How to Measure Content Marketing Success Without Google Analytics
Google Analytics has long been the gold standard for tracking and measuring content performance. However, there are scenarios where alternative metrics and tools can offer valuable insights without the need for this powerful analytics suite. This article explores various methods to measure content marketing success when Google Analytics is not an option.
1. Social Media Shares
Metrics from social media can provide a useful perspective on the success of your content marketing efforts. While these metrics might not be as comprehensive as those from Google Analytics, they can still give you a sense of how well your content is performing and resonating with your audience.
On-Page Sharing Widgets: Many content hosting platforms and CMS systems offer built-in sharing buttons on page. These widgets allow users to share content directly from the article or blog post, making it easy to track shares directly from your site.
Third-Party Tools: For a more detailed view, tools like SEMrush and Moz can provide share counts and analysis of how your content is performing across various social media platforms. These tools aggregate data from multiple sources, giving you a broader picture of your content's reach and engagement.
2. Backlinks and SEO Outreach Success
Backlinks are a critical component of SEO and content marketing success. While they can be challenging to track directly, there are several ways to gauge their impact.
No Backlink Goal?: Not every content piece is designed to attract backlinks. This is especially true for articles that are meant to educate, entertain, or simply inform. If no backlink goals were set for a piece, lack thereof does not necessarily indicate failure.
SEO Outreach Efforts: The success of your SEO outreach efforts can be assessed by the number of backlinks acquired. Tools like SEMrush and Moz can help you track and report on these backlinks. It's also important to consider the quality and relevance of the backlinks to your content and brand.
3. Estimated Organic Traffic
While organic traffic estimates from SEMrush and other similar tools are not as accurate as real-time Google Analytics data, they can still offer valuable insights. Here’s how these estimates work:
Keyword Rankings and Search Volume: SEMrush and other SEO tools track where your content ranks for specific keywords in their database that have known search volumes. By analyzing the average click-through rates (CTR) associated with each search position, these tools can estimate the amount of organic traffic that a page can drive.
Qualitative Estimation: Instead of relying on absolute traffic estimates, focusing on qualitative measures can be more informative. For example, you can assess how well the content aligns with the targeted keywords, how well it ranks, and whether it drives the desired type of engagement.
Conclusion
While Google Analytics remains the gold standard for content marketing metrics, there are effective alternative methods to measure success. Social media shares, backlinks, and organic traffic estimates provide valuable insights when integrating them into your content strategy. By leveraging these tools and methods, you can still track and optimize your content marketing efforts even without access to Google Analytics.
Key Takeaways:
Social media shares provide indirect but valuable engagement metrics. Backlinks and SEO outreach efforts can be assessed through third-party tools. Organic traffic estimates help gauge content performance using keyword rankings and search volumes.