We don’t think that we are too bold when we say that user engagement is the number one priority for a business. And we are not the only ones that think that customer engagement is the new customer satisfaction.
Did you know that almost 78% of customers prefer omnichannel customer engagement? This means that customers value personalized and consistent interactions across all channels.
In truth, user engagement is essential for any type of business. However, 54% of customers consider that companies need to change their engagement strategies.
After all, in this ever-changing and diverse digital environment, not only do your products or services need to be better than those of your competitors, but so does the user experience you are offering.
In the end, as Dan Gingiss has highlighted, you are competing with all the other experiences a customer has had.
As daunting as it may seem, setting a fitting user engagement strategy and using the right KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) to measure your engagement will not only improve user engagement, but will also make it seem easier.
Keep reading to find out the user engagement metrics that will make your life easier.
Why Bother with Measuring User Engagement?
What better way to discover whether your strategy is working than to measure its success?
Monitoring user engagement metrics will not only help you better understand your audience, but will also offer you insight into what is working and what isn’t.
It is essentially the closest you will come to reading your visitors’ minds.
Besides, by tailoring your strategy based on user engagement data, you can turn one-time users into repeat ones, boost brand advocacy, and increase loyalty.
That being said, acting based on your findings will add that little “extra” that will transform user experience from ordinary into extraordinary.
Check out our article on improving website traffic to understand the importance of monitoring your website traffic and engagement.
What User Engagement Metrics to Track
- Page Per Session
As the name states, this KPI measures how many pages a visitor goes through during a single session.
One of the most basic yet essential user engagement metrics, page per session, will offer you insight into how your content is perceived by your audience.
For example, a high page per session rate indicates that visitors are exploring your website hence they find your content insightful and engaging.
Even if your page per session rate isn’t satisfactory, there are still ways to improve that:
- Make your pages more interactive by including polls, CTAs, or downloadable content
- Prioritize navigation and user experience by optimizing your website’s design and layout
- Include internal links to guide users from one page to the other
- Create educational content as it offers your business a position of authority in the field while increasing brand awareness. Besides, it can also facilitate engagement in the comment section
- Produce high-quality, informative content. If you want to learn more about valuable content that ranks, read our article on the importance of creating insightful content
- Bounce Rate
One of the most important engagement metrics, bounce rate, indicates the number of visitors who leave your website without visiting more than one page, and, most importantly, without engaging.
So, having high traffic and an equally high bounce rate means that your website has some issues. For example, some reasons for a high bounce rate could be:
- Slow page loading speed
- Unengaging content
- Website isn’t mobile-friendly
- Bad user experience
So, if you notice a discrepancy in your website’s bounce rates, you can observe your pages with high engagement and tweak the ones with high bounce rates after them.
You could reduce the bounce rate by:
- Include clear CTAs
- Use internal linking in a logical and relevant manner
- Optimize page load time
- Improve site functionality
- Switch up your content
- Net Promoter Score
Want to find out if your visitors are your advocates? Then, you should ask them if they would recommend you to a friend or family member.
Net Promoter Score (NPS) measures customer loyalty by interacting with customers.
The most common and efficient way to collect NPS data is through in-app surveys, but you could also include open-ended questions for a more qualitative approach.
The NPS divides customers into two groups:
- Promoters: loyal customers who want to tell people about you
- Detractors: customers who are disappointed with your service and wouldn’t recommend it or would tell others to avoid it
NPS can be measured by subtracting the number of detractors from the number of promoters. Then, you should multiply the number by 100. The end number is your NPS.
According to the NPS benchmark, NPS above 0 is good, +50 is excellent, and above 70 is world-class. So, if your score is below 0, your company should start thinking about techniques to improve customer satisfaction.
- “Stickiness”
Photo source: Pexels
Stickiness metrics measure user engagement. It basically assesses the average percent of high-frequency return users by using Daily, Weekly, or Monthly user metrics.
DAU, WAU, and MAU may sound like lipstick brands, but they stand for Daily, Weekly, and Monthly Active Users. Therefore, they measure the number of unique users who performed an activity during each day, week, and month.
That being said, the DAU/MAU ratio can help you determine stickiness by comparing daily active users with monthly ones. To calculate stickiness, you should divide DAU to MAU.
However, keep in mind that the DAU/MAU ratio is designed for products that are used frequently. For example, a good ratio is usually over 20 percent.
On the one hand, social media platforms had over 50 as they are used so frequently. Nonetheless, travel products like Airbnb are still highly valuable, although the average American travels 2 times per year.
- First-week user engagement
Similar to DAU/MAU, Week #1 user engagement will measure the user’s engagement with your product or service during the first week.
Compared to other metrics, this one is fairly simple: if a user doesn’t engage during the first week, the chances of coming back are low. Therefore, Week #1 user engagement is a good indicator of how engaging and easy to use your product is.
Some tips to offer a top-notch user experience and make your customers engage from the first week:
- Optimize navigation and load time for a high-quality user experience
- Build buyer personas to better understand customer behavior and preferences
- Run A/B tests on your website and, based on the findings, tailor experiences for your users
- Determine different pages on your website
- Conversion Rate
Conversions represent the end goal. A conversion happens when a user performs a desired action on your website. Desired actions can consist of:
- Filling out a form
- Signing up for an email newsletter
- Downloading an E-book from your website
- Clicking on a link
- Leaving a review
- Making a purchase
Basically, by using this user engagement metric, you can find out if your users’ actions match your marketing goals.
In fact, you can tailor the conversion rate using specifics. For example, besides overall conversion rate, you could also track marketing channel conversion rate or keyword conversion rate.
Start Investing In User Engagement, and You’ll Soon Reap The Benefits!
“How easy would things be if I could just know what users think of my website…” If you have ever thought this to yourself, then user engagement metrics are the solution you have been waiting for.
Think about it, your website is aimed at users, so what better way to find out whether your strategy is working or not than by tracking user engagement metrics.
If you are tired of guessing whether your marketing strategies are working or not, you could benefit from working with an interactive digital marketing agency like CadenceSEO.
Are you still figuring out your user engagement strategy? Or trying to improve it based on your findings? Either way, the team at CadenceSEO is here to help you get started.
Interested? Book a free consultation with us today