Measuring the value of online written content

Measuring the value of online written content

When publishing written articles online you want to have a full understanding of whether it is being well received, who your target audience demographic is and whether this is changing so you can refine the return on investment for your company.

One of the main ways to monitor digitally published content is through user behaviour. Looking at generated metrics such as page views, average time spent on the page, unique visitors, pages per session and new and returning users. Using these allows you to truly understand your audience so you can attract new users all whilst retaining old ones. It’s important to measure and monitor web metrics. These indicators provide you with a general idea of how good your work is performing and how long they are attentively reading the words within.

Once you have shared the piece on social media it’s important you monitor the engagement it is receiving. This allows you to track any referrals and requests. Types of engagement include likes, shares, mentions and comments. Two types of the most influential engagement include republications and partnering opportunity requests. These show you that your articles are not only valued by readers but also other media, bloggers and publishing experts allowing you to generate potential partnerships to produce more income.

Measuring the value and potential revenue generation is possibly the most significant measurement out of any. It’s important you monitor the return on investment which is relative to the cost of creation and distribution. You also want to look at existing and new leads generated. These two options indicate the number of new users who exchanged personal information for access to your database and how well you are currently nurturing your existing leads that interact with your published articles.

To make sure your content is seen widely, it is advised that you use SEO techniques. By introducing keywords within your article allows you to monitor the current position of your web page in the search results when you input the specific keyword term. Another way to monitor and measure the virality is through backlinks. This shows if your articles are being appreciated by other industry experts.

Therefore, as shown above, it’s important that after you publish content you monitor its success. You want to measure web metrics, leads generated, potential referrals and engagement to get a full understanding of the current state, projected revenue and profits. It’s also paramount that you examine your customer and prospect databases so you can target your content to an influential audience.