When outlining a content strategy for your business, the planning stage should always include blogs. They’re a great way to establish yourself as a resource to customers and peers, plus they help keep your website updated in the eyes of Google. In other words, a win-win for content marketers! Just publishing for the sake of adding on to SEO, however, should never be the focus: do research to find the best topics on what people are searching for around your services.
You can do this by being aware of current Google and industry search trends. Sometimes it helps you realize you don’t even have to write a new blog but can update or repurpose old content instead. Not sure how to get a reading on how your audience interacts with your blogs? Just take a look at your Google Analytics for essential blog KPIs.
What do the metrics mean?
Before looking at your analytics, here are the terms you will see and what they mean.
Pageviews
This tracks the number of times a page is viewed. It even counts repeated views, which is why it will often differ from unique pageviews.
Unique Pageviews
Instead of tracking views, this tracks the number of sessions based on a unique user. In other words, it tracks users.
Average Time on Page
This metric tracks how long a user spends on a page and creates an average through that information. According to Contentsquare’s 2022 benchmark report, the average time spent on a page, no matter the industry, is around 54 seconds.
Entrances
This tells you the number of times a user entered the site through a certain page.
Bounce Rate
A measurement of how a user visits your site and then leaves. A bounce is counted when a visitor lands on a page and then quits the tab/browser or leaves for another site. According to SEMRush, the average bounce rate ranges around 41% to 55%.
Exit
Comparing number of exits to number of pageviews, this measurement tells you how often a user exits from a page.
Using Google Analytics
Logging into your Google account to reach the Analytics, you want to focus on the content options to evaluate your blog KPIs. You reach them through these steps:
- On the far-left side, you will see a menu of options.
- Click on Behavior > Site Content and you’ll see four different options.
- We’ll start at All Pages.
All Pages
In this tab, you can see a breakdown of data behind all of your pages. If you want to look at a certain time period, scroll up above the chart to change the dates. To see how your blogs specifically are doing, use the search bar above the table of stats. In the bar enter “/blog” or whatever path you use for your blogs. It helps sort the results to only blogs so you can get a focused look on them.
Content Drilldown
To view how your blogs are doing compared to other paths on your website, Google Analytics offers an easy tool. Under the All Pages menu option, click on Content Drilldown. This page breaks down all the paths on your website so you can what’s leading. Hopefully, your blog path is listed high up on the list so you know your audience values your resources. If not, see what’s leading and if it’s still what your SEO specialists want to see.
Landing Pages
To get a clear picture of how visitors are entering your site, you can toggle to this option. Essentially, this answers the question of how users are coming across your business online. This particular option doesn’t show where the conversions are coming from, such as organic or social, but it could help you evaluate that. For instance, if you recently shared a post linking to one of your Services pages and its then pageviews go up, that could be a direct correlation. Either way, it gives you a look into how people are finding your website.
Exit Pages
This option answers the question of when visitors are deciding to leave your site. In general, you want people to stay on your site, so this gives you a view of where you may be losing their interest. However, that doesn’t always mean it’s an issue with the content. Sometimes people are simply looking for one answer, and your blog solves their question. That typically occurs if you see one blog on the landing pages and exit pages tab. You can try to keep them on your site by including links to similar blogs at the bottom of the page or including more internal links in the text.
Analytics can be complicated, so try to put yourself in your visitor’s shoes when you’re on your website or reading blogs. What hooks them, keeps them there, and inspires them to continue looking through your blog? These articles are a great way to make a first impression or strengthen brand loyalty for someone who sees you as an industry resource.
Not sure what your content strategy needs to improve your brand and website clicks? Our content and SEO experts can help!