Are You Using KPI’s to Fine Tune Your Website?

Web analytics ninja’s like to toss around buzzword phrases such as “key performance indicators” or KPIs.  Sometimes, though, it can seem like any and every operational metric available becomes a KPI, with little differentiation between what data truly indicates functional success and what simply provides interesting, but low value details.  At the end of the day, a key performance indicator should live up to its name—it should be an effective measurement of how well your website meets its stated goals.

How do I Determine the KPIs for my website?

Start by asking questions about your business.  What is the purpose of your website?  What do you want visitors to do while they are there?  What determines a successful visit to your site?  The answers to these questions (e-commerce, make a purchase, a completed sale) will show you what you should be measuring.  Web analytics tools can provide hundreds of details about your site, including visitors per day, pages viewed, time on page, etc., but not all of these pieces of information will help you improve your website.  Instead, focus on the indicators that show you whether your website accomplishes key business goals.

What KPIs Can Help Me Best Evaluate My Business?

Before choosing your top KPIs, remember that web analytics cannot always measure success in a single visit.  A visitor might view your site three or four times over the course of several days before taking the desired action.  This does not mean the first two or three times, the visitor came to your site, were unsuccessful.  Instead, it means that your website did its job by sticking in the viewer’s mind and enticing him to return, which ultimately resulted in a sale.  The more you can measure value over time rather than just single visit analysis, the greater understanding you will have of whether your website successfully supports your business objectives.  Below are examples of key performance indicators that speak volumes about your operational success:

• Conversion Rates—by placing the focus on whether your objectives are being met or not, you have a solid indication of how the average viewer interacts with your site.
• Task Completion Rate—this determines whether each viewer found what he was looking for on your site, even if he did not make a purchase (checking prices, finding contact information, seeking employment opportunities).
• Visitor Loyalty—Great for non-commercial sites, loyalty measurements show how often a person returns to your site.
• Visits to Action—how many visits do people make on average before they take the desired action on your site?  This can be a great indicator of how well your marketing campaign is working.

While there are many more key performance indicators available on most web analytics programs, these few will help you focus your study on true outcome based performance markers.

Additional Resources:

Five Best Free  Analytics Tools

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