Listen to this post: How to Measure Whether Your Blog Is Actually Working (and Not Just Busy)
A blog can look alive on the surface. A spike in views. A few likes. The odd comment that says “Great post”. Then you check your inbox, your calendar, or your sales, and nothing’s changed.
That’s the quiet problem in January 2026. Attention is cheap, trust is harder, and results don’t always show up as raw traffic. If your blog is meant to bring in leads, sales, or loyal readers, you need a way to tell if it’s doing that job.
By the end of this post, you’ll know what “working” means for your blog, which numbers matter, and how to build a simple scorecard you can trust.
Decide what “working” means for your blog (before you look at numbers)
Measuring a blog without a goal is like weighing a suitcase without knowing where you’re travelling. You might be “up” or “down”, but it won’t tell you if you’re packed for the right trip.
Most blogs fit into one of these goals:
- Grow brand awareness: more of the right people recognising your name.
- Build an email list: steady sign-ups you can reach without an algorithm.
- Sell a product or service: purchases, bookings, enquiries.
- Earn income: ads, affiliates, sponsorships, paid newsletters.
Pick one main goal and one support goal. That keeps your measurement clean. A blog can do many things, but it can’t be judged on everything at once.
Turn your goal into a clear outcome you can track
Vague aims feel nice, but they’re slippery. Numbers need a sentence that has a finish line.
Try rewriting your goal like this:
- “Grow audience” becomes “Get 200 newsletter sign-ups per month.”
- “Get leads” becomes “Book 10 discovery calls per month from blog traffic.”
- “Make money” becomes “Earn £500 per month from affiliate clicks.”
- “Build authority” becomes “Win 5 backlinks a month from relevant sites.”
Add a time frame, usually 30 days (quick feedback) or 90 days (more stable trends). Then decide what “good” looks like. Not a perfect benchmark, just your own target based on where you are now.
Choose one primary metric and a few supporting metrics
Your primary metric is your north star. It’s the number that tells you if the blog is doing its job.
Examples of north stars:
- Email sign-ups (for list growth)
- Booked calls or contact form submissions (for leads)
- Purchases (for sales)
- Revenue (for income)
Then add 3 to 5 supporting metrics that explain why the north star moved.
Good supporting metrics include:
- Organic traffic (quality and growth trend)
- Search impressions and click-through rate (CTR)
- Returning visitors
- Time on page or scroll depth
- Conversion rate
Resist the urge to track everything. A dashboard full of numbers can hide the truth. You want a short list that forces you to decide what matters.
If you want a broader menu of metrics to compare against, Semrush has a solid overview in its guide to content performance metrics.
The blog metrics that actually show progress (and what they mean)
Think of metrics in five groups: reach, engagement, trust, and results. Each group answers a different question.
- Reach: Are people seeing it?
- Engagement: Are they staying?
- Trust: Do they believe it?
- Results: Do they take action?
In 2026, this mix matters more than ever. Search can show your content in summaries, social feeds reward saves over likes, and readers scan fast on mobile. Trends beat single weeks.
Reach metrics: organic traffic, impressions, and click-through rate
Organic traffic tells you how many visits come from search engines. It’s a slow-build signal, but it’s also one of the cleanest. If it rises steadily, your blog is becoming easier to find.
Impressions (from Google Search Console) tell you how often your pages appeared in search results. You can be “visible” without getting clicks.
Click-through rate (CTR) is clicks divided by impressions. It shows whether your title and snippet promise something people want.
A simple headline check:
- If impressions rise but clicks stay flat, the topic may be right but the snippet is weak.
- Fix by tightening your title, matching search intent, and making the benefit clear.
Small edits can move CTR without writing a new post. Jetpack’s guide to measuring content performance is helpful if you want a plain-language refresher on what these numbers mean.
Engagement metrics: time on page, scroll depth, bounce rate, and returning visitors
Reach gets people to your door. Engagement tells you if they step inside.
Time on page is your “are they actually reading?” signal. It’s not perfect (someone can open a tab and walk away), but trends still help.
When time on page is low, it often means one of these is true:
- The intro doesn’t match the title’s promise.
- The formatting is dense (walls of text, no clear signposts).
- The post answers a different question than the reader asked.
Scroll depth is great if you can track it. It shows how far people get. If most readers stop at 25 percent, your structure may be top-heavy, or your key answer is buried too deep.
Bounce rate can be misleading. A “bounce” might still be a satisfied reader who got what they needed and left. Treat it as a clue, not a verdict.
Returning visitors are a big deal in 2026. A returning reader is someone who remembers you, trusts you, and comes back without being pushed. If that number rises, your blog is turning into a habit, not a one-off hit.
Trust and authority metrics: backlinks, branded searches, and reader replies
Some of the most important signals feel almost quiet.
Backlinks are other sites linking to you. It’s a public vote of confidence. One good link from a relevant site can beat ten random mentions.
Track backlinks as a trend over time. Look for growth on posts that deserve it: original research, clear explainers, strong comparisons, and useful templates.
Branded searches are when people search for your name, your blog name, or your product name. It often happens after repeated exposure. You won’t always see it in one place, but Google Search Console can hint at it through queries.
Then there are the human signals analytics misses:
- Email replies that ask a smart follow-up
- DMs that reference a specific post
- Comments that add context, not just praise
These are trust in the wild. Keep a note of them, even if they don’t fit neatly into a chart.
Conversion and money metrics: sign-ups, leads, sales, affiliate clicks, and revenue per visit
A blog “works” when it changes what readers do next.
Conversions are the actions you care about: sign-ups, bookings, purchases, downloads, affiliate clicks.
Conversion rate in one line:
Conversion rate = conversions divided by visits.
Track it per post and per content type. A post with fewer visits can still be a star if it converts.
If you earn income, one metric cuts through noise fast:
Revenue per visit (RPV) = revenue divided by visits.
RPV helps you compare posts fairly. A post that earns £60 from 300 visits (20p per visit) is stronger than one that earns £80 from 2,000 visits (4p per visit).
Attribution can get messy. Some readers land on Post A, think for a week, then buy from Post B. Decide how you’ll count that. You might track:
- Last click (the final page before conversion)
- First click (the entry point)
- Assisted or “influenced” conversions (pages seen before action)
No method is perfect. Consistency is the point. For extra context on KPI choices, this roundup of blogging KPIs and metrics can help you sanity-check what belongs on your list.
Set up a simple measurement system you’ll actually keep using
A measurement system only works if you use it. The goal is a rhythm you can keep on a busy week.
Try this:
- Weekly check-in (15 minutes): look for movement, spot problems early.
- Monthly review (60 minutes): decide what to keep, fix, or stop.
Track 5 to 7 numbers in one place. Then write one sentence about what changed and why. That sentence is where learning happens.
Create a one-page scorecard for weekly check-ins
Keep it boring and repeatable. Here’s a simple scorecard layout you can copy into a doc or spreadsheet.
| Scorecard line | What you track | Your weekly note |
|---|---|---|
| North star | Sign-ups, bookings, or sales | What moved it this week? |
| Organic traffic | Total organic sessions | Which posts drove it? |
| Impressions and CTR | Search Console trend | Did titles match intent? |
| Returning visitors | % or count returning | Are readers forming a habit? |
| Engagement | Time on page or scroll depth | Where are readers dropping off? |
| Conversion rate | Conversions per visit | Which page converts best? |
| Revenue (if relevant) | Total, plus revenue per visit | Which posts earn, which don’t? |
Add two short prompts under the table:
- What happened: one sentence, plain truth.
- What I’ll test next week: one small change.
Track content by intent, not just by topic
Two posts can be about the same subject and have different jobs.
Group posts by intent, then judge them with the right metric:
- How-to posts: should win on search reach and steady engagement.
- Comparison posts: should win on CTR and conversions (people are choosing).
- News and opinion: may spike on reach, but fade fast, measure speed and shares.
- Product-led posts: must win on conversions, even with modest traffic.
Tag posts by intent in your own system, even if it’s just a spreadsheet column. Patterns show up quicker when you compare like with like.
Use quick tests to improve results without posting more
Posting more can hide the real work. The quickest wins often come from improving what already exists.
High-impact tests that usually pay off:
Rewrite the title and intro: Aim for a clear promise, then deliver the answer early. This should move CTR and time on page.
Add one strong call to action (CTA): One action per post works best. This should move conversions.
Tighten headings for skimming: Make headings say what’s inside the section. This should move scroll depth.
Add original images or a simple table: Make the page easier to understand at a glance. This often lifts engagement and saves.
Refresh the “last updated” sections: Update facts, add new examples, remove dead weight. This supports rankings and trust.
Each test needs a target metric. Otherwise you’ll change things and still feel unsure.
Read the signals like a pro: common patterns and what to do next
Numbers don’t give answers on their own. They give you a small torch, and you choose where to shine it.
When traffic is up but conversions are flat
This looks like a busy shop with nobody buying. Common causes include:
- The keyword brings the wrong audience.
- The offer doesn’t match the post.
- The next step is unclear or hidden.
- The post feels useful, but not trustworthy enough to act on.
What to do next:
Make the next step obvious: Put the CTA where it fits, often after the key answer and again near the end.
Offer something that matches the post: A checklist beats a generic newsletter pitch if the post is tactical.
Add proof: Use sources, a short author note, or a quick example of results. Trust is a conversion tool.
Use comparison tables where choice is involved: If the reader is deciding, help them decide.
When engagement is low but the topic is strong
You picked the right subject, but readers slip away. That usually points to writing and structure, not demand.
Fixes that work fast:
Tighten the first 100 words: State who it’s for, what it solves, and what’s coming.
Answer the main question early: Don’t make readers hunt for the point.
Break up long sections: Short paragraphs, clear subheadings, fewer tangents.
Add one concrete example: Show what “good” looks like in real terms.
Check mobile readability: If it’s hard to scan on a phone, engagement will suffer.
When one post carries the whole blog
This is more common than people admit. One page ranks, gets shared, and becomes your front door.
It happens because that post has the best fit between:
- a real search need
- a clear answer
- a clean structure
What to do next:
Build a small cluster around it: Write supporting posts that answer related questions and link them together in your own navigation.
Refresh the winning post: Add new sections, update examples, improve the snippet. Protect the thing that works.
Add a gentle value capture: If that post is the main entry point, it should offer an email sign-up, a guide, or the next best read.
If you want more ideas for choosing performance signals that match your goals, Outbrand’s summary of content performance metrics is a useful reference point.
Conclusion
A blog is actually working when it does its job, not when it looks busy. Pick a clear goal, choose a north star metric, and support it with a short set of numbers you’ll check every week. Then run small tests tied to one metric at a time.
Set yourself a simple challenge: choose your north star today, build a one-page scorecard, and stick with it for the next 30 days. Clarity beats guesswork, and it feels better than chasing spikes.
