DIGITAL MARKETING MEASUREMENT

Introduction

TSL refers to a core set of metrics for each of our digital marketing services. This allows us to evaluate and benchmark, identify opportunities for improvement, and return results that make an impact.

Click on a service area below to learn about each of our key digital marketing measurement metrics, and the value of focusing our efforts to achieve results in these areas.

1 Standard SEO

 

2 Advanced SEO

 

3 Digital Advertising

 

4 Digital Advertising & CRO

 

5 Websites

 

Standard SEO Measurements

Patience and taking the long view pays off when it comes to search engine optimization (SEO). It is not an overnight activity nor is it a one and done; you must do it consistently month-over-month. The main goal of SEO is to increase the amount of right-fit organic traffic to your website. There are foundational items that must be completed first, so we focus on the following metrics.

SEO score

What is it?

A score created by looking at several dimensions of a domain's health to search engines. There are many tools that do this, but no one tool has a perfect scoring system. However, it is a good way to benchmark where you are today and identify areas for improvement. Here is a snippet about how SEMrush calculates the score.

What is its value?

A higher grade indicates a healthier site from an SEO perspective. Score improvements are a good indicator that our work is headed in the right direction.

Average search position (by query and page)

What is it?

A metric from Google Search Console that indicates the search position of your site pages as well as the search position of specific search terms that your site is found for. There tends to be around 10-15 organic search results on a page. An average of 1.1 would mean your page or term is being found on the first position of the first page often. An average value of 40 would indicate that, on average, the page or term was on page 3 or page 4 of search. This is an average of all searches and may not be the exact position for an individual search.

What is its value?

Searchers tend to click on the top results first and only venture down the page if they haven’t seen the results that they're looking for. Searchers very rarely ever navigate deeper into search pages.

Organic search traffic

What is it?

Organic traffic that arrives to your site from various search engines. These visitors have found you by entering a search query and clicking on your site from the search engine results page.

What is its value?

Organic search traffic means that your site is being found by customers and prospects who are searching for 1. you 2. your products and services or 3. topics that appear on your website.

Search impressions

What is it?

Search impressions are counted each time one of your pages appears on a search results page. You can read more here.

What is its value?

Getting your pages onto the search results page increases chance of clicks.

Search clicks

What is it?

When a user clicks on your URL, it appears within the search engine results page (SERP). A search click results in Organic Search Traffic.

What is its value?

This is an indicator that the description of your page is relevant to the user's search query.

Search click-through rate

What is it?

The number of times a user clicks on your URL relative to how many times it is seen (impressions). You can read more here.

What is its value?

Increased click-through rates are good indicators that your page descriptions are in line with a searcher's intent and that they're choosing results from your site when you appear on the search engine results page.

Advanced SEO Measurements

Patience and taking the long view pays off when it comes to search engine optimization (SEO). It is not an overnight activity nor is it a one and done. You must do it consistently month-over-month. Once there is traffic flowing to and through your website, the main goal of SEO is to increase the amount of right-fit organic traffic to your website. As organizations mature through the SEO process and start to gain relevant traffic, we focus on these metrics.

Overall organic search growth/keyword ranking

What is it?

Growth month-over-month and year-over-year of your organic search traffic and keyword ranking for terms and phrases for which you want to be found.

What is its value?

Increases in search traffic to the pages you want to be found (for the terms you want to be found for) should result in relevant traffic. This helps your brand gain increased exposure to people who may not know about you or your products or services. Relevant traffic to a buyer-centric site should result in increased conversions, downloads, purchases, etc.

Organic conversions (Requires conversion points & goals to be set up)

What is it?

When a user arrives to your site through a search engine and completes an action that you count as a conversion (downloads, video views, form fills, purchases, subscription sign-up, etc.).

What is its value?

These are proof that SEO is starting to return value for your business.

Micro conversions

What is it?

Not quite a conversion, but an action that you deem important in the process of getting a conversion. This could be video views, downloads, blog readership, subscriptions, number of pages viewed, key page views, etc.

What is its value?

Site visitors may not take a full conversion action the first time they visit the site. Micro conversions represent engagement with elements of the site that you feel will help in the customer's journey to a conversion.

Page interactions (views, time on page) (if applicable)

What is it?

The metrics that represent how users navigate through your site, to which pages, and how long they stay.

What is its value?

This information allows you to make real-time value-based decisions to capitalize on the most visited pages. Page interactions play a small role in search engine results because action on your site from a search user can be an indication that they found what they were looking for and spent time on your site (versus bouncing back to the search results page).

Digital Advertising Measurements

If you currently have limited traffic to your website, to get short-term gains you can and should run advertisements. There are two ways to get users to your website: organically or by paying. This not only brings users to your website, but it also exposes your brand to the market. These are the metrics we measure against for digital advertising.

Ad impressions

What is it?

The number of times your ad is shown on users' web browsers.

What is its value?

When your brand is seen by users, you become recognized and known. Impressions give you the opportunity to get clicks.

Ad costs

What is it?

Your ad budget over a certain time.

What is its value?

Budgets can be set for time periods, so it can act as a control. Cost-per-click and cost-per-conversion are calculated using your ad costs.

Clicks

What is it?

The number of times users click through on various ad elements.

What is its value?

Clicks drive users to your designated destinations, whether that be URLs, videos, form pages, downloads, etc.

Click-through rate (CTR)

What is it?

The ratio of users that see your ad as compared to those who click.

What is its value?

When you have a high CTR, it is a signal that your audience is finding value in your message/brand. Beware that if your message is too vague or to the improper audience, you can get a false positive.

Cost-per-click (CPC)

What is it?

The total cost divided by the number of users who took the direct action to click.

What is its value?

This is an important metric to ensure that you are using your budget most effectively and can disable budget overrun.

Digital Advertising & CRO Measurements

If you currently have limited traffic to your website, to get short-term gains you can and should run advertisements. Once you do start to see traffic increase, you must also have conversion paths and conversion points for the user. The main goal of Pay-per-click coupled with conversion rate optimization (CRO) is to increase the amount of paid traffic to your website and to give users a better experience and opportunities to convert. As we start to see traffic to your pages, we’ll look to measure and optimize for your conversion metrics.

Page interactions (views, time on page) (if applicable)

What is it?

The metrics that represent how users navigate through your site, to which pages, and how long they stay.

What is its value?

This information allows you to make real-time value-based decisions to capitalize on the most visited pages. Page interactions play a small role in search engine results because action on your site from a search user can be an indication that they found what they were looking for and spent time on your site (versus bouncing back to the search results page).

Videos watched (if applicable)

What is it?

How many visitors are watching your videos and for how long.

What is its value?

These are signals that your content is of interest to your site visitors.

Content downloads (ungated) (if applicable)

What is it?

How many times your content pieces are being downloaded where there is not a form required to gain access.

What is its value?

These are signals that your content, like case studies, solution briefs, etc., are of interest to your site visitors.

Subscriptions (if applicable)

What is it?

When a user signs up for future outreach from your brand (e.g. newsletter sign-up, blog sign-up, etc.)

What is its value?

This is a strong signal that users value your brand's information and perspective.

Blog visits (if applicable)

What is it?

The number of users who are visiting your blog.

What is its value?

Having a user return can be a positive sign that they found value in their prior visits and want more value. They may be further investigating your company, services, and solutions.

Conversions by channel

What is it?

The channels by which converting visitors came to your site and took an action that required them to enter their personal or business information.

What is its value?

Knowing which channels are performing, and not performing, allows you to make sure you optimize your time and money in areas such as organic search, paid search, and LinkedIn advertising.

Conversions by page and channel

What is it?

The channel and pages from which your users are converting.

What is its value?

Understanding from where and to where the user journey follows allows you to optimize the channel and the pages where users are landing.

Website Measurements

Users knowing about and finding value in your website is the only way to maximize the return on investment. By giving visitors a valuable and meaningful experience, they will spend more time on and return to your website. This will encourage building trust with that user, let search engines know they liked their experience, and increase the opportunity for amplification of your brand. Standard metrics to evaluate when looking at your overall website health are as follows.

Pages viewed by channel

What is it?

The average number of pages viewed by a visitor from a certain source.

What is its value?

When you understand both the source and landing point of users, it allows you to optimize both the channel and the landing page to create value for the users.

Site speed – desktop & mobile

What is it?

How many seconds it takes for your webpage to load on a desktop computer or various mobile devices.

What is its value?

Google continues to stress the importance of a mobile-first mindset. This is because more users are browsing and interacting with web content from non-desktop/laptop devices, and search engines want to be sure there is instant gratification when a link is clicked. Slow-loading websites make for bad user experiences.

Bounce rate & page exit rates

What is it?

A visit to the website where only a single page is viewed before the visitor leaves the site.

What is its value?

Someone clicking back quickly indicates to search engines that the page did not fulfill the user’s needs or search intent.

New users by channel

What is it?

How many first-time visitors are coming to your webpages and through which source they came.

What is its value?

Having first-time visitors to your website shows that your site is being found or sought after. Knowing which channel these users are coming through allows you to make decisions on where to invest.

Return visitors

What is it?

When a user who has previously visited your website returns to your website.

What is its value?

Having a user return can be a positive sign that they found value in their prior visits and are wanting more value. They may be further investigating your company/services/solutions.

Time on site by channel

What is it?

The time a user spends on your website. This can be time on a single page or multiple pages.

What is its value?

Having a user spend time on your website is a signal to the search engine that the user found value and wanted to find out more information and the user was potentially exposed to more of your message/brand value.

Conversions by page and channel

What is it?

The channel and pages from which your users are converting.

What is its value?

Understanding from where and to where the user journey follows allows you to optimize the channel and the pages where users are landing.