As online marketers and bloggers we have many metrics we can examine to measure progress.  Some are more useful than others. Looking around articles and blogs it seems we are becoming more and more in love with traffic for its own sake. Are we taking our eye off the ball?

When you elevate one metric to priority number one it is easy to build processes that appear on the surface to be working in your favor, while actually damaging your progress for the longer term.

The other week I walked away from a discussion that was going nowhere. I’m a lover not a fighter, it is not in my style to get into a heated exchange, heh. I just could not get through to the other person that Alexa ranking is not a good signal of business health. He didn’t agree, he wanted more linkbait, more Digg front pages, and would not hear advice to the contrary.

All the while his conversion rate hovers below 1%.

I tried to explain that by aiming for “traffic” at all costs he could actually be harming his business. That conversion rate is not going to increase while he is sending untargeted and uninterested visitors. In fact the more he tries to wow the Digg crowd the more he will actually alienate his prospects.

A past client was obsessed with industry press and awards. His product was a  popular consumer FMCG brand not business to business but he wanted the respect of his peers. While we would recommend campaigns that ultimately would put his product in customer hands, he was always awards-chasing. Not the way I would run a business.

Well, good luck to them. I can’t get through to those guys, but I can warn you

Consider the metrics you are working with. Which help you achieve your goals and which give you a  warm fuzzy feeling but are actually distractions from the job at hand?

My business is based on leads generated by having a successful blog and a reputable brand. I build trust and loyalty through community-building efforts. Subscribers, comments and Technorati links are good general indicators. While I celebrate like anyone else when my blog gets Dugg, the dashboard needles I watch closely barely budge even after 20k visitors drop by. On the other hand when I get linked to by a prominent blogger it is not as headline-grabbing but my favorite metrics all light up. I get more subscribers and people talk about me more and in a positive way – result!

You owe it to yourself and your audience to do what works, not the things that only make you feel good!

Which metrics do you measure and why? Let us know in the comments …