How can you prove that blogging is effective? It’s all about tracking the traffic.
Of course you can track the number of people that read your article. But I think an even better indicator of ROI is to track the number of people who take the next step and click on a link back to your website.
I recently received this email from one of my ERP Software Blog members:
“I looked at my Google Analytics today for the first time in a really long time. In the last month and a half ERP Software Blog has referred 38 sessions to my website. Of those, 36 were new. That is more than any other referrer but Twitter (and doesn’t include the 6 from mobile.erpsoftwareblog.com). By comparison, LinkedIn sent 17 and Twitter sent 65. Amazing!”
If this company had paid “Pay Per Click” fees for just these 36 new clicks he could easily have spent $180 ($5 per click) in a month. And according to SEO expert, Dave Foreman, that is a very conservative estimate. This is more than his monthly blog membership, so to me that is an easy proof of ROI.
I asked a few more of my ERP Software Blog members to share their referrals stats for a 10 month period in 2017 and the results were very impressive.
ERP Software Blog Members - Referral Stats from January to November 2017
CAL Business Solutions
- Jan 1 to Nov 1, 2017 – 11 posts
- # of referral clicks from ERP Software Blog to your website - 2,608 (#1 referral source)
- From Twitter – 128
- From LinkedIn – 209
- Blog member since June 2009
Socius
- Jan 1 to Nov 1, 2017 – 5 posts
- # of referral clicks from ERP Software Blog to your website - 2,222 (#2 Referral Source)
- From Twitter – 374
- From LinkedIn - 1,186
- Blog member since September 2009
Crestwood Associates
- Jan 1 to Nov 1, 2017 – 3 posts
- # of referral clicks from ERP Software Blog to your website – 810 (#1 referral source)
- From Twitter –231
- From LinkedIn – 417
- From Facebook – 142
- Blog member since July 2009
AKA Enterprise Solutions (formerly Green Beacon)
- Jan 1 to Nov 1, 2017 – 16 posts (ERP) 16 posts (CRM)
- # of referral clicks from ERP Software Blog to your website – 331
- # of referral clicks from CRM Software Blog to your website – 747
- From Twitter –188
- From LinkedIn – 672
- ERP Blog member since March 2013, CRM Blog member since April 2011
Integrity Data
- Jan 1 to Nov 1, 2017 – 52 posts
- # of referral clicks from ERP Software Blog to your website - 240
- From Twitter – 245
- From LinkedIn – 240
- Blog member since November 2012
Briware Solutions
- Jan 1 to Nov 1, 2017 – 6 posts
- # of referral clicks from ERP Software Blog to your website - 191 (#1 Referral Source)
- From Twitter –165
- From LinkedIn – 42
- Blog member since January 2015
A few observations I think can be made about this data:
- The length of time a company is a blog member has a direct impact on clicks. I know for a fact that old blog posts continue to drive traffic. That is something I love about bloggings as a marketing strategy. It’s the activity that keeps on giving.
- The number of blog posts is not always the deciding factor. It is also the quality. In the case of Integrity Data, most of the posts were duplicate content, with a canonical link. While this still has value, I think the numbers show that there is just not quite as much SEO power with this method.
- Social media can be a great source of traffic. My strategy is to promote each of my blog posts on both Twitter and LinkedIn, multiple times, over a 3 to 5 month period. If you don’t have time for this, I have a great recommendation for outsourced Twitter services.
When was the last time you checked your Google Analytics referral stats?
Here are the simple steps to find this information:
- Login at https://www.google.com/analytics
- On the left side click on “Acquisition”
- Click on “All Traffic”
- Click on “Referrals”
- Change the date range on the top right
- Click “Apply”
You can save this report and export as a PDF. You can even click the “Share” button and schedule this report to be automatically emailed to you each month. This is one of my favorite Google Analytics reports.
I think that blogging is one of the most effective, low cost, marketing activities a company can do. And I absolutely believe that every ERP/CRM partner out there has more than enough to write about. I admit that it can be a challenge to find the right writer. My favorite blogging tip can help with that. And I’m working on an offering along these lines…stay tuned on that.
The next time you are wondering if it is worth the time to write that next blog post, just think about the traffic.
If you are interested in joining the ERP Software Blog, CRM Software Blog or ERP Cloud Blog just let me know.
By Anya Ciecierski, Collaboration Works Marketing
Follow me on Twitter: @AnyaCWMktg