Basics of digital marketing - 5 essential types of content marketing metrics

1. Traffic Metrics

These show how many people are visiting your content and where they’re coming from.
Key metrics include:

  • Page views

  • Unique visitors

  • Traffic sources (organic, referral, social, direct)

  • Time on page
    Helps you understand the reach and visibility of your content.


2. Engagement Metrics

These indicate how users interact with your content.
Key metrics include:

  • Bounce rate (lower is better)

  • Average time spent on page

  • Scroll depth

  • Comments, likes, and shares
    These metrics show how interesting and relevant your content is to your audience.


3. Lead Generation Metrics

These track how well your content drives new leads.
Key metrics include:

  • Form submissions

  • Content downloads (e.g., eBooks, guides)

  • Newsletter signups

  • Click-through rates (CTR) on CTAs
    This helps measure how effectively your content contributes to growing your email list or pipeline.


4. SEO Performance Metrics

These show how well your content performs in search engines.
Key metrics include:

  • Keyword rankings

  • Organic traffic growth

  • Backlinks earned

  • Click-through rate from search results
    These help assess the long-term discoverability of your content.


5. Conversion Metrics

These measure whether your content drives desired business actions.
Key metrics include:

  • Sales or revenue generated from content

  • Conversion rate per piece of content

  • Assisted conversions (content that played a role in the buyer journey)
    These tie content marketing efforts directly to ROI and business outcomes.


 

Conclusion:
Tracking these content marketing metrics gives you insight into what’s working, what’s not, and how to optimize your strategy for better results. Always align metrics with your overall marketing goals to measure true impact.