How To Measure Your Online Presence Success

What metrics to use and actions to take to improve our output online.

Pretty much all of us use metrics in some way to measure the success of our work and businesses. It makes sense to keep track of how our actions are impacting our output, positively or negatively, so we can do more of what works and less of what doesn’t.

Yet, how many of us measure the success of our online presence?

More people than ever are taking their online presence seriously, to ensure the perception of others is in line with the values they want to represent.

If that’s you, as a business owner or entrepreneur, here’s how to measure your online presence success and make sure the effort you’re putting in is paying off.

1. Decide what’s important to measure

This decision will be specific to your business and brand, whether you offer a service, product or thought leadership. Here are some examples to get you thinking:

● Click-through rate from browsing to booking

● How many people engage with you on your social media and is the number increasing?

● If you’re targeting a specific demographic or geography,

how many of them are you attracting?

● How many people are viewing key pages on your website?

● How are calls to action performing?

Consider the measurements that matter to you: What activity generates income or raises your profile against your competitors? Note down those key performance indicators for your online presence.

2. Breakdown your online presence to specific platforms

One size does not fit all online. Short-form social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram attract a very different crowd to LinkedIn or your email subscribers.

So it’s important to analyze each aspect of your online presence because their performance, and the actions you need to take, will be different for each of them.

Website If your goal is to attract visitors to your website then Google Analytics is a goldmine of information. You can find out where your visitors live, how they found your website and where they headed when they arrived.

Does your website data correlate with your goal or is there a disparity between what you want and what you’re getting?

Social media Quality is more important than quantity when it comes to social media so think carefully about whether you’re spreading yourself too thinly. It’s better to put your energy into the platforms where most of your customers or clients live than be present everywhere with inconsistent results.

Social media metrics will inform this decision.

Most platforms will give you success measurements or you can use third-party tools that will collate stats for you. Here’s some of what to look for:

● Which posts are getting the most attention?

● What time is your key audience online and

are you meeting them?

● What content is being shared or ‘liked’?

● The number of impressions/reach of your content

You’re looking for a steady, upward trajectory. Any sudden leaps or dips will quickly tell you when you captured your audience or lost them.

Email Your email marketing provider should be able to track the three main metrics: Open rate, click rate and bounce rate.

Open rate tells you how many subscribers actually took the time to open your email. If this rate is consistently low, then you’ll need to rethink your marketing campaign but chances are some emails are getting a better open rate than others and it often all comes down to the subject line.

Analyze which style of subject line is getting a better open rate so you can replicate that in the future. You’re aiming for a consistently high open rate.

Click rate measures how many readers took action after opening your email, be that links to other articles, a call to action or funnel to your website.

This information tells you what your readers are most interested in, so you can do more of it or leverage that interest to gain more clients, customers or followers.

Click rate success means readers are taking the action you wanted when you sent out the email.

Finally, the bounce rate tells you how many email addresses are no longer working. If this metric is high it will affect the quality of all the other data so you should remove all those email addresses from your list.

What you’ll be left with is meaningful data that allows you to accurately analyze what content and subject lines are really connecting with your intended audience.

3. Take action

In a nutshell, do more of what’s paying off and less of what’s not.

Social media If most of your target market is on one or two social media platforms, give those more of your attention. Post more, engage more, share more. You should see followers, likes and shares rise as a result.

Build your profile and presence in the places where your audience wants what you offer or wants to hear what you have to say.

Website Are particular blog posts or resource pages getting more attention? Leverage that interest by repurposing popular content by going more in-depth, offering bite-size tips or creating a series.

Be sure to share that content across all your online platforms to gain momentum.

Email Thankfully, taking action in response to email metrics is pretty straightforward.

Use the same style and tone of successful email subject lines and stick to the type of content that gets opened regularly. Then make sure your calls to action are clear and compelling.

If your email metrics are disappointing, try A/B testing to try out more than one approach which will give you instant feedback you can apply going forward.

Measuring your online success is not a one-time activity. Tastes change, cultures shift and technology moves on.

Make it a habit to measure your online presence success regularly because what’s working well today, may not this time next year. By keeping yourself informed, you can adapt to changes in trends and keep up with, or ahead of, your competitors without having to radically rethink your entire strategy.