Online marketing can be overwhelming.

There’s so many things to measure. You can’t afford to keep track of everything.

So don’t!

Stop trying to get real-time customer data and a thousand KPI’s. Just focus on the things that really matter!

Instead of measuring keyword rankings, focus on your sales funnel.

Simplify your life and only focus on these 3 blog metrics.

1. People Visiting Your Website

The first thing you need to measure is awareness.

And you can do this by looking at your traffic sources.

Your traffic sources are made up of Direct, Referral and Search Engine traffic.

Do these numbers make sense? How can you increase them?

One of the best ways to get people’s attention is to create content. It’s good for SEO and for users.

People search because they have some intent. They have a problem and they’re looking for a solution.

Now that solution may just be a distraction, but they’re still looking for something specific. Give them that solution.

2. People Opting In

The second metric you need to track is trust.

Remember, people won’t buy from you unless they trust you. People today will research everything about you before they decide to do business with you.

So after you’ve got their attention, you need to develop trust.

When visitors arrive at your website, you want them to opt-in to your RSS or email list. This is one of the most important marketing assets you can have.

Again, you need to offer them something of value. Teach them something.

This can be through blogging, or a free introductory guide.

This gives you the chance to market to them over time and develop a sense of familiarity. You’ll stay top of mind and become synonymous with your service or product.

Then when they’re ready to buy…

3. People Purchasing Something

The third and final thing you need to measure is conversions.

How many people are actually buying something?

Creating content and building trust are crucial. But then you need to ask for a sale. You need to present them an offer.

This is how you move them down the sales funnel and manage your sales. For example, one important conversion rate we’ve already established is how many people convert from strangers to prospects. You would take your total visitors divided by RSS/Email subscribers.

Same goes for people purchasing. Track how many people are actually buying something out of everyone coming to your website. Once you have that number, then you know how much each customer is worth.

John Jantsch from Duct Tape Marketing has coined this definition:

Marketing is getting someone who has a need to know, like and trust you.

You first need to focus on getting people to know, like and trust you. That’s the hard part.

Then you just solve their problem. Give them a solution. That’s it.