Let’s start with the basics, i.e. explain what a static website actually is. A static site is a very simple type of website that always loads as it was saved on the server. It is not equipped with a CMS system, thanks to which you could easily make changes within the site without any programming skills. It is completely saved in the file – including all texts – it can be said that the content is “rigidly” placed there.

The lack of a CMS, i.e. a friendly editor that allows you to add text, photos, videos, and even entire subpages, means that each change within the site requires interference with the code file, which makes modifications much more difficult for a user unfamiliar with programming languages. Accidentally deleting a command can completely change the look of the page, and it is impossible to edit the text without applying the appropriate lines of code for each bold or centering.

What advantages and disadvantages does a static website have?

A static website has many advantages that make it still the choice of entrepreneurs. The price is the first and probably important advantage of this solution for many people. Creating such a website is relatively easy for the developer and does not take much time, which translates into a lower cost of such an order.

One of the most valuable advantages of static websites, however, is their loading speed. These types of websites load quickly, which translates into user satisfaction and a good rating of web robots, for which loading time is one of the factors influencing the overall rating of the website. However, choosing a dynamic website does not always have to mean long loading times – this is where cache systems come to our aid.

The big advantage of static pages over dynamic pages is the security they provide. They do not have a CMS or plug-ins that can potentially be a source of threats, so they enjoy a lot of trust among entrepreneurs who focus on protecting their customers.

If we focus on a simple, small website, a static website is a better solution than one created with the help of WIX wizards. The latter are easier to edit, but they offer very limited optimization possibilities, so from the SEO point of view, they are a worse solution than static pages.

The disadvantage of this solution is that, as we have already mentioned, static pages do not have a CMS, so each change requires interference in the code. In addition, it cannot be denied that a static page has fewer functions than a dynamic one.

Static page and dynamic page – differences

As already mentioned, a static page is a file that contains all of the website’s code and all its content. A dynamic page, in turn, requires a connection to a database in which texts, images, videos and other elements that constitute the content visible to the user are placed. Therefore, when the viewer enters the static side, he gets something like a ready-made image, a fixed composition drawn from one place. In the case of the dynamic version, we serve him a page that must be re-created in a way – that is, “composed” of individual elements. Of course, the process is so fast that with the proper implementation of the project, the user has no idea what type of website he is dealing with. The fact is, however, that a static page will load a little faster than a dynamic site.

So should we always choose a static page in pursuit of the best loading speed? Not necessarily. If the website is extensive, has a blog or news section, a dynamic CMS page is often the better choice. Of course, you can run a blog or news on a static website, but due to the lack of a CMS, it can be difficult for beginners.

Who is the static website for?

A static website works best as an electronic business card with basic information about the business, contact details, etc. These types of websites rarely need to be updated and do not need advanced features, so in this case we can afford a static page even if we can’t make changes to the code. You can decide on such a page, for example, when:
– we run a stationary store and we only want to mark our presence on the Internet,
– we have a service business such as a beauty or hairdressing salon, dentist’s office, etc. and we provide services only at our headquarters,
– as part of our business, we provide services only to the client, e.g. plumber, construction company,
– we create a website with the CV function.

However, the type of business you run should not be crucial when choosing. The most important criterion is whether we intend to edit the page frequently, and in the examples mentioned, as a rule, regular updates are not necessary. This does not mean, of course, that we cannot opt for a static page in other cases. As long as we know that a simple page with the most important information is enough for us, we do not have to invest in a more expensive dynamic site – a static site is enough for us.

Organic traffic and the costs of its acquisition

Many people associate organic traffic mainly with huge publishing expenses for several thousand dollars a month for the purpose of obtaining links. Link building is important, but it is not the only thing you should do. Many things can be done inside the website, and link building itself does not always have to be associated with huge expenses. What is certain is that if we neglect the onsite factors – link building itself may not give the desired effect.

Content creation and optimization

When generating organic traffic, the main costs are:
– our time (I assume that with the current slowdown of the economy and lower turnover of companies, there is more of it to be spent),
– content cost (you can send specific guidelines to a copywriter or write content using resources in your company).

If we are able to create content ourselves, it is a huge saving. We know that content is worth building and that it can be done at a lower cost. But what to write about? How to plan the created content? You can use many tools, including free ones.

Content creation – where to get ideas?

Before we start creating content, we need to plan it skillfully – that is, develop the subject, structure of the document and create a list of keywords that must be in the content. A common problem is the lack of ideas for generating content. I will not elaborate here on how to research competition in paid tools or on graphs and keyword relationships. After all, the intention of this article is to indicate ways that do not involve expenses.

Google Search Console

A huge treasury of free knowledge is Google Search Console – a tool that can be implemented for free and collect data on the visibility of our website.

How can this tool be used? You should analyze the data in the “Effectiveness” tab and search mainly for:
– phrases that, despite the far position, have quite a lot of views,
– phrases that have a lot of views and are located just outside TOP10.

We can narrow down the data to words that contain a specific word or string of characters. Thanks to this, we can both create content (in a situation where we mentioned a certain issue alongside other content – it is worth building a dedicated content that describes it accurately) and optimizing the current content.

Regardless of whether we are creating new content or trying to optimize the current one – remember about the most important elements:
– carrying out a TOP10 analysis for a given word (context of the content already created, length or optimization method),
– title meta optimization,
– appropriate keyword saturation,
– including the most important keywords in the first paragraph.

But what if we have not written about a given topic and there is no mention of it in GSC? One of the cheap, but unconventional ways, is to use customer inquiries or industry knowledge.

The client will also help you with SEO

It is worth carefully analyzing our clients’ questions and taking note of the latest trends in a given industry. During my work, when I send clients suggestions for topics (which were generated in a paid tool based on a keyword association), I often get a response that clients actually mentioned it during their inquiries. A real challenge for a person who does not have access to paid tools is to verify which queries have search potential.

In the case of reducing the costs of activities, we can use, for example:
– keyword planner (when we have an active Google Ads campaign – we have access to information on the number of monthly searches),
– a free counterpart, which usually has limits on the number of polls per day.

Or maybe take advantage of the knowledge of others?

One popular way to create content on your site is to provide guest posting. It is worth looking for people in the industry who have knowledge and would like to share it on the pages of another portal. We do not have to take money from the author for the possibility of publishing content with a link to the website – often it is enough to pay in the form of a substantive article, which can also generate traffic from search results.

Another factor influencing our visibility may be the author’s reach in social media and broadly understood popularity. If a recognizable person publishes content on our website and it reaches many recipients – recipients can start looking for information about the portal, which also increases organic traffic from brand traffic.

Link building – not always expensive

The subject of link building itself is very extensive and highly dependent on a given industry and the competitiveness of phrases. Nevertheless, at the beginning of cooperation with a client, I always try to be alert to the great potential of such inexpensive and unconventional linking methods. There are many methods for such cheap linking, and these are just a few of them.

Check your previous publications

Customers often mention that they published substantive content on the most famous industry portals or used the services of a PR company that published content on behalf of the client. If you have a list of such publications, for each of them:
– check if there is a link in the publication (preferably without the nofollow attribute),
– if there is no link, add to the “contact” list,
– write a request for the possibility of placing a link to the URL of the page.

Some websites may refuse, some will demand payment for the link, but in many cases it is enough to develop a list and one template e-mail.

Guest articles – sharing knowledge pays off

The scheme of operation in this case is the same as in the previously described sharing of space for experts’ statements. The only difference is that this time we express ourselves on external websites and share our knowledge. In return, we receive a link and potential brand traffic. If the portal on which we publish our content has a large group of recipients – some of them may search Google for information about the author and search for his website.

A unique offer is also a chance for a link

As a business owner, you know your offer perfectly well and know the target group. If your potential customers form communities and have associations or clubs – it is worth establishing not only offline cooperation, but also asking for a link. One example of a tailored offer is schools that offer driving lessons for people with disabilities. All it takes is a quick research and we find a page where driving school websites with such an offer are available.

Internal linking – often untapped potential

Many people hearing the phrase “linking” associate it with acquiring links from other websites. The techniques of cheap external linking have been discussed above, but there is also information about the potential of internal linking. Through internal links (where we have full control over the anchor text of the links), we can also influence the position of keywords.

It is important to analyze which subpage is responsible for visibility for a specific keyword and not to mix up internal links in the target addresses. A common mistake in portals’ editorial offices is linking to various thematically related articles using the same keyword. This misleads Google and increases cannibalization by boosting a few similar articles.

You must create a map of internal links:
The keyword in which we insert the link Internal link address
Keyword – 1 / subpage-X /
Keyword – 2 / subpage-Y /
Keyword – 3 / subpage-Z /

Any further internal linking should follow this pattern.

You probably think now that such internal linking and browsing the site is a lot of work, not to mention the cost. There is also a certain way for this. Internal linking can be automated – with the use of related articles modules or through the scheme of inserting internal links according to a certain key.

You have probably seen the module of similar content more than once on many websites, but it is worth making sure that the mechanism of generating these links works according to a certain key – after similar keywords or thematic connections between articles assigned manually in the CMS.

Automatic linking in the content is used less frequently, but it works in a very simple way. We determine that when a specific keyword appears in the content, a specific link to another subpage will be inserted there. It is also worth adding the condition that such a link has not been added higher in the content, which will limit the number of these links on one subpage. Such a solution can be implemented on individual orders from the programmer, or in the case of more famous CMS systems, look for ready-made solutions.

Summary

The Paraphrase-Online.com Team hopes that with this article you already know that there are many ways to increase organic traffic on your website – not necessarily at the expense of a lot of cash. You can use your own and our clients’ knowledge on many levels. In addition, a whole range of activities related to content planning or its creation can be performed within the organization. Therefore, do not hide behind high costs and start working on the website visibility on Google today.

KPI is one of the “fashionable” words in the business world. But this fashion is not unfounded at all. On the contrary! If you want to grow and make sure the actions you are taking are going in the right direction, you need to have tools to assess the state of affairs. This is what – in the broadest sense – KPIs are.

KPI – what is it?

KPI stands for Key Performance Indicators. They can be defined as data that allows you to precisely determine whether the actions taken are getting closer to achieving a specific goal.

This definition is general for a reason. There is no single set of KPIs that can be used in all situations. After all, other factors are important in direct sales, and different in the implementation of a campaign on Facebook or using sponsored links.

However, there are several elements that all KPIs have in common.
A. KPIs must be measurable. Therefore, quantitative indicators are used. Thanks to this, it is possible to create their summaries and observe trends – so that it is easier to make decisions.
B. They must relate to the previously set specific goals of the activity. So that they indicate whether the chosen course of action is correct.
C. They must be clear, transparent and objective – so that a specific value can be given at any time.
D. They cannot conflict with each other – and this means that the key campaign effectiveness indicators for you cannot be at the same time, for example, low budget for all promotional activities and high ranges thanks to paid promotion.

KPIs can be used in various aspects of the company’s operations. They are used, for example, in the production process, especially in systems based on lean management or in the area of HRM. However, KPIs are most often referred to in the context of marketing and sales.

Why are KPIs needed?

Effectiveness indicators are needed not only to measure the effectiveness of the actions taken. KPIs set above all the “gold standard” that should be pursued. So there are:

– a clear indication for the team carrying out a given task, what results are expected from it,
– an element of feedback that will allow you to efficiently introduce modifications to activities, if necessary,
– a way to clearly define the costs of campaigns and customer acquisition (and thus – profitability of marketing activities),
– a method of expressly detecting possible errors or shortcomings that weaken the results of marketers’ work,
– a tool that allows you to forecast further progress and results, and as a result prepare a promotion strategy for many months ahead.

In addition, without KPIs, it would be difficult for you to assess the effectiveness of the work of specialists you entrusted with, for example, the implementation of SEO or SEM campaigns. Without hard data, you can’t pinpoint what worked and what didn’t.

How to choose the right KPIs?

The list of indicators that could be taken into account when assessing the effectiveness of marketing activities is very long.

Imagine that you have to evaluate the effectiveness of a marketing campaign, and not 5 or 10 in front of you, but 40 spreadsheets, tables or charts. Yes, it would give you the power of information, but it would be extremely time-consuming to analyze and the results would in many cases come down to the same conclusions.

Therefore, specific KPIs should be selected – those that are most relevant to the specifics of the campaign. But the question is: how? Here are a few rules to follow.

Do not choose more than a dozen KPIs
20 is the absolute maximum that you can use if you implement the campaign on a very large scale. In the case of these more intimate 4-10 indicators, it is enough to get in-depth data on the one hand, and on the other – avoid overloading with them.

Before selecting KPIs, be clear about the goals of your actions
This is a key determinant of which data you will need. For example, when implementing a social media campaign aimed at acquiring leads, the key KPIs will be related to how many people left the leads and what percentage of all visitors to the profile were. However, this data will be less important if the main goal of the activities was to “start” the fan page or persuade customers to buy a specific product.

Choose multistage indicators
At the beginning of work with KPIs – especially when there is no access to historical data – it may be difficult for you to determine which indicators will be the most valuable for measuring the effects of activities and planning subsequent ones. Therefore, you can start with a slightly wider range of KPIs and narrow it down over time to those that actually convey the necessary information. Test, check, observe and analyze – so as to possibly modify the set of indicators that determine your effectiveness.

Choose indicators that show both efficiency and lack of it
Remember that the purpose of introducing them is to monitor the progress of activities and whether the money invested in marketing pays off. Therefore, it is worth choosing KPIs so that they show both positive and negative effects.

Don’t trust standardized solutions
This is important especially if you cooperate with an external digital agency that carries out a campaign for you. Make sure that the set of KPIs will be personalized and adapted to the specificity of the tasks that the experts will face.

Keeping in mind these few elements, you can be sure that the data obtained thanks to KPI will allow you to make the right decisions – with the current situation and the future in mind.

What KPIs are key in marketing?

Now that you know the general principles of selecting indicators and you do not have to ask what a KPI is, it is time to move on to details related to the area of marketing, and more specifically – internet marketing. This is the zone that interests us the most. This is because it is specific. On the Web:

– it is very easy to collect quantitative data on the course of any promotional campaigns,
– a number of factors are important, including with building interest, commitment or triggering interaction,
– data is provided on an ongoing basis, thanks to which it is possible to efficiently correct the actions taken.

So it’s time to take a look at these KPIs that are crucial in e-marketing. Here, however, a small star should be put: different KPIs will be important for the website, different for social media campaigns, and still different for the implementation of the Google Ads campaign. That is why we have divided their description into several sections.

KPIs for websites

Do you want to check what response your website evokes and whether it is an effective marketing and sales tool? This is particularly important in the case of e-stores, but also company websites, which are one of the basic sources of information about each brand.

In the case of websites and e-commerce, the key will be:
– KPIs related to website traffic.

It is about elements such as:
– the number of unique users visiting the website – given on a daily, weekly, monthly and annual basis,
– the number of page views – information on how many times the recipients visited the website,
– average visit time – the longer, the greater the involvement in the information contained on the website indicates
– the so-called Bounce Rate – the percentage of visitors who stopped browsing the website in the first seconds after going to the website. The higher the Bounce Rate, the clearer the message that the website can be, for example, positioned for wrong key phrases or that the website layout needs to be changed,
– traffic sources – it is assessed whether they are organic (and therefore come from regular searches) or paid for. Analytical tools also record from which websites the user was redirected to the website, which allows, for example, to decide on promotion channels,
– indicators related to user behavior and engagement.

In this context, the following works:
– duration of a single session on the website,
– number of visited subpages (and what subpages they were),
– the number of interactions per visit – e.g. clicks for more information, go to additional subpages, leaving a lead, etc.

In e-commerce websites and those focused on acquiring leads, the conversion rate is also important, indicating how many people took the action expected by the creators of the website, i.e. left an email or made a purchase.

The indicators listed above are easy to determine. But it doesn’t stop there. Marketers also pay attention to the proportions between certain values. Their attention in the context of the assessment of the effectiveness of the project may be attracted by the relationship between:
– the number of visits and the number of interactions / conversions,
– the number of leads and the number of customers,
– visits from organic sources compared to those that are paid.

KPIs for online advertising campaigns

Other KPIs will be important when you decide to pay for promotion on the Internet, e.g. using the Google Ads system. In this case, the most important things will be:
– number of ad views – indicates how many times the message (e.g. banner or sponsored link) has been successfully displayed to the recipient, important when assessing the daily, but also weekly or monthly results of the campaign,
– CTR (click-through rate) – the number of clicks on the ad, and thus the interactions with it. The higher it is, the more effective the CTA message is to convey promotional content,
– conversion rate – crucial especially if the ad leads on a landing page designed to generate sales leads. The higher the conversion rate, the more engaging your campaign is,
– conversion cost of one person – this is a proportional calculation of how much it cost you to acquire one sales lead. The lower the better
– “Quality Score”, i.e. an indicator of content quality and trust in it – is related to the quality of content, e.g. on your landing page or website. The more substantive content, the more you will gain from organic promotion on the Web.

KPI for social media campaigns

Communication on Facebook or other social media also requires specific KPIs. In this case, the following are, for example:
– the ratio of the amount of published content to conversion – marketers observe how the number of posted posts and other materials translates into audience engagement in order to correct the current campaign and plan the next campaign without errors,
– number of interactions – understood, for example, as “liking” a post, sharing it or writing a comment. The higher the interaction rate, the higher the effectiveness of the campaign,
– organic and paid ranges – the former result mainly from a large number of interactions with the post and its frequent sharing. The better the organic results, the more positive this message is for a promoting company,
– the number of customers involved in contact with the brand – i.e. those who, for example, liked the fan page or turned on notifications regarding its content.

KPI for mailing

Still other KPIs will be important when running an email campaign. This is an underestimated, but very effective way of promoting online at a low cost. Although conversion rates are relatively low here, as long as the message reaches a well-targeted client and is skillfully prepared, it can bring specific results.

In the case of mailing, effectiveness is measured using parameters such as:
– Open Rate – the number of recipients who opened the sent message at all. If it is small, it is a clear sign that you need to change, for example, the wording of the message titles or make it more attractive in some way;
– CTR – in this context, the number of people who clicked on the link contained in the e-mail is important,
– Subscription Rate – an indicator informing about the number of new users subscribing to the newsletter;
– Unsubscription Rate – this is the opposite indicator, showing how many people have unsubscribed from the mailing;
– the number of “returns” – e-mails that did not reach the addressee at all. Their large number indicates the weakness of the database, and hence the need for more effective acquisition of real leads,
– increase in the list of subscribers to the newsletter – if it is dynamic, it means that the actions taken in the context of obtaining leads are carried out correctly.

These are, of course, just examples of KPIs that matter. It should be remembered that other indicators will be important for campaigns carried out with the use of different tools. For example, in mobile campaigns, the number of users of the application created, traffic on the company’s mobile website or the frequency of visits via a smartphone will be important.

You have set a KPI and what next?

Setting key KPIs is only the first step towards effective verification of the effectiveness of your marketing activities. In the next section, it is necessary to indicate the tools that will be used to collect and analyze this information. You will receive many of them from the system you use – the data is provided by, for example, Google Analytics or the Facebok advertising system. Specialized software is required to receive in-depth information.

It should also be remembered that the data obtained from KPIs must be processed, developed and analyzed – so that it is possible to take specific actions on their basis. It is best to entrust this task to specialists.