What are key metrics, and why should you be paying attention to them?

• Key Metrics are website statistics (like page views, form submissions, mailing list signups, etc.) that you track and review on at least a weekly basis
• They help you determine whether the effort (i.e., time and money) you are dedicating to your website is delivering an adequate return on investment

Only you can decide what your key metrics are.

• Your Key Metrics should focus on statistics that demonstrate your level of success or failure in achieving the most important goal you are aiming to accomplish with your website in the next 30, 60 or 90 days

Common website goals include:

• Increase online sales by 25%
• Build a mailing list of 1,000+ subscribers
• Grow traffic to a section of your website by 50%
• Improve landing page conversions by 100%
• Keep visitors on your website for at least 5 minutes

What is the most important goal you are trying to achieve with your website in the next 30, 60 or 90 days?

• Write it down

Which website statistics can you review weekly to help you understand whether changes you make to your website are helping you reach your goal?

Common metrics include:

• Page Visits
• Mailing List Sign Ups
• Number of Landing Conversions
• Time on Page
• Time on Site
• Sales Volume
• Ad Impressions
• Number of Downloads
• Click-Throughs
• Survey Submissions
• Contest Entries
• Video Views
• Membership Sign Ups

Pick one metric – a Key Metric — that will best help you determine whether you are achieving your goal.

• Page views
• Survey submissions
• Video views

Make it specific:

• Double page views to page ‘XYZ’
• Increase survey submissions by 50%
• Get 2,000 views on a new how-to video

Tie it to a time frame:

• Double page views to page ‘XYZ’ in 30 days
• Increase survey submissions by 50% in 60 days
• Get 2,000 views on a new how-to video in 90 days

Write it down!

• Put it on the wall, or at least a stick note, right beside your computer monitor
• Remind yourself of your goal multiple times a day

Ask yourself specific questions to clarify both your goal and the Key Metric you will use to measure your success.

• Does my Key Metric measure something specific, related to achieving my goal, within a particular timeframe?
• Does my Key Metric focus on measurable website visitor activities?
• Will I be able to quickly review and compare results at least weekly and see that my efforts are having the desired effect?
• Will I be able to efficiently make changes to my website and see measure whether the changes are having a positive or negative effect on my Key Metric results?
• Will I be able to identify how I achieved success and try to improve upon what worked, or fix what didn’t work?
  • Did specific words work better than others?
  • Did some colors work better than others?
  • Did a type (or amount) of one offer work better than others?
  • Was my incentive too general?
  • How will I make the offer better, more appealing, more specific and appropriate for my target audience?

Make a list of changes you can make to your website to improve your Key Metric results.

• Speak with others who have tried them.
• Learn what worked and didn’t work for them.
• Review similar language, offers, and techniques employed by your competitors.

Pick the top 3 techniques you think will help you reach your goal.

• Make a spreadsheet to record changes to your Key Metric.
• Try the first technique.
• Track and review changes to your Key Metric at least weekly for at least 4 weeks.

Is your Key Metric going up or down? If it is going up, how much has it gone up? If it is going down, how much has it dropped?

• Try technique #2.
• Record the results and compare with results achieved using the first technique.
• Track and review changes to your Key Metric at least weekly for at least 4 weeks.

Is your Key Metric going up or down? If it is going up, how much has it gone up? If it is going down, how much has it dropped?

• Try technique #3.
• Record the results and compare.
• Track and review changes to your Key Metric at least weekly for at least 4 weeks.

Compare results achieved with all three techniques.

• Which technique delivered the most significant and more consistent improvement to your Key Metric?

Can you apply what you’ve learned from all three techniques to improve the top performing technique even more?

Repeat until you reach your goal – keep tracking, recording and comparing results. Use your Key Metric to guide ongoing changes and improvements to your website.

Once you achieve your goal, set a new one, choose an appropriate Key Metric, and start the cycle again, learning from your previous successes.

For more information on how Key Metrics play an essential role in developing a one-page business plan for your website, check out our Lean Web Canvas online course on Udemy:

Next Steps

Once completed, you can further enhance this basic description using checklists and tools included with the following related articles: