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Beyond the basic metrics outlined in the previous edition, there are some more advanced measurements you should be aware of. This information will give you even more insight into your business and ways you can bring it to the next level.
1. How are your customers moving through your site?
For any site that has more than a page or two, this is a crucial, but often ignored, set of metrics, referred to as Clickstream. It basically involves tracking how visitors move through your site, including where they enter, where they exit, and what pages they view along the way.
Included in this category are stats like your homepage "bounce" rate: How many visitors to your homepage leave (or "bounce") without going any deeper into the site. If 75% of your visitors don't click a single link off of your main entry page, you'll need to find out why, or you're wasting valuable traffic.
The clickstream will also show which pages people are leaving your site from. For example, if more people leave the site from your order form than any other page, you might need to assess how "user friendly" this form is. This can be a crucial way of seeing how effectively your navigation system is guiding your visitors toward your products.
2. How much is it costing you to attract new visitors to your site?
The Cost per Visitor (CPV) stat tells you how much it costs, on average, to get a visitor to your site. If you're using paid advertising, this can be a particularly valuable figure. Just compare your cost per visitor to your revenue per visitor, and you'll know whether or not your advertising is profitable.
Marketing Costs/ # of visitors x 100 = Cost per Visitor
If you spent $1,200 on a campaign and it brought 2,700 new visitors, then your cost per visitor is $0.44.
$1,200/ 2,700 x 100 = $0.44
3. How much are you paying to gain each new customer?
This Cost per Customer (CPC) is a key number to track to make sure you aren't paying more to attract each customer than you make in profit from each sale.
Marketing Costs/ # of customers x 100 = Cost per Customer
If you spent $1,200 on a campaign and it brought 327 new customers, then your cost per customer is $3.67.
$1,200/ 327 x 100 = $3.67
Quick Tip: Unless you have a custom-built system, you won't be able to view all of your stats in one place, so you should set up a spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel, where you can plug key sales numbers and stats into one "dashboard" to track all of your key metrics over time. Once you figure out all of the formulas, you can just type in your new details each week to track your progress.
Simon Clarke has over 15 years of experience as a writer, entrepreneur and business specialist. He is also the founder and Director of the Life Coaching Institute, Australia's leading coach training organization.
