There are few challenges for any business, large or small, as difficult as setting their key performance indicators (KPIs). I get it, it’s not that business owners don’t understand what or how to set their KPI’s, but more about the choices they make.
More often than not, they choose KPIs that are either incompatible or are simply too extensive to properly manage. Ultimately, KPIs are supposed to help solve a problem you have noticed on your site or in the way you are doing business.
Choosing the correct KPIs is key to better understanding your business and what you can control and measure. When KPIs are used properly they are clear steps that eliminate the guesswork of any action and goal setting you have created.
Your KPIs, then, support your goals – no, they aren’t your goals, but they’re intricately entwined with them. They are ultimately a way to measure how successful your efforts and strategies worked in the last six months or quarter, etc. They will become a roadmap to your success.
Do Your Homework Before Choosing Your KPIs
Before you start defining KPIs, you need to figure out what it is you are measuring. That means asking the hard questions, like:
- What data is important to support your goals?
- Which metrics should you use?
- What are you going to do with all this data?
I’m sure most of you know the standard business funnel is Awareness, Acquisition, Engagement, Conversion and Retention. Those are the nuts and bolts that can drive what you measure and how you measure them.
Now comes the tough part – I say tough because a lot of companies use weak indicators as part of their goals. For example some companies want a lot of Likes… sure, that’s nice, but ultimately, unless you are converting, communicating or building a community, that’s all they are – just numbers.
Therefore, lets focus and ask the tougher questions. “What do I expect to happen from this activity?” Simply put, what’s the desired result. Are you looking for more traffic, more readers, to build authority, strengthen your brand? Depending on the goals defined, you could leverage your efforts by three potential conversions on your site:
Managing by Metrics: Setting KPIs for Your Web Marketing by @SEOCopy
