Definition:
Metrics are the numbers that measure dimensions in web analytics. For example, a report indicates the name of the cities from which visitors come, metrics indicate how many visitors come from each city indicated, the average time each city spends on the page, what is the bounce rate of each city and so on. Thus, the metric is a number used to measure one of the characteristics of a dimension.
Metrics are fundamental objective indicators to measure the results in any digital marketing strategy. They transform behaviors into quantifiable data with which mathematical calculations can be made to find solutions or improvements.
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Metrics and dimensions
A dimension can have one or more characteristics, for example, if you look at the “source/medium” dimension, you can measure sessions, new users, bounce rate, pages per session… All these are metrics, since they are characteristics of the dimension called “source / medium”. A dimension provides context to a metric, so a non-dimensioned metric cannot be analyzed.
Metrics represent the different methods that are employed to understand changes made over time across a series of dimensions or criteria. Metrics focus on counting, tracking, and presenting information derived from data such as web visits and data collection values. Metrics give an internal perspective of a company, as they use tangible data from internal sources.
Classification of metrics
Digital marketing metrics can be classified based on:
- Acquisition: how visitors arrive at a website (sessions, new users, percentage of new sessions…).
- Behavior: how visitors interact with a website (bounce rate, average session duration, pages per session…).
- Conversion: how visitors completed conversions on a website (conversions completed, conversion value, conversion rate…).
Basic metrics
A basic metric is the term used to refer to the basic information needed to understand how a website works. The basic metrics consist of the following data:
- Visits: represents the number of sessions on a website, the number of times a user interacts with a site.
- Bounce: is the number of users who left instantly.
- Page views: the number is the number of pages that were requested on those visits.
- Average time on site: Indicates how long visitors stay on a site.
- Percentage of new visits: Shows the number of sessions and interactions of users who have visited a site for the first time.
Startups often use what are known as pirate metrics because of the curious acronym they form.
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