How to successfully measure and report on content

Leah Scorah

17th August 2023

It’s true that producing stand-out content is a vital component of any content strategy. However, content creation alone isn’t enough to drive successful results. That’s where content measuring and reporting come in.

Content measuring is the process of collecting and analysing data about the performance and impact of your content. This data includes information on a variety of metrics, such as website traffic, impressions, conversions and other Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Content reporting is the process of making sense of the data we’ve collected. It helps us to provide valuable insights and recommendations based on our findings. 

Together, content measuring and reporting allow us to identify what’s working and what’s not when it comes to our content efforts. In turn, we can make data-driven decisions to iterate, refine and strengthen our content strategy. Plus, we can identify trends and patterns as well as content gaps and opportunities, meaning we can better allocate our resources. 

How to get started with content measurement and reporting?

Getting started with content measuring and reporting doesn’t have to be complicated. At Builtvisible, we begin by having kick-off calls with our clients to really understand what it is they want to achieve through their content. For instance, are they looking to increase conversations? Build brand awareness? Dominate the SERPs? 

Once we’ve established what it is our clients wish to accomplish, then we can decide which metrics to track and report on. This collaborative approach to content measuring helps to manage expectations and ensure that everyone is on the same page.

The importance of setting goals

Before you can successfully measure and report on content, you need to get clear on exactly what you want your content to do. Defining your goals from the offset lets you both set realistic expectations and provide a benchmark against which you can measure your content’s performance. 

What’s more, by having an in-depth discussion about your content’s objectives with the right people in the room, you can make sure that your content goals are aligned with the wider goals of the business. 

What should you be tracking?

When it comes to measuring your content’s performance there’s an abundance of metrics and indicators you can track. The key is tracking the right ones for your business objectives while also gaining a holistic view of what your content is achieving.

Awareness metrics

Establishing a strong online presence is often a core goal for many businesses, and part of that involves increasing your visibility across the SERPs in order to drive organic traffic. To accurately assess how well your content is doing this, tracking awareness metrics is essential. 

If the aim of your content is to increase brand visibility and reach, then you should measure the following indicators: 

Engagement metrics

You might have the reach but is your content resonating? Engagement metrics will help you understand how effectively your content is capturing and retaining the attention of your target audience.

Want to understand exactly how well your audience is connecting with your content? Then you should measure benchmarks such as:

Conversion metrics

Turning website visitors into long-standing customers is often the ultimate goal for businesses. Conversion metrics play a vital role when it comes to evaluating how well your content is driving tangible results. 

If the goal of your content is to influence sales or generate leads, then you should measure metrics such as: 

Gaining a holistic view 

While the metrics you measure should line up neatly with your content goals, it’s also worth noting that you need to track a broad enough range of metrics to gain a comprehensive view of your content’s performance. 

Tracking a variety of metrics also means you can look at how they each interact and relate to one another. For instance, if you notice a significant increase in organic traffic, it’s crucial to cross-reference this with other metrics such as bounce rate or time spent on the page before arriving at any conclusions regarding your audience’s engagement. 

Plus, it’s likely that your content efforts will have multiple aims and so you’ll need to track multiple metrics. You might not necessarily need to comment or act on every single measurement, but it’s still a wise idea to be aware of where you stand. 

How to track content performance

We’ve worked out which metrics to track and why, but how do we actually go about tracking your content’s performance? This is where Google Analytics 4 (GA4) comes in. 

GA4 is one of the most widely used content reporting tools out there and for good reason. It serves as the foundation for content marketing measuring and reporting by tracking and collecting a vast amount of data related to your website — from user behaviour and insights to conversion tracking. By leveraging GA4 you can flawlessly track your content’s performance under one roof. 

Plus, GA4 can be integrated with Google Search Console — another powerful content-measuring instrument. By combining website traffic and performance metrics from Google Analytics with search-related insights from Search Console, you’ll have access to a comprehensive data set.

This integrated approach provides you with a dynamic content measuring toolset, that can empower you to stay ahead of the curve and deliver an exceptional user experience. 

Putting it all together

Once you’ve collected the data, you need to piece it all together. To effectively manage and visualise how your content’s doing, ideally, you should utilise a content reporting dashboard. A reporting dashboard consolidates the key metrics in one place, allowing you to monitor performance closely, track trends and changes and identify areas that require attention or improvement.  

Looker Studio is currently one of the most popular content-reporting dashboards in the industry. It allows you to create visually appealing and interactive content reports that consolidate data from GA4 and other sources into a single, easy-to-use control panel.

At Builtivisible, our data team create bespoke content dashboards in Looker Studio that provide an all-encompassing view of your content’s impact. However, it doesn’t stop at a dashboard… 

Analyse your data  

Measuring content performance isn’t just about collecting data — it’s also about turning that data into meaningful insights.  Expert data analysis will help you understand trends, patterns, and correlations in your content’s performance. 

By diving deeper into the data, you can also identify what types of content resonate the most with your audience, which formats or topics drive the most engagement and what factors contribute to conversions. These insights can guide your content strategy and reveal opportunities to optimise both future and existing content for better results. 

Iterate and improve

Content marketing measurement is an iterative process. As you gather the data and analyse results, you’ll find yourself continuously refining and improving your content strategy — you can use the insights gained from your reports to make informed, tactile decisions. 

By regularly evaluating and adapting your content strategy based on the performance data, you can make sure that your content remains effective and relevant. You can identify areas that need adjustment, experiment with different approaches and test new content ideas. 

Conclusion 

As we have seen, content measuring and reporting play an essential role in devising a killer content strategy. Understanding what content reporting is and implementing effective measurement practices enables you to assess your content’s impact, optimise your strategy, and ultimately bring you closer to achieving your business goals. 

At Builtvisible, our content measuring and reporting process allows us to curate award-winning content strategies for our clients. If you like the sound of this, get in touch with our expert content strategists, who will unlock your content’s full potential. 

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