Using Metrics, Data Trumps Opinion

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Web Metrics, generally speaking, are aggregated data points that are used to measure a variety of online activities. Within the world of digital marketing, they are essential in helping professionals move from "hoping for the best" to performance grading. 

When it comes to proving your worth and pushing back on unfounded opinions, having the watchful eye of these tools will allow you to move more confidently through your decision-making while equally knowing when to tear it down and start over again. 

From personal experience, having a second opinion is essential; merely relying on one analytical system is often insufficient. Even though many CMS/CRM systems come with built-in tracking tools, it's recommended to have supplemental additions like SEMrush, G.A. / Search Console. These tools can clarify readability errors, page speed issues, and leverage query searches to craft answer-driven content. Ultimately these efforts can lead to a significant competitive advantage and improve warm lead generation/sales. 

A recent update to the arsenal is Google's Lighthouse (formerly Audit) found within the Chrome Inspect tool. This free auditing software allows you to generate site-wide reports, providing detailed insights that can be shared among team members in areas like: 

• Development - provides a thorough diagnostic analysis on site performance, like assistive technology issues, page load issues, security concerns, etc.
• SEO / web dev - reports on technical errors like tap target sizing, un-indexable plugin- content, proper robot.txt formats, etc.

This kind of information can provide you the necessary technical support to fight for leaner pages, remove unnecessary or antiquated plugins/modules, reduce overly designed layouts, etc. 

Every page counts, but knowing who your Landing Pages (LP's) are and their time-on-page and bounce metrics can bring to question your messaging, or page construction. Things like page load times, what content is above the fold are obvious places to explore, but study how different browsers are behaving, or look into where your visitors are coming from, maybe the page (Site) could benefit from a translation. 

If you have average performing pages (55-75% bounce rates) with mediocre time-on-page results, try breaking up your content into smaller bite-size pieces and maybe increasing your font size by a point or two. Adding visuals along the way can keep visitors scrolling and engaged. 

Having your audience spend a few minutes versus a few seconds signals the algorithm that your content is providing worth-while answers, assisting the LP climb in its SERP (search engine results pages) or maintain its rank. 

Again utilize this knowledge to spark change within your organization, push older institutions into a more modern understanding of SEO Design and educate them on the monetary value of organic optimization and how this generates warm leads/sales. 

If possible, always invest in optimizing your organic environment first. Aim to become clear of who you are as an organization, have thorough discussions dissecting all your value props, get abstract if necessary, as these could lead to peripheral adjuncts to connect with broader streams. Take these notes and explore what type of search queries and answers are available. Find opportunities to create thought leadership or ways to insert yourself into conversations. Implement your metric tracking tools to start grading your performance to improve continually. 

If the time arises to invest in paid advertising, confirm that performance data will be available after completing your cycle. However, if possible, always provide your organization that extra insurance by utilizing tracking URLs. Depending on what systems use, ideally, you want to know where your leads came from and what were their touchpoints. Such things like Emails, PDFs, Banner AD's should all be monitored and ideally tied to a campaign. 

And even with all this said, don't ever be afraid to get creative. Yes, research, dissect and connect dots, but don't be scared to experiment. Sometimes being campy and extraordinarily simple can yield compelling interest. Making someone smile can sometimes be the thing that brings them to you. Just make sure you have the tools to measure and prove it!