Competing for attention on the internet is a strenuous task. Strategically using keywords, frequently updating social media profiles and producing a never-ending amount of content for blogs and websites are all vital steps in developing and maintaining a dominant online presence.
While it is relatively clear what components can contribute to a successful web campaign, it’s not as easy to measure the results that come out of it. Assessing the ROI of digital ventures can be a challenge, especially since there are many different types of metrics that can be obtained. In an effort to simplify the process, here are five basic ways to measure the strength of your website.
Traffic. One of the simplest ways to measure the overall health of a website is to track its monthly traffic. Knowing how many unique visitors arrive at your site in a given month, and how many pages they view on average, is a good initial test of whether a site is reaching a sizeable audience. Of course, “sizeable” is a relative term—vastly different for a small blog or a large corporate website—so be sure to include specific audience goals in your strategic plans to compare against your actual performance.
Keywords. Increasing the amount of traffic flowing to your website also relies on the strength of its brand and messaging. Developing a list of keywords relevant to your organization’s identity, services and goals, and then using them throughout the site, will help it stand out and build a digital reputation. Focusing on a list of high-value keywords should be a central plank of your SEO strategy and will give your website a stronger digital identity.
Keyword Position Distribution. Just as important as the number of keywords used is the website’s position on a search engine’s results page. For example, one keyword that places you in the top five results on Google is much more valuable than five keywords that appear on the third or fourth pages of a search. Tracking your keyword position distribution can be unwieldy if done manually, but using tools such as SEMrush speed up the process by compiling fresh data on a frequent basis.
Backlinks. In addition to visitors who access your site via search engine results are those who click on a link to your site found on another webpage—blogs, online news sites and almost anywhere in the digital sphere. The more backlinks you have, particularly on sites with high traffic, the better positioned you are to attract new traffic to your site. Obtaining good backlinks is a challenging task, but one that can have long-lived benefits.
Strategic Use. In addition to the external view provided by data-driven metrics, the strength of a website can also be measured by a qualitative internal assessment. Considering how often you update the content of the website, whether it features blogs and links to social media profiles, how much time is dedicated to maintaining and improving the site’s infrastructure and where digital communications falls on your priorities list will provide a good understanding of how strong your site is from a management and planning perspective.
These are mainly data-driven ways to measure the general wellbeing of a website, but this list is by no means exhaustive. Factors ranging from user-friendliness to aesthetic quality can also add value in calculating the strength of a website. Regardless of which metrics work best for you, it is clear that having a healthy website and robust digital strategy is crucial in getting out a message in the 21st century marketplace of ideas.