I’m sure you’ve heard the saying “What gets Measured, gets _____.”
Managed is the word that comes to mind.
However I want to exchange the word with Improved. It only makes sense if you want to do better on something, you pay attention to it and check the impact that changes have on it.
What do you currently measure?
Time practicing? Finances? Fitness? Video game times? Skiing? Golf game scores? Whatever it is you’re passionate about and trying to improve, one critical element is measurement. It’s the same with marketing.
Here are some of the measures I use for measuring website or blog effectiveness:
Google analytics: measures number of viewers, page views, time on site, location, entry and exit page, goal conversion (did you click on contact & receive a thank you page?).
Quantcast: demographics of readers including gender, age, children per household, education status, income levels and other characteristics — (Don’t worry, it’s in the aggregate, not by individual!!)
Sitemeter: I know that Google Analytics really does the same thing, but I really like the way they serve up “search words”.
Feedburner: Besides letting you measure blog feed information, feedburner also helps you to build awareness of your blog using headline generators. I like the email subscription tool. The troubleshoot section can be helpful too.
Mail Chimp and Constant Contact reports: email opens. Link click thru rates.
What tools do you use to measure your online marketing?
Please leave a comment below with the tool you use and how you use it. Thanks!
Great info… Time go get the measurements… And then I am going to do what I can to improve them over the next 30-60 days!
Measuring a website is most important thing in marketing. I think in my opinion google analytics is a best way to analyse and measure the site.. You have listed some new things, sure i will try that.. :)
Excellent post. I use Google Analytics on a daily basis, but only for visits and keywords. However, I am probably not using it to its full potential. If I don’t get feedburner going I know I would be making a mistake. Thanks for reminding me! I also use Hubspot to see trends in the quality of my site. I definintely will look into Quantcast and Sitemeter.
The goal conversion setting in Google Analytics can be very helpful.
Thanks for leaving a comment!
A lot of people don’t bother to measure their website results, but I think it is just as important as good navigation, pleasing design, strong copy and SEO. Thanks for your comments!
Jenni:
Great idea to jot down those key measurements that you want to improve by the end of August. It seems easy to remember what it was you wanted to work on, until it’s time to remeasure! Thanks for leaving a comment!