The Other Approach to Analytics

Countless resources stress the importance of blog metrics, pinpointing the key elements that will help measure an organization’s effectiveness of its blog, which is ultimately the platform for the brand’s voice. But merely looking at these elements individually and at face value will only skim the surface of the metrics and does little to truly give insight into visitor information and blog reception.

Analyzing information about a blog’s audience and content requires getting up close with the data and examining the metrics from a 360-degree angle to draw key observations and inferences – which is precisely why we call it metrics analysis rather than simply tracking and monitoring. Just as the success of a social media program comes from listening to a brand’s audience as a whole rather than from a voice of one individual, the success of measuring a blog’s effectiveness comes from listening to what the metrics as a whole have to say.

Understanding metrics goes beyond merely spotting the most-viewed post with the longest average time spent and immediately deciding it’s the most popular post with a lot of traction. It’s more than seeing the most-searched keyword and instantly jumping to the conclusion that visitors are interested in that one keyword.

For instance, a close study of keywords can reveal trends in what visitors search beyond the single keyword that received the most searches. People may be searching synonyms of words or combining words in a different order. Several keyword phrases may all belong to a common category or topic. A frequently searched keyword may be resulting in a high bounce rate. A thorough analysis that looks at all facets surrounding the keyword data can consolidate a list of 500 keywords into 5-10 relevant keyword categories or trends.

At Otherwise, a metrics report isn’t about just handing the client raw data about the blog’s performance for the month. We constantly challenge the data that’s already there, digging deeper than what initially shows on the surface. By integrating different elements of metrics into our analysis, we bring out meaningful observations or insights, which serve as not only feedback about the blog’s strategy, but also as catalysts for refining or improving the strategy in place.

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