Content marketing is an essential part of any businessâs marketing strategy, and B2B content marketing, in particular, offers significant ROI (Return On Investment) when done correctly.
However, one of the biggest challenges of content marketing for B2B companies is figuring out what to avoid and what to adopt
This means businesses should be very cautious in choosing which important B2B content marketing metrics they shouldnât ignore.
Content marketing metrics are often difficult to measure and marketers can easily misinterpret those.
Understanding which metrics are the most important to your business is essential if you want to be successful in your content marketing strategy.
In this post, Iâll discuss seven of the most important b2b content marketing metrics that every business should track to measure successâand explain why they matter so much to your company.
Before diving into the metrics you shouldnât ignore, letâs look at why those metrics are important and how to use them effectively.
importance of Metrics
Just as content marketing is vital to lead generation, metrics are equally vital to success.
In order to determine whether your content marketing is effective, youâll want to look at some key metrics during and after a campaign.
The right metrics will help you understand whatâs working and what isnât so you can make course corrections when necessary.
And at its core, metrics can help you save moneyâespecially if certain tactics arenât working out for your business.
Using the metrics effectively
To effectively use b2b content marketing metrics, it is important to understand what those are and how one can use those.
There are several content marketing metrics, and it can prove difficult to decide which ones to track and focus on.
It is important to remember that there are no hard rules here and different industries will require different tactics and strategies, so you may find it necessary to tweak those a bit.
To determine the effectiveness of a content marketing campaign, it is important to track the following metrics:
Article Views: Measure the number of times a piece of content has been read.
- Measure the number of times a piece of content has been read.
- Social Shares: Count the number of times a piece of content has been shared on social media.
- Email Opens: This metric measures how many times a piece of content has been opened in an email.
Once you have tracked these metrics, you can use those to determine which pieces of content are performing the best and which need to be tweaked.
Also Read: How You Can Skyrocket Your Small Business with Blogging
Best website metrics to track for every blog
Remember, these metrics provide valuable insights into your content marketing strategy and overall business performance. Tailor your focus based on your specific goals and objectives1234.
1. Click Through Rate (CTR)
Click-through rate is one of those elusive, but important metrics.
If a reader clicks your headline, it means theyâre interested in learning more about your product or service; however, if you have a low CTR, you know that there might be work to do in terms of keyword research and headlines.
In short, this metric can help you determine which of your results are most effective at driving users to click through to your website.
what makes a good Click-Through Rate?
According to Smart Insights,
Content which has a click through rate of 1-1.5% is typically good, while anything over 2% is exceptional.
On average, most industries see CTRs between 0.1-0.3%. However, your industry and competition will probably have a lot to do with that number.
How to see Avg CTR for a campaign:
- To see Avg. CTR for a given campaign, you can use the Google Ads tool.
- In the overview tab, scroll down to the âCampaign Performanceâ section and
- click on the âAvg. CTRâ column heading.
See Avg CTR in Google Search Console:
When youâre looking to measure the success of your SEO efforts, Googleâs Search Console is a great place to start.
In Google search console, you can see the average click-through rate (CTR) for each of your search results.
- First, go to the Search Console page for your domain. In the left-hand column, click on the âPerformanceâ tab.
- On the âperformanceâ tab, youâll see the âAvg. CTRâ column.
- This shows the average click-through rate for your content across all the queries that were searched for on your site.
If your Avg. CTR is low, you may need to work on improving your content to make it more appealing to Google searchers.
How to Improve CTR:
In order to improve your CTR, you need to make sure that your content is relevant and engaging. You should also make sure that the content has a strong call to action and that there are no distractions on your page such as pop-ups or ads. Finally, you need to make sure that your content has an enticing headline and compelling copy.
There are many ways to improve the average click-through rate (CTR) on your website. Some of the tips are:
- Optimize your website for mobile devices: Mobile devices are increasingly being used to access the internet, and as a result, your website should be designed to be responsive and optimized for mobile devices. This means that your website will automatically resize and update to match the size and resolution of different mobile devices, making it easier for visitors to navigate.
- Use keyword-rich descriptions and titles. Your titles and descriptions should be filled with keywords that apply to your websiteâs topic. This will help to ensure that your website is found by potential customers, and that they could find the information they were searching.
- Increase the number of images on your website
- Relevant and Engaging Content: make sure that your content is relevant and engaging.
- Strong Call-To Action (CTA): You should also make sure that the content has a strong call to action
- Eliminate distractions: Make sure that there are no distractions on your page such as pop-ups or ads.
- Write catchy headlines: you need to make sure that your content has an enticing headline and compelling copy.
2. Domain Authority (DA or DR)
Domain Authority is a numerical representation of how well you rank against other websites in your industry.
Itâs not perfect, but itâs a pretty good indicator.
Domain authority starts with a value of one and increases to 100 or more, depending on how authoritative it is. Itâs based on popularity, so if you have more links to your website than another website in your industry, you will be higher up on that scale.
Check Domain Rating/Authority
You can check the domain authority of any website. A domain authority checker is a website that can find out how authoritative a domain is. It will tell you how many links point to the domain, how many trust signals it has, and other metrics.
There are several online tools to check domain authority, but weâll advocate 2 excellent (free) tools for the purpose:
- Domain Authority Checker
- Ahref Backlink Checker
Domain Authority Checker
This free tool checks the DA by Moz. To check DA using this tool
- Search âonline domain authority checkerâ
- .click on the link which points to websitesochecker.com
- Write the address of the desired website.
- Verify your humanity by clicking on the reCAPTCHA
- Click the âCheckâ button
I checked for the Domain Authority of Googleâs parent company. The result is shown in a table. Alphabet. Here are the results::
2. Bounce Rate
This metric shows likeness or problems with your content. Problems with content mean that the content doesnât match what the audience was looking for, or simply that the headline isnât grabbing attention.
A low bounce rate shows that people are interested in your content and arenât leaving as soon as they arrive.
A high bounce rate tells you that people donât like what they see and are heading elsewhere.
Google Analytics can also help you measure where your audience is coming from and what search terms are driving traffic to your site. From there, you can create an effective keyword strategy.
3. Referral Traffic
One of the most important metrics for a B2B content marketing campaign is referral traffic.
The ultimate goal of your content is to drive action from your prospective customers, and itâs referral traffic that helps you determine how well your content is resonating with those individuals.
This metric can be calculated by subtracting organic search and direct traffic from overall inbound traffic numbers.
If youâre producing outstanding content, then you should be getting plenty of referral traffic. So why does measuring referral traffic matter? Because it lets you know how well your customers are finding your content and where theyâre coming from.
4. Time on Site
An important metric to track for your content marketing is Time on Site.
This report gives you a good sign of how well your audience like what they are reading, watching or listening to.
If a visitor stays on your site for a long time, itâs a sign that they are engaged and interested in what you have to say.
The longer visitors stay, the better it is for business because people who stay longer often become customers.
5. Engagement Rate
It measures the percentage of users who return to a website or app after viewing a certain amount of content.
How to Calculate:
Content Marketers use this metric to measure the level of user engagement and is calculated by dividing the number of unique users who interacted with a piece of content within a given timeframe by the total number of unique users who viewed that content over that same timeframe.
If readers arenât engaging with your content, then they probably wonât read it. If they donât read it, they wonât know who you are and what you can do for them â you will have failed at generating business leads.
Therefore, content marketers should always try to increase our readersâ engagement rate.
How to Increase?
Optimizing your headlines & meta descriptions
The first thing people see when coming to your site should be eye-catching, and ideally relevant to what they were searching for.
If you optimize your headlines and meta descriptions, youâll have a greater chance of enticing click-throughs from search engines.
Here are a few tips:
- Write original headlines that serve as an introduction to what content is on your page.
- .Think about how someone would search for information on your topic, then use that language in your headline.
Final Words
Data and information are crucial in marketing. You need your company to know where they stand as well. Any feedback or insight you receive can help you figure out what you should change, add, or improve on. I think thatâs a win-win for everyone involved.