Are you tracking the right metrics in your PPC and SEO campaigns? Vanity metrics can be misleading and give you a false sense of success. Today we'll explore the top vanity metrics to avoid.
As a business owner or marketer, it’s easy to get caught up in the numbers. Whether it’s website traffic, social media followers, or app downloads, it’s natural to want to see big, impressive numbers. However, not all metrics are created equal. Some metrics, known as vanity metrics, can actually be misleading and give a false sense of success for your business. In this blog post, we’ll explore what vanity metrics are, why they can be dangerous, and provide examples of common vanity metrics to watch out for.
First, let’s define vanity metrics. These are metrics that look impressive on the surface but do not actually indicate real success or growth for a business. For example, having a large number of website visitors or social media followers may seem impressive, but if those visitors or followers do not convert into paying customers or engaged users, then the metric is not truly valuable. In other words, vanity metrics are metrics that don’t directly drive revenue or contribute to the bottom line.
Vanity metrics can lead to bad decision making and misallocating resources for the business, it’s important to focus on the metrics that truly matter for your business goals and objectives.
According to a report by Incapsula, on average, about 61.5% of all website traffic is generated by bots, with 30.9% being good bots (search engine crawlers, monitoring tools, etc.) and 30.6% being bad bots (scrapers, spammers, etc.). However, this can vary greatly depending on the specific website and industry.
1. Social media followers
A confusing or cluttered design can be overwhelming for visitors and lead to a high bounce rate. Keep your design simple and easy to understand, and make sure your website is easy to read and navigate.
2. Website traffic
If your website’s content isn’t relevant to your visitors, they’re likely to leave. Make sure your website’s content is tailored to your target audience and that it addresses their pain points.
3. Email subscribers
With the majority of online traffic coming from mobile devices, it’s essential that your website is optimized for mobile. This includes ensuring that your site is responsive and that all elements, such as forms and buttons, are easily clickable on a small screen.
4. Likes and shares
Regularly reviewing analytics data, including bounce rate, can help you identify patterns and make changes accordingly. By monitoring this data, you can identify areas for improvement and make changes to reduce your bounce rate.
5. Time spent on site
Pop-ups and interstitials can be irritating for visitors and lead to a high bounce rate. Avoid using these types of elements on your website, or at least make sure they’re not intrusive and easy to close.