So, you’ve launched a new website. The next natural step is figuring out if it’s actually doing what you built it to do. That’s where KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) come in.
Knowing how to measure KPIs for a new website helps you see what’s working, what’s not, and where you can improve. Whether you’re aiming to drive traffic, capture leads, or increase sales, tracking the right numbers will give you a clear picture of your site’s performance.
Plus, it’s the best way to make sure your hard work pays off.
In brief:
- KPIs connect your website's performance with your broader business objectives, making progress measurable.Different types of KPIs—like engagement, conversion, and SEO metrics—offer insights into various aspects of your site's effectiveness.Using tools such as Google Analytics and SEO platforms improves tracking and understanding of key website metrics.Regular analysis of KPI data helps identify areas for improvement and guides optimization strategies.
3 Types of Website KPIs to Track
Before diving into the numbers, it’s important to know what you should be measuring.
Different types of KPIs highlight different aspects of your website’s performance—from how people interact with your content to how easily they find you through search engines. Focusing on the right metrics will help you understand your visitors’ behavior, spot opportunities for growth, and make informed decisions to improve your site.
- Engagement Metrics:Conversion Metrics:SEO Performance Metrics:
1. Engagement Metrics
Engagement metrics help you understand how visitors interact with your new website. They highlight user behavior patterns, content appeal, and areas where visitors may drop off. Tracking these KPIs can help you improve user experience and drive deeper interactions.
Time on Page
Time on page measures how long visitors spend on individual pages. A longer time on page typically indicates that your content is engaging and relevant. If certain pages show shorter times, it may signal that the content isn't capturing interest or meeting expectations. Improvement
Tip: Focus on making content more valuable and relevant. Use engaging headlines, multimedia elements, and clear calls to action to encourage visitors to stay longer.
Scroll Depth
Scroll depth measures how far users scroll down a page. This metric is useful for understanding if visitors are engaging with your content beyond the headline and above-the-fold section.
Improvement tip: Use clear subheadings, bullet points, and engaging visuals to keep readers scrolling. Add calls to action throughout longer pages to maintain interest.
Interaction Rate
Interaction rate measures how often users engage with interactive elements like videos, download links, or forms. A high interaction rate suggests that users find your content engaging and are motivated to take action.
Improvement tip: Place interactive elements strategically within your content. Use compelling prompts and clear value propositions to encourage clicks. A/B testing different placements and designs can also help you identify what works best.
Average Session Duration
Average session duration tracks how long visitors stay on your site overall. It gives insight into the overall appeal and usability of your website. Longer sessions often indicate that visitors are exploring multiple pages or spending more time consuming your content.
Improvement tip: Improve internal linking to guide visitors through your site. Offer valuable, easy-to-navigate content that encourages longer visits. Incorporate engaging media such as videos, quizzes, or downloadable resources to hold their attention.
Exit Rate
Exit rate shows which pages visitors leave from. A high exit rate on key pages like product or checkout pages could indicate content gaps or usability issues. It’s important to identify whether users are exiting from expected endpoints, like a confirmation page, or from places that signal frustration.
How to improve: Focus on reducing distractions and adding clear calls to action (CTAs). Conduct session recordings to understand where users drop off and A/B test page elements to increase engagement.
Click Heatmaps
Click heatmaps show where users are interacting with your site, highlighting which elements attract attention and which get ignored. This helps identify whether users engage with buttons, links, or other interactive elements.
How to improve: Use these insights to rearrange or redesign important elements, like making CTAs more prominent. Test different button placements or colors and remove distractions that draw clicks away from key areas.
Returning Visitors vs. New Visitors
Returning visitors show engagement and loyalty, while new visitors indicate growth and outreach success. A healthy balance between new and returning visitors signals that your website is attracting and retaining an audience.
Improvement tip: Build loyalty by providing personalized content and regular updates. Use newsletters, blog series, and special offers to keep visitors coming back. Consider adding a membership area or loyalty program to further increase retention.
2. Conversion Metrics
Conversion metrics illustrate how effectively your site turns visitors into leads or customers. They track the journey from initial interest to taking a desired action.
Conversion Rate
Conversion rate measures the percentage of visitors who complete a specific goal, such as making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter. For example, if 1,000 visitors lead to 50 purchases, the conversion rate is 5%. Lead generation rate focuses on how many visitors become qualified prospects.
To improve these rates, consider implementing strategies like testing different headlines, simplifying forms, or redesigning landing pages to better align with user expectations.
Form Submission Rate
Form submission rate measures how many visitors complete and submit forms on your website, such as contact forms, sign-up forms, or inquiry forms. It helps you evaluate how effectively your forms convert visitors into leads.
This metric is calculated by dividing the number of form submissions by the number of form views and multiplying by 100 to get a percentage. A low form submission rate may indicate issues with form design, length, or clarity.
To improve your form submission rate, simplify forms by reducing the number of fields to only essential information. Use clear, compelling call-to-action buttons to encourage submissions. Additionally, build trust with users by including privacy assurances or security badges near the form.
3. SEO & Organic Performance Metrics
SEO metrics assess how well your site attracts organic visitors and ranks in search engines. Monitoring these KPIs allows you to adjust strategies to improve visibility and reach your target audience.
Organic Traffic
Organic traffic counts how many visitors find your site through unpaid search results. Strong organic traffic usually means your SEO strategies are paying off. If your numbers are low, it could mean you’re not ranking for the right search terms or your content isn’t what people are looking for. Consistent organic traffic is a sign of authority and trustworthiness in your niche.
How to improve: Focus on writing useful, keyword-rich content that answers your audience’s questions. Make sure your pages load quickly and are easy to navigate on all devices. Refresh old articles with new information and optimize images for search engines.
Keyword Rankings
Keyword rankings show where your pages appear in search results for specific search terms. Tracking your rankings helps you understand which topics you’re winning and which need more attention. Strong keyword performance often drives consistent traffic to your site. Additionally, ranking for long-tail keywords can bring highly targeted visitors who are ready to convert.
How to improve: Add relevant keywords to your page titles, headings, and content. Use tools like Google Search Console to find search terms people use to reach your site and create content around them. Focus on search intent and structure pages with FAQs to capture featured snippets.
Click-Through Rate (CTR)
CTR measures how often people click your site when they see it in search results. A low CTR could mean your titles and descriptions aren’t appealing or that your pages aren’t showing up for the right searches. Improving your CTR is crucial for maximizing the value of your search engine rankings.
How to improve: Write compelling meta titles that spark curiosity and informative descriptions that address search intent. Use numbers, brackets, or power words to make titles stand out. Implement structured data to enable rich snippets, such as star ratings or FAQs, which can increase clicks.
Domain Authority (DA)
Domain Authority estimates how likely your site is to rank on search engines. A high DA means search engines view your site as credible and trustworthy. It’s influenced by backlinks from reputable sites and the overall quality of your content. Improving DA takes time but is important for long-term SEO success.
How to improve: Build high-quality backlinks by collaborating with other websites through guest posts, interviews, or partnerships. Focus on creating shareable content like original research or infographics. Regularly audit and remove toxic backlinks that could harm your site’s reputation.
4. Website Speed & Performance Metrics
Speed and performance significantly affect search rankings and the quality of your website experience. Slow loading times can lead to higher bounce rates and lower conversions.
Page Load Time
Page load time measures how long it takes for a webpage to fully display its content. Delays over three seconds often lead visitors to abandon the page. A slow page load time can also hurt your search engine rankings.
To improve page speed, reduce image sizes, use content delivery networks (CDNs), and enable browser caching. Regularly test your site with tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to identify and fix issues that slow you down.
Time to First Byte (TTFB)
Time to First Byte (TTFB) measures how quickly a user’s browser receives the first piece of information from your server. A slow TTFB can frustrate visitors before the page even starts loading. Slow server responses often stem from poor hosting services or inefficient code.
To lower TTFB, upgrade to a reliable hosting provider, use a fast DNS service, and optimize database queries. Tools such as WebPageTest can help monitor TTFB and pinpoint delays.
First Contentful Paint (FCP)
First Contentful Paint (FCP) tracks when the first visible part of your website appears, signaling that the page is loading. FCP is important for user perception—visitors need reassurance that your site is responsive.
You can eliminate render-blocking JavaScript, defer non-essential scripts, and compress images to improve FCP. Google Lighthouse is a helpful tool to diagnose and address FCP issues.
Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)
Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) measures when the largest visible element, such as an image or heading, loads. A slow LCP creates the perception that your site is sluggish, even if smaller elements load quickly.
To boost your LCP, optimize server performance, cache assets, and use next-gen image formats like WebP. Aim for an LCP under 2.5 seconds for an ideal user experience.
Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)
Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) measures how much the page layout shifts unexpectedly during loading, which can cause users to click the wrong buttons or lose their place. CLS issues often result from images without size attributes or ads that load above existing content.
To reduce CLS, define dimensions for all media, reserve space for ads, and load content in a stable order.
Mobile Responsiveness
Mobile responsiveness ensures your site displays and functions correctly on smartphones and tablets. Optimize your site for mobile by using flexible layouts, readable fonts, and touch-friendly buttons. Test your site with tools like Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test and ensure fast loading on mobile networks with optimized images and lazy loading techniques.
5. Security & Technical Metrics
Security and technical metrics keep your website reliable and user-friendly. Monitoring these metrics will also protect your reputation and the visitor experience.
Downtime
Downtime measures how often your website is unavailable. Frequent downtime, even for short periods, can frustrate users and lead to lost revenue, especially for service-based sites. It can also harm search engine rankings if outages are frequent. Downtime can result from poor hosting services, cyberattacks, or software failures.
How to improve: Set up automated monitoring with tools like Sematext or UptimeRobot to alert you immediately if your site goes down. Choose a reliable hosting provider with strong security protocols and 24/7 support. Schedule regular updates for your CMS and plugins to prevent crashes or security vulnerabilities.
Uptime
Uptime is the percentage of time your website is available and functioning. The gold standard is at least 99.9% uptime. High uptime signals reliability and a smooth user experience. Falling below this threshold can damage your reputation and reduce visitor trust.
How to improve: Regularly test your site's load capacity to ensure it can handle traffic spikes. Use a CDN to distribute traffic and reduce server strain. Maintain a backup system to restore service quickly if an outage occurs.
Broken Links
Broken links frustrate users by leading them to dead pages, which reduces trust and increases bounce rates. They can also harm your SEO because search engines view broken links as a sign of poor site maintenance. Broken links often occur when pages are deleted or URLs change without proper redirects.
How to improve: Conduct regular audits using tools like Google Search Console or Broken Link Checker. Correct issues immediately by updating links or adding 301 redirects for removed pages.
Error Rate
Error rate tracks how often users encounter issues like 404 pages, timeouts, or server errors. A high error rate is a red flag that technical problems are impacting usability and SEO. It can also increase bounce rates if users repeatedly hit errors during their visit.
How to improve: Use logging tools to track and diagnose errors as they occur. Fix common problems such as 404 errors with proper redirects and address server issues by optimizing database performance. Run regular security scans to detect issues that could cause server errors, such as malware or hacking attempts.
Best Tools for Measuring KPIs for a New Website
Selecting the right tools can make it easier to track your website’s performance and measure key metrics effectively. Here are some tools to add to your tech stack:
- Google Analytics:Google Search Console:Ahrefs:Semrush:Hotjar:Crazy Egg:Matomo Analytics:UptimeRobot:Microsoft Clarity:Databox:
Turning KPI Insights Into Action
Measuring the right KPIs and understanding what they tell you helps you make smarter decisions for your website. With clear insights, you can focus on what’s working, fix what isn’t, and drive real improvements.
Whether your goal is to increase conversions, boost engagement, or improve site speed, the tools you use play a big role. A headless CMS gives you the flexibility to connect with your favorite analytics tools and makes content management easier as your site grows.
Switching to a headless CMS doesn’t have to be complicated. That’s why we created a headless CMS implementation checklist—a simple, step-by-step guide to help you make the transition smoothly.
Get the checklist and start building a faster, more flexible website today.
