A Key Performance Indicator (KPI) is a measurable value that shows how effectively you're achieving your most important objectives. In the world of websites, marketing, and ecommerce, KPIs help you stay focused on results that actually move the needle—rather than vanity metrics that just look good.
What Exactly Is a KPI?
A KPI is not just any metric. It’s a metric with meaning. It reflects progress toward a business goal—like increasing sales, improving lead quality, or reducing churn. For example:
- Ecommerce store KPI: Conversion RateImproves website performance by increasing the percentage of visitors who complete desired actions, such as purchases, sign-ups, or form submissions., Average Order ValueThe average amount of money a customer spends each time they place an order on your website.
- SaaS website KPI: Trial Signups, Churn Rate
- Agency portfolio site KPI: Contact Form Submissions, Client Acquisition Cost
If you're not measuring KPIs, you’re just guessing.
Common Website and Marketing KPIs
KPIs vary depending on your business type, but here are some of the most common:
- Conversion Rate – Percentage of visitors who complete a desired action (purchase, form submission, etc.)
- Click-Through RateMeasures the percentage of users who click on a link, button, or ad after seeing it. (CTR) – How often people click a CTAA prompt that encourages users to take a specific action, such as clicking a button, submitting a form, or making a purchase. or ad link
- Bounce RatePercentage of visitors who leave a website after viewing only one page without interacting further. – Percentage of visitors who leave after one page
- Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)The total cost of acquiring a new customer, including ad spend, tools, labor, and other marketing efforts. – How much it costs to gain a customer
- Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)Measures how much revenue is earned for every dollar spent on advertising, helping you evaluate the effectiveness of your ad campaigns. – Revenue earned for every dollar spent on advertising
- Lead Quality ScoreA measure of how likely a lead is to become a paying customer, based on their behavior, attributes, or source. – How likely a lead is to convert based on their behavior
- Form Completion Rate – Percentage of people who submit a form after viewing it
Why KPIs Matter
Imagine running ads, sending newsletters, or optimizing your site design—without knowing if any of it works.
KPIs help you:
- Cut through noise – Focus only on metrics that drive results
- Measure real impact – See if your efforts are actually working
- Make data-driven decisions – Know what to improve and where to invest more
- Set benchmarks – Track growth over time
KPI ≠ Metric: Know the Difference
A metric is just a number. A KPI is a number tied to a goal.
Example:
- Metric: Pageviews = 12,345
- KPI: Form Submissions = 234 (tied to your lead generation goal)
Vanity metrics may look exciting but often don’t reflect actual business success. KPIs keep you grounded.
How Conversion Bridge Helps You Track KPIs
This is where Conversion Bridge makes your life easier—especially if you're tired of wrestling with custom code snippets or confusing tag manager setups.
Conversion Bridge:
- Automatically tracks key KPIs out of the box (conversions, form submissions, purchases, CTA clicks)
- Connects with 17 analytics platforms (Google Analytics 4, Plausible, Fathom, Pirsch, PostHog, etc.)
- Sends conversion events to your analytics platform with proper labels and values
- Integrates with over 58 plugins like Elementor, WooCommerce, WS Form, Divi, and more
- Eliminates duplicate tracking, so your KPIs stay accurate and reliable
For example:
- Want to track how many users submit your contact form? Just enable the integration—no custom events needed.
- Need to monitor add-to-cart or checkout starts? That’s tracked automatically for WooCommerce and similar platforms.
- Want to know which buttons lead to the most conversions? You can track every CTA click on Divi or Elementor in seconds.
Whether you're reporting to a client, building a case study, or optimizing your own store, Conversion Bridge helps you turn your analytics into KPI dashboards without the headache.
Frequently Asked Questions
Goals are often individual events you define (like form submissions or purchases). KPIs are broader—they help you measure success toward your business objectives using those tracked events.
Not necessarily. Conversion Bridge supports many alternative analytics platforms which can help track KPIs.
Start by thinking about what you want your visitors to do—buy something, contact you, sign up, etc. Those are your goals. Your KPIs are the metrics that show if those goals are being met.
Tracking KPIs isn’t just for big teams with a data department. If you run a WordPress site, run ads, or do any kind of digital marketing, you need to know what’s working—and KPIs are the fastest way to find out.
Conversion Bridge turns complex tracking into a single-click setup, so you can spend more time growing your business and less time decoding documentation. Whether you're an agency or a solo entrepreneur, tracking your KPIs just got a whole lot easier.