13 essential website metrics to boost your online performance

Your website is often the first point of contact with potential clients, but how do you know if it's performing well? The answer lies in tracking the right metrics.

Let’s explore 13 crucial website metrics that can help you understand your site's performance, engage your audience more effectively, and ultimately drive growth for your software business.

1. Traffic sources

Understanding where your visitors come from is crucial for any company. By analyzing your traffic sources, you can optimize your marketing efforts and focus on channels that bring the most valuable leads.

Key traffic sources to monitor include:

• Organic search
• Paid search
• Direct traffic
• Referral traffic
• Email campaigns
• Social media

Pro tip: Pay special attention to your organic search traffic. A strong SEO strategy can provide a steady stream of high-quality leads over time, reducing your reliance on paid advertising.

Where to track:

• Google Analytics: Acquisition > All Traffic > Source/Medium
• HubSpot: Reports > Analytics Tools > Traffic Analytics under "Sources" tab

2. New visitor sessions

New visitor sessions show how many first-time users are discovering your solution. This metric is crucial for measuring the effectiveness of your brand awareness campaigns and the reach of your marketing efforts.

A steady increase in new visitors suggests that your outreach strategies are working. However, if this number stagnates, it might be time to reassess your marketing approach or explore new channels to attract potential clients.

Where to track:

• Google Analytics: Audience > New vs. Returning
• HubSpot: Reports > Analytics Tools > Traffic Analytics under Sessions by New vs. Returning

3. Returning visitor sessions

While new visitors are important, returning visitors often indicate a deeper interest in your product. They may be in the consideration phase of the buying journey or could be existing customers coming back to use your product or access support resources.

Aim for a healthy balance between new and returning visitors. A good benchmark is to have 15-25% of your total traffic coming from returning visitors. If this percentage is too low, you might need to focus on creating more engaging content or improving your overall user experience to encourage repeat visits.

Where to track:

• Google Analytics: Audience > New vs. Returning
• HubSpot: Reports > Analytics Tools > Traffic Analytics under Sessions by New vs. Returning

4. Page views

Page views give you a broad overview of your website's traffic. While it's a simple metric, it can provide valuable insights when analyzed alongside other data points.

For product websites, pay attention to:

• Which pages get the most views (product pages, pricing, blog posts)
• How page views correlate with other metrics like time on page or conversion rate
• Trends in page views over time, especially after launching new features or content

Where to track:

• Google Analytics: Behavior > Site Content > All Pages
• HubSpot: Reports > Website Analytics > Page Views

5. Average time on page

This metric helps you understand how engaging your content is. For software companies, a higher average time on page often indicates that visitors are finding your content valuable and relevant to their needs.

Different types of pages will have different benchmarks:

• Product pages: 1-2 minutes
• Blog posts: 3-5 minutes
• Whitepapers or in-depth resources: 5-10 minutes

If you notice pages with unexpectedly low average times, consider revisiting the content to make it more engaging or relevant to your target audience.

Where to track:

• Google Analytics: Behavior > Site Content > All Pages
• HubSpot: Reports > Website Analytics > Pages

6. Average session duration

Average session duration gives you an overall picture of how long visitors are spending on your website. For technology companies, longer sessions often indicate higher engagement and interest in your product.

To improve average session duration:

• Create a clear, intuitive navigation structure
• Offer relevant internal links to keep users exploring
• Provide comprehensive product information and use cases
• Create engaging, value-added content like case studies or industry reports

Where to track:

• Google Analytics: Audience > Overview
• HubSpot: Use Traffic Analytics reports for insights.

7. Pages per session

This metric shows how many pages a user visits during a single session. For product websites, a higher number of pages per session often indicates that visitors are actively researching your offering or exploring your content.

To increase pages per session:

• Use strategic internal linking
• Create clear calls-to-action (CTAs) to guide users through your site
• Ensure your site structure is logical and easy to navigate
• Offer related content suggestions on blog posts and product pages

Where to track:

• Google Analytics: Audience > Overview
• HubSpot: Available in the Traffic Analytics reports under Pages per Session

8. Bounce rate

Bounce rate measures the percentage of visitors who leave your site after viewing only one page. A high bounce rate could indicate that your content isn't meeting visitor expectations or that your value proposition isn't clear enough.

Industry averages for business websites typically range from 25-55%. If your bounce rate is higher, consider:

• Improving page load times
• Enhancing your value proposition and messaging
• Ensuring your content matches search intent
• Optimizing your site for mobile devices

Where to track:

• Google Analytics: Behavior > Site Content > All Pages or Audience > Overview
• HubSpot: Reports > Website Analytics > Bounce Rate

9. Social referrals

For technology companies, social media can be a powerful tool for brand awareness and lead generation. Tracking social referrals helps you understand which platforms are driving the most traffic to your site.

Focus on platforms where your target audience is most active. For business-oriented products, this often includes:

• LinkedIn
• Twitter
• YouTube (for video content)

Remember, the quality of traffic is as important as the quantity. Analyze how social referrals perform in terms of engagement metrics and conversions.

Where to track:

• Google Analytics: Acquisition > Social > Overview
• HubSpot: Reports > Traffic Analytics > Sources (social channels can be broken out)

See our blog: Social media tagging: Does it matter for businesses?

10. Exit rate

Exit rate shows the percentage of visitors who leave your site from a specific page. While every page will have some exits, pages with unusually high exit rates may need attention.

For product websites, pay special attention to exit rates on:

• Product pages
• Pricing pages
• Sign-up or trial pages
• Key landing pages

High exit rates on these pages could indicate issues with messaging, user experience, or pricing strategy.

Where to track:

• Google Analytics: Behavior > Site Content > Exit Pages
• HubSpot: Monitor high-exit pages under Website Analytics

11. Top pages

Knowing your top-performing pages helps you understand what content resonates most with your audience. For software companies, top pages often include:

• Product feature pages
• Pricing pages
• High-value blog posts or resources
• Case studies

Use insights from your top pages to inform your content strategy and optimize underperforming pages.

Where to track:

• Google Analytics: Behavior > Site Content > All Pages
• HubSpot: Reports > Website Analytics > Pages

12. Top exit pages

Analyzing your top exit pages can reveal where you're losing potential customers in their journey. While some pages (like "Thank You" pages) naturally have high exit rates, others might indicate problems.

If product pages, pricing pages, or sign-up forms are top exit pages, consider:

• Clarifying your value proposition
• Simplifying the sign-up process
• Addressing common objections more effectively
• Adding social proof or case studies

Where to track:

• Google Analytics: Behavior > Site Content > Exit Pages
• HubSpot: Use Website Analytics to see pages with high exit rates.

13. Revenue attribution

For technology businesses, understanding which marketing efforts and website pages contribute most to revenue is crucial. Revenue attribution helps you connect your website performance directly to your bottom line.

Implement a multi-touch attribution model to understand how different touch points contribute to conversions. This can help you:

• Allocate marketing budgets more effectively
• Identify high-value content and pages
• Optimize your sales funnel

Where to track:

• Google Analytics: Conversions > Multi-Channel Funnels > Assisted Conversions (if ecommerce tracking is enabled)
• HubSpot: Reports > Analytics Tools > Revenue Analytics or Attribution Reporting (with HubSpot Marketing or Sales Hub Pro/Enterprise)

Drive online growth through key metrics

Tracking these 13 metrics will give you a comprehensive view of your website's performance. Remember, these metrics are most valuable when analyzed together and over time. Regular monitoring and analysis will help you identify trends, spot issues early, and make data-driven decisions to continuously improve your website's performance.

By focusing on these key metrics, you can create a more engaging website experience, attract and retain more potential clients, and ultimately drive growth for your business. Keep experimenting, testing, and optimizing – the digital landscape is always evolving, and your website should too! Need help with tracking, set up or improvements? Reach out to us!

Check out our blog: 7 recommended software tools to track your website metrics.

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