How Do You Know If What You're Doing Is Working?

blog growth

If you aren't looking at statistics at all, how do you know if your online marketing efforts are paying off? You don't need to have a complex Google Analytics set-up to keep an eye on trends. Yes, hard numbers are good to know but trends give you strategic information.

Anita Kirkbride and I used a similar chart to the one above when we presented at BlogJam 2015 - back then the top line was 9,000 pageviews per month instead of 20,000. I can tell you exactly what I changed at key points (at Anita's urging) which had a direct effect on my blog readership:
  • June 2011 - I started using social media.
  • September 2012 - I started blogging more and sharing posts more frequently on Twitter, in particular; results were obvious by December.
  • December 2013 - I started posting daily enewsletter tips on Twitter and LinkedIn.
  • 2nd half of 2016 - I started posting daily newsletter tips on Google+.
I've tried lots of other tactics, too - some have contributed in little ways, others have gone by the wayside as ineffective. The thing is, I would not have known what worked unless I was watching the trend line. This same thing holds true for your website and your newsletter statistics, too.

Is what you're doing working for you? How do you know?

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