I often hear the term blog metrics, web metrics and even business metrics. At times I have to walk away wondering if the speaker really understands the concept behind the term blog metrics. The concept is very straight forward but I will start with some formal definitions.
Blog metrics can be defined as:
[source] Numbers used as a measurement for standard of quality for comparing different items or time periods. Visits, Unique Hosts, Goals, and Value are all fields that might be used as a metric.
[source] Any type of measurement. Metrics could include business results, quantification of system usage, average response time, benefits achieved, etc. The measures that an organization believes is vital for its success.
[source] Often used interchangeably with measurements. However, it may be helpful to separate these definitions. Metrics are the various parameters or ways of looking at a process that is to be measured. Metrics define what is to be measured.
The one thing that all three definitions have in common is the term ‘measurement’. However it is the last definition that interest me the most. Metrics, and let us take blog metrics as an example, ‘define what is to be measured’. It is the term ‘what’ that is of most interest.
We can spend all day measuring our blog. We can keep statistics on traffic, unique visitors, bounce rate, click through rate, average pages and/or the average time for each visitor. These are all measurements so you could classify them as blog metrics.
If we take the third definition then the term metrics is going to refer to ‘what’ we are going to measure and how we are going to measure it. As an example, if I decide to run a promotional to increase my newsletter subscription numbers then I know I have several parameters to measure. The dollars spent. The increase in traffic and of course, the actual number of sign-ups I receive. You could argue (correctly too) that each one of these can be measured and there are blog metrics tools out there to measure them.
From my position, these numbers, whilst interesting, don’t go far enough. When I talk about blog metrics I am after the next level of data. The data that interests me is the cost per sign-up; the cost per hundred visitors; the conversion rate per 100 or per 1000 extra visitors. Blog metrics from my viewpoint is a tool that I can use to measure the effectiveness of what I am measuring, whether it is a promotion, a new affiliate ad unit on my blog or a new social site that I decide to target.
Blog metrics, in fact any form of metrics, is not just about measuring. It is about measuring the right factors to help you succeed. Again I quote from one of the definitions, metrics, blog metrics included, is ‘The measures that an organization believes is vital for its success’. I wonder, what is your definition of blog metrics?
