Key Performance Indicators (KPI) for content marketing

Why is it so important to know KPIs?

Content marketing, like any other form (and, more broadly, any action taken to achieve intended results), requires well stated, measurable goals. Without them, it will be difficult to make progress. We discussed this once in the section about effective marketing goal planning.

Despite a clear vision of the end result and the employment of various marketing tactics, we also want indicators whose changes can be tracked to measure the efficacy of the actions done.

Let us illustrate: if your goal is to accelerate your car from 0 to 100 mph, we have a clear goal, but it is zero-one. Assume that a diode on the panel will signal us when we hit 100 mph. However, we do not have a meter that allows us to monitor progress. In this case, KPIs will serve as our speedometer, indicating whether we are on track to reach our destination and goal.

Although content marketing is a type of promotional activity, it follows slightly different rules. We will explore these differences in more detail in the following section.

Key Performance Indicators for Content Marketing

Content marketing is a promotional strategy aimed at increasing the customer base.

While the effects of content marketing are not immediate, they are long-lasting and relatively stable, generating organic traffic to your website. This is a highly desirable outcome for anyone looking to expand their reach. Below, we outline several key indicators that will help you assess whether you are progressing toward your goals.

Unique Visits (UV)

Unique visits, or UV, is a fundamental metric used to measure how many new users visit your site during a specific period. But what does “unique” mean? For example, in a month, UV tracks the number of distinct IP addresses that accessed your site. Even if a single user visits multiple times from the same device, it is counted as one visit. This metric provides a clear picture of the number of individual visitors to your site.

Time Spent on the Website

Simply counting visits is not enough to gauge a website’s popularity. The more time users spend on your site, the higher the chance they find it valuable and informative. They might also explore other pages, which is facilitated by a well-organized and user-friendly site design. This is especially crucial for online stores, where a well-structured site can lead to better results. Investing time in creating a coherent structure, delivering information effectively, and using internal linking can enhance this metric.

Bounce rate

Bounce rate measures how many visitors leave your website quickly after arriving. This is a specific aspect of time spent on the site. You should examine whether your pages are providing the information they promise or if there are mistakes causing users to exit immediately.

Strategies to combat a high bounce rate include using engaging elements, but avoid aggressive tactics like pop-ups or misleading calls to action, as these can be counterproductive.

Page views

Page views are a clear indicator of which pages on your site are most interesting to visitors. Utilize this information to optimize both inbound and outbound linking strategies to promote less popular pages. Additionally, monitor the relationship between UV and page views.

Consistent high UV over time (e.g., several months) suggests that visitors are returning. Use this to your advantage by strategically linking to increase page views and prolong user engagement.

Comments

Comments are another measure of a website’s popularity, reflecting real engagement from users. A higher number of comments, especially those with strong emotional responses, is generally a positive indicator. Ensure that the comment section is user-friendly and meets online discussion standards by removing offensive content and responding to both positive and negative feedback.