In the dynamic landscape of ad marketing, understanding and tracking website metrics play an indispensable role in the success of programmatic publishers. Metrics serve as the compass guiding publishers through the vast sea of digital advertising, offering insights into performance, audience behaviour, and revenue generation. They are the lifeline that navigates publishers toward optimal strategies, ensuring every ad placement maximizes its potential.
In the first half of 2022, the global viewability rate of desktop display ads stood at 71.5 percent meaning 71.5 percent of display ads displayed on desktop were in view in the measured period. Similarly, website performance metrics help us monitor user engagement, assess ad viewability, and optimise revenue streams. It empowers publishers to make informed decisions that amplify their impact in the competitive realm of ad marketing.
In this blog, we will look at the 6 most crucial metrics a publisher must track in 2023 to ensure programmatic success in ad marketing.
Importance of tracking website metrics for publishers
- Optimizing User Experience: Tracking metrics helps in understanding user behaviour, ensuring a seamless and engaging experience on the website. Whether it is the duration of the user session per visit or the bounce rate, performance metrics provide necessary information about the overall health of the website. This directly impacts ad engagement and conversion rates.
- Maximizing Ad Revenue: Metrics enable publishers to identify high-performing ad formats and placements, optimizing revenue streams by leveraging data-driven insights. While native advertising may work for some, a lot of publishers may benefit from interstitial ad marketing. A healthy assessment of the same is possible by tracking these metrics.
- Ensuring Ad Viewability: Monitoring metrics like viewability ensures that ads are seen by the audience, enhancing the chances of engagement and conversions. Moreover, if the inventories have fallen prey to ad fraud tactics like ad stacking, the ad viewability is highly affected. This keeps the publishers on their feet to track fraudulent practices.
- Improving Ad Performance: Metrics aid in evaluating the effectiveness of ad campaigns, allowing publishers to tweak strategies for better performance. Based on the users engaging with the ads, decisions to refine the ad placements or contextual targeting can be taken seamlessly through metrics.
6 website metrics every publisher must track
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Site speed- The most celebrated publishers in the market may not be able to generate effective results if their website takes ages to load. Site speed is one of the most important metrics that publishers of all sizes must evaluate keeping the website SEO parameter in mind. To engage or even convert a user, the first step is to bring him/her to the landing page. If the website landing page takes even more than 5-6 seconds to load, users are likely to leave the page without bothering to get back. To counter this threat, it is important to track the site speed by focusing on the following 3 Core Web Vitals (CWV).
These are:
a. Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): This is a measure of how quickly a page loads the largest text or image visible above the fold. An LCP of less than 2.5 seconds is highly recommended
b. First Input Delay (FID): This is a measure of a page’s interactivity with a recommended FID of less than 100 milliseconds.
c. Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): This is a measure of visual stability i.e., how much the layout moves in response to images and other assets loading in. You’ll want to aim for a score of less than 0.1.
- Click Through Rate (CTR)- CTR measures the percentage of users who click on an ad after viewing it. For publishers, a high CTR indicates engaging ad content and placements that resonate with the audience. Tracking CTR helps optimize ad creatives and placements to drive higher engagement and revenue. Publishers can also use CTR to gauge how well their CTAs are performing, which is essential to measuring the effectiveness of lead generation efforts. Publishers that use a subscription model need to convert their free readers, which means getting them to a landing page and then signing up. For example, a CTA with a high CTR rate but a low conversion rate means that either the landing page or subscription offer may need reworking. Moreover, knowing which ads perform better with their audiences can help them enter direct partnerships for what is now premium inventory.
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Conversion rate- The conversion rate measures the percentage of visitors who complete a desired action, such as making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter. For publishers, tracking conversion rates helps assess the effectiveness of ad marketing campaigns and optimize strategies to drive higher conversions and revenue. While this is a relatable model for publishers that rely on subscription models or affiliate marketing, publishers that rely on ad revenue don’t have any “sales” to track. However, most if not all publishers, will still have a shared pool of actions they should be tracking. These include:
-Clicks on links
-Sign-ups for newsletters
-PDF downloads
-App installations
-Landing page arrivals - Average time on page - The average time on a page indicates how long visitors spend on a webpage. For publishers, tracking this metric is vital as it reflects the level of user engagement with the content and ads. Higher time on the page suggests compelling content and ad placements, helping publishers refine strategies to keep users engaged longer. Unlike average session duration, which helps publishers track engagement at a site level, average time on page is a great way of drilling down into the engagement levels of specific pieces of content. It provides insights into user engagement but should be considered alongside other relevant metrics such as bounce rate, conversion rate, scroll depth, etc.
- Ad Fill Rate- Ad Fill Rate refers to the percentage of ad requests that are successfully filled with ads. It essentially measures the effectiveness of ad inventory utilization. Tracking the ad fill rate helps publishers understand how efficiently their available ad space is being utilized. A low fill rate could indicate a need to optimize inventory or improve relationships with ad networks and demand partners. A higher fill rate directly impacts revenue generation. By ensuring a higher percentage of ad requests are fulfilled, publishers maximize their earning potential by monetizing a larger portion of their inventory. Moreover, analyzing fill rates helps in fine-tuning ad delivery strategies. This includes adjusting floor prices, targeting specific geographies or audiences, and optimizing ad formats to improve overall fill rates.
- Bounce rate- The bounce rate reflects the percentage of visitors who navigate away from a site after viewing only one page. For publishers, a high bounce rate might indicate irrelevant ad placements or poor user experience. By tracking and analyzing bounce rates, publishers can refine their content strategy and ad placements to enhance user engagement.
In the dynamic landscape of ad marketing, tracking these 6 metrics serves as the cornerstone for programmatic publishers to optimize their strategies and drive success. By leveraging these insights, publishers can fine-tune ad placements, enhance user experience, and maximize revenue streams, ensuring a competitive edge in the digital advertising arena.
