Google+ The Marketing Survivalist: How Do You Measure Blog Conversions?

How Do You Measure Blog Conversions?

Conversions are often the metric used to measure the success of electronic marketing. But, what exactly is a conversion? Is it a sale? Is it getting the prospect to call you? Is it an opportunity in the pipeline?

A conversion is getting the visitor to take the action you want them to take on a specific page.

For example, if you have a Google Adwords campaign that links to a landing page, a conversion is when someone clicks through the ad, lands on the landing page, and then takes whatever action you desire on that page – usually fills out a form.

You can calculate your conversion rate with the following formula:

(Number of forms completed / the number of click-throughs) * 100.

If you have ten click-throughs from the ad and two of those visitors fill out the form, your conversion rate is 20%.

(2/10) * 100.

Blogs can be a bit tougher. Is a conversion getting someone to comment? Comments are not necessarily a great measure for success. You could be getting dozens of visitors a day and still not get comments.

Is it getting people to stay on the page and read the posts? You should look at metrics such as the length of time your visitors stay on the site (indicating that they actually read something), the number of pages visited, and bounce rates as an indication of the success of your blog. But, it’s still difficult to tie these measurements back to your pipeline metrics.

You could use your blog to drive people to your web site or to something they can download This would give you a very solid conversion number with a value to the business that is a bit easier to assess. For example, if they click through to your website, it’s an indication that your post piqued their interest in your products.

However, measure blogs by the amount of web traffic they drive and you run the risk of making your posts too commercial.

You can also measure the success of a blog in metrics that have nothing to do with conversion rates. For example, blogs can be a great way to build evidence for your media outreach program. That’s a very valid goal, but not necessarily a “conversion rate.”

How do you measure the “conversion rate” of your company blog?

All the best!

Melissa
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