
- Goal conversion rate
- Organic versus paid sessions
- Top five search queries
- Top 10 landing pages
Sessions are all the actions a user takes during a period of time (How a web session is defined in Universal Analytics, n.d.). A session starts when a user visits a website page and ends when a user has been inactive for 30 minutes (How a web session is defined in Universal Analytics, n.d.). This 30-minute time limit is the default for Google Analytics but can be adjusted on most website analytics platforms to longer periods or to expire at midnight, rather than restarting after a time period (How a web session is defined in Universal Analytics, n.d.). This means that the same user can have multiple sessions in a day (How a web session is defined in Universal Analytics, n.d.). Sessions are important to track how long users are on the website as well as the number of times users visit the website. This information informs marketers if the website is engaging enough to retain users and to encourage them to return. This information can be leveraged to see where users are dropping off or if certain landing pages result in shorter, less engaged sessions.
There are many types of users that come to a website. Essentially, a user is a person who comes to a website (Understand user metrics, n.d.). Users can be further segmented into different categories. Total users means the total number of people who visit a website, while active users defines only the users who are currently on the website (Understand user metrics, n.d.). New users are people who have not visited the website before and returning users are people who have (Understand user metrics, n.d.). Users can be identified in a number of ways, varying from IP addresses to unique identification tags (About User Data, n.d.). User data can be particularly helpful when optimizing pages for the purchasing funnel. Returning users may convert better on pages addressing pain points for the middle and bottom of the purchasing funnel, while new users may convert better on pages optimized for the top of the purchasing funnel.
Goals can be set in most website analytics platforms. These goals are established using defined conversions. Conversions are desired actions defined by the marketer, such as user scroll depth on a webpage, adding an item from the website to the virtual shopping cart, filling out a form, or even watching a video on a webpage. “Defining goals is a fundamental component of any digital analytics measurement plan… Without this information, it’s almost impossible to evaluate the effectiveness of your online business and marketing campaigns” (About goals, n.d.). Once these goals are set in the analytics platform, then the marketer can easily track if they are being met. This immediately provides awareness if pages are effective towards supporting established objectives. If goals are not being met, marketers can use this information to optimize pages to better support user funnels to increase conversions.
Organic versus paid sessions evaluates which sessions originate from a search engine results page (SERP) and which sessions originate from a paid advertisement. An organic session is initiated when a user enters information into a search engine, such as Google, and starts a session on the website. A paid session is initiated when a user clicks on a paid advertisement that could populate at a number of places on the internet. These users arrive at the website with varying intent and so their session data may differ drastically. Monitoring the organic versus paid sessions provides insights on effectiveness of on-page search engine optimization (SEO) and paid advertising campaigns. This data can be used to inform budgets for paid advertising campaigns as well as investing in SEO updates to increase website sessions.
In addition to monitoring the organic sessions on the website, it is imperative to track the top five search queries in search engines. This information can be provided from analytics platforms, like Google Analytics, but is readily available in tools like Google Search Console. The top five search queries are the most popular search terms users employ to locate the website. These search terms may be branded or non-branded. Marketers may want to keep track of non-branded search terms in addition to branded search terms, further segmenting the top five search queries. These keywords are important to implement on key pages in the user funnel that are relevant to the terms. For example, website pages should not contain keywords that are not applicable to the content on that page. Keywords should only appear on pages with relevant content.
The last KPI to closely monitor are the top 10 landing pages that users arrive on when visiting the website. These pages can be identified on the analytics platform, such as Google Analytics, or analytics tools, such as Google Search Console. Much like the top five search queries, the top 10 landing pages are important to identify to see what content resonates most with users. It is important that marketers analyze why these pages are the most high-performing and to ensure that these pages contain current information. For example, users may start frequenting outdated blog posts. In that scenario, marketers should review the blog post and make any required copy or graphic changes, in addition to keyword optimizations. Marketers may also want to include links or content that would keep users engaged on the website. These five KPIs provide marketers with insights as to how users are engaging with the website and data that can be used to optimize pages to increase user engagement and sessions, nurture users through the desired user funnel, and support business objectives and established goals.
References
About goals. (n.d.). Google Support: Analytics Help. https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1012040?hl=en&sjid=17032555512472372100-NA#zippy=%2Cin-this-article
About User Data. (n.d.). Google Support: Analytics Help. https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6066725?hl=en&sjid=17032555512472372100-NA#zippy=%2Cin-this-article
How a web session is defined in Universal Analytics. (n.d.). Google Support: Analytics Help. https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/2731565?hl=en#zippy=%2Cin-this-article
Understand user metrics. (n.d.). Google Support: Analytics Help. https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/12253918?hl=en&sjid=17032555512472372100-NA