We all know we should be monitoring metrics, right? But how many of us have actually gotten around to it? And if we have, how do we know if we’re measuring the most important metrics or taking the best action based on what they indicate?
As part of my effort to answer those questions for myself, I’ve been researching to see what top experts recommend. This post is a round-up of the best content I’ve found, starting with the basics and moving on to the most complex implementations.
What Are Metrics and How Do We Measure Them?
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Marketing Metrics Roundup
- Identify the Marketing Metrics That Actually Matter
- 4 Marketing Metrics That Are Imperative for Any Small Business
- Business Marketing Metrics
- 14 Most Important Metrics to Focus in Your Digital Marketing Campaign [Infographic]
Content Marketing Metrics
- Jeff Bullas’ 17 Key Content Marketing Metrics to Start Tracking Today
- Top 4 Content Marketing Metrics
- A Practical Guide to Content and Its Metrics
- 29 Key Metrics to Measuring Content Success [Infographic]
Social Media Metrics Roundup
Video Metrics
Comprehensive Metrics Dashboard
Startup Metrics Roundup
- 16 Startup Metrics
- 16 More Startup Metrics
IT Metrics
- IT Manager’s Guide to Metrics White Paper [PDF]
Business Metrics Dashboards
Now that you have some idea what metrics are and which ones you might want to measure, here is the easiest way to set up dashboards: Cyfe. They have so many pre-configured widgets you can just click on, set simple configurations (like choosing an account), and instantly see graphs.
This video explains how to set up your first dashboard:
I don’t know that you can set up everything that Rand Fishkin recommended in his Whiteboard Friday linked above, but Cyfe is a good place to start and the above video is the best I’ve seen (besides Cyfe’s intro video which is also helpful).
Cyfe is free for up to five dashboards, but if you’re going to get serious about this you’ll want more than five. Fortunately, Cyfe is inexpensive at $19 per month ($14 per month if paid annually).
The main reason for using it is so that you can look at your most important metrics daily, weekly and monthly all in one place without having to log in and out of analytics, social media management solutions, your marketing system, and everything else you use.
Share Your Experiences and Links
If you are currently monitoring metrics and have a case study, or a link you like to refer to (whether you wrote it or not), or have insights into how best to go about this, do please leave them in comments.
I will move any relevant links up into the appropriate sections in this post so we can all use it for future reference.
Disclosure: I was not compensated for writing this post; Cyfe is just the solution I know of that creates dashboards for metrics. If you use and prefer others, please share them in the comments.
Gail Gardner
That is an awesome and extremely helpful infographic Gail!
Thanks for sharing some easy to understand metrics terms!
I can easily see why and appreciate, this is an entire industry unto itself!LOL!
But the definitions you provided, make it a whole easier to appreciate
it’s importance!
Mark would love you to read ..Email Marketing: Makes Even More Sense When The Recession Hits!
Hi Mark,
Yes, analytics can be very complex which is why there are most likely a lot of opportunities for those who gain advanced skills in that area.
Gail Gardner would love you to read ..ClickMeeting Provides a Creative and Simple Webinar Solution
Great post Gail! This was definitely helpful for me as I’m new to the whole blogging thing and I didn’t know which metrics were the most relevant for my site.
Jeanne would love you to read ..7 Crucial Qualities That Will Ensure Your Success As Your Own Boss
This is one hell of a list. Loved it and a lot of them are really helpful. Thanks!!
Rishie would love you to read ..Amazon launched Amazon Now to deliver groceries
Hi Rishie,
Thanks. I often create a post to save my research so I can refer to it regularly and add to it over time. You may want to bookmark this so you can see the new links I add.
Gail Gardner would love you to read ..Increase Sales with New Tech for Easy Digital Signs
Hi Gail
This is my first visit to your blog….. i found something really helpful in your blog, The content marketing Info graphic Tips is really awesome….. i will visit your blog again for sure. Thanks for such an awesome Post.
Mridul would love you to read ..Download Hotstar App on your Mobile to Watch Movies and Cricket For Free
Page View is the most important aspect for improving the content of the website. It gives the measure of how often the content gets consumed by the visitors. If Page View number is big then that content is doing good and that having lesser score need to be worked upon.
Hi Gail,
Another amazing post. But the links you have provided were really informative and helped me to learn some new and key things.
Great, thanks for sharing.
Robin khokhar would love you to read ..6 Ways TO Make Money Online
Excellent article gail..have a new post to know something new ..thanxx for sharing such a great article.
Hi Thenie,
I’m glad you liked it and thanks for sharing the infographic. Save the link because I’ll be adding more to this roundup. I realized I need to add email marketing metrics and I’m sure I’ll come across other exceptional links and add them.
Gail Gardner would love you to read ..Metrics Roundup: All You Want to Know
Great! Could learn something new reading your post as well, Gail. Great job by sharing! Excellent effort!