Do you know all these statistics that you follow?
They are probably not worth anything.
I'm not saying that they have absolutely no value, of course. I'm just saying that they do not do anything for your bottom line most of the time.
These are the things you think are important, but do not do it.
In other words, you can follow them, but do not rely on them for the actual dollar value.
The trick is to know which ones are valuable and which ones are not.
Here's why some of these "important" metrics do not really matter. With some concrete actions, you should rather worry.
1. Clicks + Pageviews
We have already heard everything. The questions, egos, bragging.
How to drive 100,000 visitors in a month? I need fast traffic!
Here's how I drove 4,000 visitors a day, you can also with these simple tips!
* sigh *
That sounds too good to be true, because that's the case.
Unless you are paid for the page view, and want people to bounce back instantly and never come back, then go for it. Spam your link on Pinterest, forums and Reddit.
But if you want to be realistic with yourself, clicks on your ads and page views on your content mean nothing if people are not:
- To stay and read more about it on your website
- Conversion / purchase of a product or service / registration to something
- Complete the goal you have set for this page for visitors
So, if your clicks went through the roof yesterday like this:
But, your conversions were like this:
And your page views were like this:
But your goal achievements were like this:
So, what is the point?
Clicks and page views are worthless if they do not lead to conversions.
2. CTR
CTR. The glorified metrics that push everyone from PPC to SERP's "crazy growth hackers".
Look at me, I have 66% CTR!
Oh cool, how many conversions did you have? Two out of 4,000 clicks? Make it rain baby!
Ok, on a more serious note, here's why CTR does not mean $ #! * In the real world:
Take a look at this AdWords table.
The keyword / group of ads with the highest traffic and the highest conversion has the lowest CTR (by far).
STILL … also the strongest conversions (by far).
Pay a low bid on the keyword and spend less money = lower positions = more competition = lower CTR.
But conversions are still very high.
The overall account has an average total CTR of 3.49%. It's "not good."
Except, the average cost per conversion is 5 times lower than the average sales income.
I will make this agreement any day of the week.
The CTR is not the gold standard. I do not care what your CTR is for it does not introduce conversions.
3. Impressions
Say you own a brick and mortar store. You sell shoes.
It's the day of the launch and 40,000 people come in and out of your store that day.
These advertisements must work!
You check the books and you see the following sales figures: $ 500. Total.
Now you have it?
The prints are cool and everything.
"Hey, (insertbossesname), our product has been seen by 100,000 people today!"
But at the end of the day, they do not matter if (can you guess what is the next step?) They do not lead to sales, conversions or completions. # 39; s goals.
4. Total number of Backlinks
The backlinks are good. They help with ranking metrics and credibility.
But the total amount of backlink is too emphasized.
Constantly, we see people worrying about the number of links they can get, but they can do it.
* Oprah Gif Queue: You get a link! You get a link! And you get a link!
If your hyperlink profile is spammy:
… so these links do not mean anything.
URLs with low DAs that are known to send spam or give Halloween-like candy links will not lead you to the top of Google.
Ideally, you want a good backlink profile from relevant editorial sources that will not simply pass on easy and useless links.
It sounds like fishing, is not it?
We simply rectify our content to the top ten positions and get the lion's share of the clicks.
But, that is BS. Just ask Wil Reynolds.
Google is constantly evolving. Customize their methods, learn from real people, and a real human interaction with their service.
SEO rankings are more related to the search history of users now.
There is more emphasis on things like first impressions and brand loyalty in the world today than there are on the world. keywords and content.
So doing all these little SEO stuff to put yourself in the front row will not be as useful as you think.
AND, # 1 on SERPs does not translate into conversions.
You need a funnel. No ranking.
6. Results of the A / B test
Most A / B tests fail to provide meaningful information.
Why?
Because you test your own opinions and assumptions, allowing these annoying prejudices to ravage your results.
This is not the only problem, however.
CXL's Peep Laja has tested tons of data and experiments and found that A / B testing is worthless if you have less than 1,000 conversions. Per month. Minimum.
Welp, it is discouraging. Unless you get more than 1k (minimum) conversions per month, forget the A / B tests and results.
They do not want to say anything.
They might be beautiful at first. But most likely, they will regress to the average eventually.
Here's what you should follow, instead
Do not drown in all this negativity for the moment. There is also good news.
Here are some steps to focus on to help make the cash register sound.
1. Funnel Statistical Report
We just talked about the fact that A / B tests were a waste of time, unless you have at least 1,000 conversions a month.
BUT, you can solve your conversion problems much faster by using funnel report data (courtesy of Kissmetrics).
Funnel reports show you how users actually move on your website.
You can see who performed certain actions, which did not performed the desired action and who skipped some steps in your funnel (for better or for worse) .
You can also follow certain steps in your funnel:
So if anyone ever visited, then signed up for a newsletter, and then watched a video, you would know it.
You can then use this data to do things like:
- Identify bottlenecks in conversion that prevent people from joining, registering, joining, or signing on the dotted line
- Segment your audience into cohorts to further analyze your funnel
- Zoom into your acquisition funnel to see exactly where and when customers turn on
Basically, you can determine how to increase conversions. Reliablement. Regularly. Without performing a single A / B test.
2. Quality of the backlink
High quality backlinks can be difficult to obtain.
You can not imitate them.
They are a leading indicator, of course. But the best kind.
This is a measure of performance, which tells you (1) how good these promotional activities are and (2) if you expect to see an increase in traffic in the near future.
For example, here's what a good backlink profile looks like:
