Online metrics - which ones are the most important to watch:

Companies using online metrics are going to choose the company that can give them the fastest reports, real time data, and are the most user friendly.

Metrics related to the business world is the process of tracking your sales, where they are coming from, and which sources are the most valuable. In the world of online business many people are paying vast amounts of money for advertising, marketing, and web trafficking, but paying little to no attention to tracking where the sales are coming from or which advertisements are bringing the most traffic to their business. In the world of online business there are many things that can be measured, most important, is to start measuring; but you also need to know what is and is not important to measure or you will be wasting your time and money.

What is important to measure is only the information that is important to the bottom line results, in some cases how many sales you are getting. You will want to know your customer's online behavior, how long they stay online, and which prices and products are working best for those customers.

Some of those most important statistics that you can watch and that will be relevant to the production of your company are:

1. What is your customer's online behavior (how long does a customer typically stay on your web site once entering it)? You customers online behavior can tell you a lot about the design of your website and how well it is work for the consumer. In general you have ten seconds to gain or lose a customer from your company's web site.

To gain a customer your site must be well organized, clearly stated and professional looking. You must have a clear headline that will tell your customers who you are, and if it is relevant, what you are offering (Old Navy clothing, etc). You will want to only include colors that enhance your product and keep the appearance of your website clean and organized. It will be likewise with adding pictures to your website. If you are offering a product clear pictures that are enhanced with complimenting colors are appropriate and most times even necessary.

If you find that the majority of people who click on your website exit just as quickly, then you are most likely not following these few tips listed above and it will be important to your business to rethink the layout of your website.

2. Is the amount you are paying in advertising being distributed affectively or are there avenues that are more effective than others?

3. Where are your customers coming from? Are most customers finding you through search engines, or is it your pop-ups, or connections with similar companies that are generating your traffic? It will be important for you to track how much business you are receiving from each of your advertising avenues. It is not enough just to pay for the advertising such as pay per click, or partnering with similar companies that will link your site to theirs; you have to know which is bringing you the most business. Once you know how much business you are generating from each of your advertising avenues you are using than you can reorganize your funds to better use those that are bringing the most traffic to your site.

4. Is your website compatible with all operating systems and web navigators? Are the customers that are coming to your website and leaving quickly using one particular operating or navigating system, if so you will want to look into making your website more compatible with all systems.

These are a few of the most important online metrics you as a business can track. It is surprising how many businesses starting up online do not so far keep track of metrics. Your business will progress much farther and faster if you do keep track of the few most important.