You’re reviewing another year of content marketing metrics!
You worked hard this year, but you’re focusing on so many different KPIs that you don’t know what really counts.
Not to mention, you’re not sure how to improve if you fell short on your goals. Unfortunately, it’s easy to get tied up in vanity metrics and lose sight of what matters most.
The good news is that blogging can help improve many content marketing metrics, and here is how you can get the job done.
1. Get a Better Bounce Rate
When you explore Google Analytics, you’ll find one of the content marketing metrics that matter for your website: bounce rate.
According to Google Analytics Help, bounce rate is a single session on your website where a user views one page and leaves. The rate is calculated by dividing the single sessions with all sessions on your website. For those who like to get nerdy with heavy analytical data, this page explains more in-depth how session duration is calculated.
What is a Good Bounce Rate for Content Marketing Metrics?
It turns out the average bounce rate varies by industries and content type. The graph below shows some of the typical bounce rates you can expect ranging from e-commerce to blog posts.
You can see that landing pages and blogs have relatively high bounce rates.
But why?
The answer may lie on a case-by-case basis, but it can boil down to two scenarios: the content fulfills the need of the user and they do not need any further information. Or, the content may be thin or low-quality, indicating that the user wasn’t satisfied and left to seek information elsewhere.
But why would anyone care to improve this content marketing metric, anyway?
What’s the Purpose of Improving Your Blog’s Bounce Rate?
Remember that the purpose of improving your bounce rate is to essentially lead your customers to a desired outcome, such as checking out a product or service that’s related to the blog topic.
Even if one blog doesn’t convert, it doesn’t mean that another blog or product/service page linked within the content won’t provide leads. While content marketing doesn’t always work like a direct sales funnel anymore (see HubSpot’s replacement for the sales funnel, the Flywheel) it can still help lead to conversions.
So, if your bounce rate is high, you might be missing out on potential sales. Even if the average blog bounce rates are within the 60%-90% range, this doesn’t mean that you can’t take steps to improve the bounce rate on your own blog.
Lowering the Bounce Rate of Your Blog Posts
First, you’ll need to do some detective work. Take a close look at your analytics and see if there is any correlation between social media referrals that are driven to your website and compare platforms. You can also see if there is any relation to bounce rate from visitors coming from organic search.
You can also compare blog posts side-by-side and determine what there is in common between blogs with high vs. low bounce rates.
If your goal is to encourage customers to explore your website beyond a single blog post and lead them to a conversion point, there are some approaches you can take to lower your bounce rate such as:
- Check your call-to-action. Do you have one at all? If so, are you directing the reader to go somewhere else on your website? Is the given destination helpful or relevant?
- Check the headline of your blog post. Does it properly reflect the content within? Misleading headlines are a surefire way to make someone exit the blog and never return.
- Including related internal links to related blogs throughout the blog post. The idea is to connect the customer to additional material on your website that’s closely related to what they’re already reading. If they were curious enough to check out the initial blog post, there is a chance they will dive deeper if given a good reason.
- Adding links to product or service pages. This is the same concept as linking to related blogs, except this time the customer is sent to a direct product or service that they can buy.
- Creating a blog post series. If you’re struggling to come up with blog topics that are close enough to link together, you can write a series where the customer can jump from one part to the other. Below, I share some blogging tips on how you can write a great blog post series that can further improve your bounce rate.
With these blogging tips for bounce rates, you can help customers stay on your content a little longer while potentially increasing conversions.
2. Grow Your Brand and Blog with New Users
Yet another element of Google Analytics, new users can play a role in your bottom line. This is one of the content marketing metrics that may be especially beneficial for those who are working hard at branding their business. You want new people to discover your product or services, which blogging can certainly achieve!
When you’re exploring new user data, you’ll need to keep in mind that it’s not 100% foolproof data. For example, if a person views your website on Chrome and then comes back on Safari, it counts as two separate users.
The same person using two different devices may also be counted as a new user twice. You will also need to pay attention to the time period that you’re tracking this data.
That aside, how can you bring new users to your blog content?
Get Strategic with Promotion
One area where businesses fall flat is with blog promotion. A considerable amount of time should be spent promoting your blog content, around 80%. If you want to get your brand and blog in front of new users, you’ll have to work hard to find where potential new customers are spending time online.
The answer to this depends on your industry and it might take some testing to determine where the most amount of new users will find you. Some social media groups on LinkedIn or Facebook might be waiting for your content, depending on the rules of the group. You can also reach out to new influencers who may have never heard of you otherwise which can result in a snowball effect for reaching new people.
Optimize for New Keywords
Have you used the same old keywords for the last several months or even the last year? If so, it might be time for a new approach.
Keyword data can change from month to month, and it’s important to refresh your keyword list to stay on top of the best opportunities for your business.
Blog on New Platforms
Branch out your blogging efforts beyond your own website. While WordPress is one of the best blogging platforms for business, there are many options for you to publish content for the world to see.
Try posting blogs on platforms such as LinkedIn or even Facebook. There is also the option to guest post. Don’t forget to include a link to send them back to your main website if necessary.
Ask Your Followers to Share Your Content
If you have an established fan base for your blog, why not ask them to help share your content? This will get your blog in front of new networks that can ultimately bring in new customers. Make your content easy to share directly from your blog.
Create and Offer a Free Resource
While blog content is powerful, a free resource such as a checklist, template, or even a white paper can generate new interest to your website.
While new users (and new customers) are great, you don’t want to forget about those who already love your blog and brand. One of the next content marketing metrics is returning users – those who repeatedly visit your website.
3. Find Your Following with Returning Users
Who doesn’t want a raving audience for their brand? When users are turning to your website, it’s a sign of trust. It’s also a sign that the reader might be close to moving to the next phase of the buying process!
But how can you get people to continuously return to your website on a regular basis?
Build up Your Email List
Send each blog to your email subscribers. If they’ve gone out of their way to subscribe, it’s likely they will want to return to your website to read new content.
Publish Frequently
Can your customers count on you to provide consistent content like clockwork? If not, you’ll want to get a content calendar going STAT. Frequent publishing builds trust with your brand, but it also gives a reason for readers to keep coming back for more.
Check out my blogging tips video below where I discuss how you can blog more consistently:
Update Old and Popular Blog Posts
Do you have an old blog post that performed well in the past but gradually declined in traffic? This is an excellent way to get readers coming back for more and even attract new visitors! You can update old content by adding fresh or even original research, updated graphics, and expand on on the content to make it more engaging and informative. Think of how the content can best serve your customers today!
4. Boost Email Subscribers with Free Resources
Email subscribers are perhaps one of the most important content marketing metrics to focus on. Why? Because email marketing provides one of the highest ROIs you can get in terms of marketing.
One of the most common ways to build an email list is by offering free sources, as I mentioned above with attracting new users.
Types of Free Content Resources to Gain More Blog Subscribers
If you think you want to take the free resource route, consider the following options:
- Offer a downloadable option from a portion of a high-quality blog post. It serves as a takeaway option that customers can keep on file for an exchange of an email address. Think of this in terms of something that will be referred to on a regular basis.
- Write a checklist or design a template that’s relevant to your brand yet helpful to your audience.
- Provide a simple signup to subscribe to your blog content, delivered to your list’s inbox weekly.
- Write and design premium quality and informational guides such as white papers and case studies.
- Promote your company newsletter and include your blog content within.
Don’t forget that free content that you exchange for an email address must be top-notch. Customers perceive downloadable content as higher value and you don’t want to disappoint with the final product.
5. Count Your Conversions
When you’re looking to make blog marketing more cost-effective, it’s important to know how your content is converting. Otherwise, it’s tough to track blogging’s return on investment and know what to change if your goals are falling short.
When it comes to tracking, you can get as easy or as complicated as you like. You’ll want to consider the volume of leads and sales your company brings and the number of clients you serve. One popular method is using goal tracking and conversions within Google Analytics.
Identify Your Conversion
First, you need to identify what it is that you consider a conversion. Is it a new subscriber to your email list? A sale from your e-commerce store? A booking for a free consultation? What you consider as a conversion can play a role in tracking.
These are some of the most common types of goals for website types:
- Ecommerce will lead to a purchase.
- Leads will capture the details of contact information, such as a phone number or email address.
- Content engagement where people consume and share content. This can also result in lead generation.
Creating Blog Content that Converts
When you want your blog content to convert, implement the following techniques:
- Write powerful headlines that properly describe your content. You don’t want to mislead a potential customer into reading your blog post.
- Align your blog topics with your product or service. The content should relate to your brand while remaining relevant to your audience.
- Create an emotional connection. This can work as a sense of urgency, but you can also create this connection by making customers trust you with their content or telling a story.
- Don’t oversell! It sounds counteractive, but the truth is that your customers do not want you to write a 2,000-word blog post where all you do is pitch a product/service to them. Read more on (How to Sell Services on Your Blog Without Being Annoying).
- Know your audience. You won’t sell a single thing if you don’t know your audience. Carefully analyze those who are interested in your product or service, and plan and write your blog content accordingly.
Improve Your Content Marketing Metrics with Quality Blog Content
Whether you want to grow your brand presence online, increase email subscribers or boost conversions, consider using my blog writing services. I can help you improve on a variety of content marketing metrics that give you the results that matter to you the most.
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