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5th November 2026

KPIs to Measure Website Performance: What to Track and Why

Website KPIs

Website data can tell you a lot, but having more numbers does not always make it easier to understand how your site is performing. Traffic may be rising while sales are falling, or visitors may be spending longer on the site because they cannot find what they need.

Website key performance indicators (KPIs) help you focus on the figures that matter. In this guide, we explain the main KPIs for traffic, engagement, conversions and page experience, along with how to choose, analyse and use them to improve your website.

 

Table of contents

 

What are website KPIs?

A website key performance indicator (KPI) is a number that shows whether your website is helping you reach a specific goal. They help give you a simple view of how your website is performing; what’s working, what isn’t and where you may need to look more closely.

A KPI is different from a general metric. Every KPI is a metric, but not every metric is important enough to be a KPI. A metric becomes a KPI when it is tied to a clear business objective. For example, page views are a metric. They only become a KPI if getting more relevant traffic is one of your main goals. The same applies to conversion rate, revenue per visitor or form completion rate.

Fundamentally, a focused set of KPIs keeps reporting useful, helping teams spend less time looking at numbers and more time acting on the ones that affect performance, sales and revenue.

 

How to choose the right website KPIs

The right website KPIs start with a clear business objective. Each KPI should measure progress towards a defined outcome. That could include increasing qualified traffic, generating more leads, improving ecommerce revenue, increasing repeat visits, reducing checkout abandonment, or improving page speed and reliability.

Start with a clear goal. Decide what you want the website to improve. This could include bringing in more relevant traffic, generating more leads, increasing ecommerce revenue, encouraging repeat visits, or even improving page speed and reliability.

Choose KPIs you can act on. A useful KPI should help you decide what to do next. For example, if checkout completion falls, you can investigate payment errors, delivery costs or problems with the form. If organic traffic rises but sales do not, you may be attracting the wrong audience.

Make sure the data is reliable. Clearly define what each KPI measures, how it is calculated, where the data comes from and how often it is reviewed. Use the same method over time so you can make fair comparisons. You’ll also need to check that your analytics, goals, events and campaign tracking are set up correctly, as poor tracking can make good performance look bad, or hide a genuine problem.

Give each KPI an owner. Decide who will review each KPI, investigate changes and take action. Without clear ownership, reports often get read but nothing happens.

Keep your main list of KPIs short. Use these to track overall performance, then use supporting metrics to explain why the results have changed. For example, ecommerce revenue might be the headline KPI, but other KPIs (like conversion rate, average order value and checkout abandonment) can help explain why revenue has gone up or down.

Once you have chosen the right KPIs, the next step is understanding what each one tells you. The following sections cover the main website KPIs, from traffic and engagement to conversions, revenue and page performance.

 

Audience and acquisition KPIs

Audience and acquisition KPIs show how many people visit your website, how they find it and whether they come back.

They help you understand which channels are bringing in traffic and whether that traffic is useful. More visits can be a good sign, but the real question is whether those visitors go on to buy, enquire or complete another important action.

Unique visitors

Unique visitors is the estimated number of different people who visit your website during a set period. It gives you a general idea of how many people your website is reaching. For example, if the number rises, your search visibility, campaigns or brand awareness may be improving.

However, it’s worth noting that these figures are an estimate. The same person may be counted more than once if they use different devices or browsers. Cookie settings and consent choices can also affect the data.

Daily unique visitors

Daily unique visitors is the estimated number of different people who visit your website each day.

Comparing daily and monthly figures can help you understand how often people return. If daily visitor numbers are high compared with the monthly total, your website may have a loyal or regular audience. This matters more for websites that rely on frequent visits, such as news sites, marketplaces, account portals and subscription services.

A low number of repeat visits is not always a problem. Some products and services are only needed occasionally.

New versus returning visitors

This KPI shows the split between first time visitors and people who have visited before. New visitors show how well you are reaching new audiences, while returning visitors can be a sign of repeat interest, loyalty or ongoing demand.

Judge the balance based on what the website is meant to do. A new or growing website may want a high number of new visitors, while an established ecommerce or subscription website may place more value on people coming back.

Sessions

A session is a period of activity on your website. The same person can create several sessions by leaving and returning later. This is why session numbers are usually higher than unique visitor numbers.

Sessions give you a view of total visit volume and how often people return. They can also be used to calculate measures such as revenue per session or conversions per session.

More sessions are not automatically better. The extra visits still need to come from the right people and lead to useful outcomes.

Pageviews

Pageviews is the total number of pages viewed on your website. An increase may come from better search rankings as a result of an SEO campaign or growing interest in your content. A decrease could mean traffic has fallen, but it could also mean people can find what they need in fewer steps.

Pageviews do not tell you whether a visit was successful. A high number could mean people are interested and exploring the website, but it could also mean they are struggling to find the right information.

Traffic by source

Traffic source data shows how people reached your website. Common sources include:

This helps you see which channels bring in visitors and which ones lead to sales, enquiries or other conversions. Remember that a channel with fewer visitors may still produce better customers or more revenue.

Organic traffic

Organic traffic is traffic from unpaid search engine results. It can show how well your SEO, keywords and content are performing.

However, more organic traffic does not always mean better results. The traffic needs to come from relevant searches and lead to useful actions. Due to this, you should look at organic traffic alongside:

Where possible, separate branded and non-branded traffic. Branded traffic comes from people already searching for your business, while non-branded traffic shows how well you reach people searching more generally for your products, services or information.

Top landing pages

A landing page is the first page someone sees when they visit your website. These pages matter because they create the first impression and often start the journey towards a purchase, enquiry or sign-up.

Start by looking at the landing pages that receive the most traffic. Check whether they answer the visitor’s question, load properly and make the next step clear.

High traffic landing pages are usually the best place to focus improvements. A small change to a page with thousands of visits can have more impact than a major change to a page that receives very little traffic.

Look at each landing page alongside its traffic source, visitor intent, engagement and conversion rate. This will help you see whether it attracts the right people and helps them move forwards.

 

Engagement and behaviour KPIs

Engagement and behaviour KPIs show what people do once they arrive on your website. They can help you understand whether visitors are finding what they need, using the site properly and moving towards an enquiry, purchase or other goal.

Average time on page

Average time on page shows how long people spend on a single page. It’s best to use this figure to compare similar pages and track changes over time.

A longer time might mean they are reading the content or watching a video, but it could also mean the page is confusing or the answer is hard to find. For example, someone may spend several minutes reading a detailed guide, while, on a contact or delivery page, they may find what they need in a few seconds and leave.

Average session duration

Average session duration shows how long people spend on your website during a visit. In a similar way to average time on page, what the visitor achieved achieved matters more than how long they stayed.

For example, a longer session may mean someone is exploring products, reading content or comparing options, but it may also mean the website is difficult to use. A short session could mean someone lost interest, but it could also mean they completed their task quickly.

Bounce rate

Bounce rate is the percentage of visits where the user leaves without another recorded interaction.

A high bounce rate could be caused by:

A high bounce rate is not always a problem. For example, someone may visit a help page, find the answer and leave, and you may still class that as a successful visit.

Exit rate

Exit rate shows how often a page is the last page someone visits before leaving the website.

Every visit has an exit page, so a high exit rate is not always a warning sign. In particular, it may be normal on thank you pages, confirmation pages or contact pages. On product pages, forms and checkout pages, however, a high exit rate could point to technical problems, unexpected costs or missing information.

Actions per visit

Actions per visit shows how many interactions someone completes during a visit. These actions might include:

This can show whether people are exploring the website or leaving without doing much.

Audience engagement distribution

Audience engagement distribution groups visitors by how much they interact with your website. You can compare these groups using:

This gives you more detail than a single average. For example, a reasonable average session duration could hide two very different groups: a small number of highly engaged visitors and a much larger number who leave almost straight away. Looking at these groups separately can help you see which audiences are most valuable and where the website is losing people.

 

Conversion and commercial KPIs

Conversion and commercial KPIs show whether website activity produces a meaningful business result. They connect traffic and user behaviour to outcomes such as sales, leads, registrations and revenue, making them more commercially useful than traffic figures alone.

Conversions and goal completions

A conversion is an action you want someone to complete on your website. This could be:

Not all conversions are equally important. A purchase or a qualified enquiry will usually matter more than a video view or download.

Decide which actions matter before you start reporting on them, and avoid counting every small interaction as a conversion. Tracking every button click may make the numbers look better, but it does not tell you whether the website is generating more business.

Conversion rate

Conversion rate shows the percentage of visitors or sessions that complete a chosen action. The calculation is: conversions ÷ visitors or sessions × 100

For example, if you receive 50 purchases from 2,000 sessions, your conversion rate is 2.5%.

Conversion rate helps you understand whether you are attracting the right people and whether the website makes it easy for them to take action.

There are basically two main ways to generate more conversions: bring more relevant traffic to the website, and improve the percentage of visitors who convert (what is often referred to as conversation rate optimisation).

More traffic will not fix a confusing form or a broken checkout. In the same way, improving conversion rate will only have a limited effect if very few relevant people visit the website.

Abandonment rate

Abandonment rate shows the percentage of people who start a process but do not finish it. This might include:

A high abandonment rate could point to unclear information, technical problems, unexpected costs or a lack of trust.

Look at each stage of the process to find where people leave. For example, a checkout might include the basket, delivery details, payment and order confirmation. If many people leave at the payment stage, that is the first place to investigate.

Cost per conversion

Cost per conversion shows how much you spend to generate one conversion. The calculation is: campaign cost ÷ conversions generated

For example, if a campaign costs £2,000 and generates 100 conversions, the cost per conversion is £20.

This figure helps you compare campaigns and marketing channels. It can show which activity is using your budget effectively.

However, the cheapest conversion is not always the best one. A campaign may produce low cost leads that never become customers, or small orders that generate little profit.

 

Page experience KPIs

Page experience KPIs show how quickly people can load and use your website. These website KPIs are particularly important, as a slow page can frustrate visitors, make them leave and reduce sales or enquiries.

Page-load time

Page-load time shows how long a page takes to load and become usable. The longer people have to wait, the more likely they are to leave before doing anything. This can, in turn, affect engagement, conversion rate and revenue.

One overall average can be misleading. Some visitors may get a fast experience while others face much longer delays. Due to this, it is useful to compare load times by:

This can help you spot problems that only affect certain users. Focus first on important pages, such as product pages, forms and checkout steps.

First contentful paint

First Contentful Paint (FCP) is a Core Web Vital that measures how long it takes for the first piece of page content to appear on screen. This could be some text, an image or another visible element.

FCP matters because it affects how fast the page feels. Even if the page is still loading, showing useful content quickly reassures the visitor that something is happening. A blank screen, on the other hand, can make the page feel slow, even if the full load time is not especially long.

Time to interactive

Time to Interactive (TTI) measures how long it takes for a page’s interactive elements to become responsive. These elements may include:

A page can look finished but still not respond when someone clicks or taps. This is especially important on pages where people need to take action. If a form, filter or add-to-basket button is slow to respond, it can lead to lost sales or enquiries.

 

How to analyse and optimise website KPIs

Website KPIs are only useful if they help you make better decisions. They should help you to spot what has changed, understand why, and decide what to do next. Here are the basics when it comes to analysing and optimising website KPIs:

Set a baseline. Record current performance before making changes, as this gives you something to compare against later. Use past data to understand what normal performance looks like across different weeks, months and seasons.

Break the data down. Compare results by device, browser, location, traffic source, landing page, customer type, and new or returning visitor status. For example, the overall conversion rate may look fine even if mobile users are struggling.

Look for trends. Do not react to every small rise or fall. Instead, compare performance over time and look for patterns before deciding that something has improved or gone wrong.

Check the context. A sudden drop may be caused by a tracking issue rather than a real performance problem, while a short term increase may come from a promotion and disappear once the campaign ends. This is why you should always check what else was happening at the time.

Focus on the biggest problems first. Do not try to improve every KPI at once. Instead, start with issues that affect sales, leads, repeat customers or important parts of the website. For example, a small improvement to checkout completion may be worth more than a large increase in pageviews.

Consider effort as well as impact. Look at how serious the problem is, what it may be costing the business and how difficult it will be to fix.

Test changes. Compare performance before and after changes to content, design, navigation, forms, website speed or campaigns. Use A/B testing where possible, but a clear before-and-after comparison can still be useful.

Review your KPIs regularly. Business goals change, so your website KPIs should change too. Remove measures that no longer help you make decisions and update targets, definitions and owners where needed.

Website KPIs help you see what is working, what is getting in the way and where to focus next. Traffic is part of that picture, but it is not the whole story. You also need to look at how people find the site, what they do when they arrive, whether the pages work properly and whether those visits turn into sales, leads or repeat customers.

The key is to track a small number of KPIs that match your goals and help you make decisions. Review them regularly, look at the wider context and act on the problems that matter most.

Craig Murphy

Craig Murphy is the founder and Managing Director of ALT Agency. He has worked in digital marketing and web development since the early days of the commercial internet, with a focus on growing businesses online. Craig is open about being autistic and how it shapes his approach to problem-solving, data and business leadership. Alongside agency work, he also runs a private investment business supporting early-stage entrepreneurs.

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