Co-Founder of GTMDialogues & CEO of Inbound Marketing Practice.
A SaaS founder I worked with was pumping thousands of dollars into content marketing. Blog posts, SEO, LinkedIn articles, email newsletters—you name it. Traffic was growing, but sales? Flat.
His frustration was obvious. "We’re putting out content every week, but it’s not translating into revenue. What are we doing wrong?"
This is where many SaaS founders go wrong with content marketing. They track vanity metrics—page views, social shares, keyword rankings—but fail to measure what actually drives pipeline growth and revenue.
Here’s the reality: Content marketing isn’t just about getting people to your website—it’s about turning them into paying customers.
In fact, a report by Content Marketing Institute found that only 33% of marketers feel they can accurately measure content marketing ROI. Yet, SaaS companies that track the right content metrics see a higher conversion rate, shorter sales cycles, and stronger brand authority.
So, how do you avoid this mistake and ensure your content drives real business results? This guide will break down the critical content marketing metrics every SaaS startup must track, helping you optimize your efforts for growth, retention, and revenue.
20 Content Marketing Metrics You Should Know
A SaaS startup’s website isn’t just a digital storefront—it’s the central hub of your content marketing strategy. Every blog post, landing page, and case study is a stepping stone in your customer’s journey. But if you’re not measuring how visitors interact with your content, you’re flying blind.
Tracking website performance metrics isn’t just about how much traffic you get—it’s about who’s coming, what they do once they arrive, and whether they stick around long enough to take action.
Here are the key website metrics every SaaS founder should track—and what they reveal about your content strategy:-
Now, let’s discuss each of these metrics in detail:-
Website traffic is the lifeblood of content marketing, but raw traffic numbers mean nothing without context. The key is understanding where traffic comes from, who’s visiting, and whether they match your ideal customer profile.
More traffic doesn’t always mean more conversions. A blog post with 20,000 visits but no sign-ups signals a mismatch between audience and intent. Steady growth in the right traffic sources (organic search, referrals, direct visits) is what truly matters for SaaS startups.
If your traffic is growing but your conversions aren’t, you may be:
Benchmark: Early-stage SaaS startups should aim for 10K- 50K monthly visitors but prioritize relevance over volume.
Page views tell you which pieces of content (web pages) are driving the most interest and where users spend their time.
High page views on a particular blog or resource indicate a strong demand for that topic. For SaaS startups, this helps fine-tune content strategy, product positioning, and lead magnet opportunities.
A blog post with 10x the views of others might indicate:
Benchmark: 1.5-3.5 pages per session indicates strong engagement for SaaS content. If page views are high but bounce rates are high, your content might not be leading visitors deeper into your site.
Unique visitors measure how many distinct individuals land on your site - separating total traffic from repeat engagement.
Growth in unique visitors shows expanding brand awareness and new audience reach. However, a low percentage of returning visitors suggests your content isn’t engaging enough to bring people back.
If you have 5,000 unique visitors but a 50% bounce rate, your landing pages need better messaging, user experience, or audience targeting. Compare unique visitors vs. total sessions to measure audience retention.
Benchmark: 5K-20K unique visitors per month is a strong foundation for early-stage SaaS startups, but success depends on engagement, not just volume.
Time on page measures how long users interact with your content—a strong indicator of value and relevance.
Longer time on a page signals that readers are engaged. For SaaS companies, this matters most for educational content, case studies, and thought leadership articles.
If users spend only 30 seconds on a detailed guide, it may indicate:
Benchmark: SaaS content typically sees 2-5 minutes per page. Product-related pages should aim for higher engagement times.
Bounce rate measures the percentage of visitors who leave after viewing only one page. It’s a key indicator of whether your content meets expectations.
High bounce rates on key pages (pricing, case studies, product pages) may signal confusing messaging, lack of compelling CTAs, or slow page load times.
A blog post with an 80% bounce rate might mean:
Benchmark: For SaaS blogs, a 40-60% bounce rate is healthy. Product pages should aim for below 40%.
Organic search traffic tracks how many visitors land on your site from non-paid search results—aka people who found you on Google (or other search engines and AI tools).
Organic traffic is one of the most cost-effective, predictable, and scalable sources of SaaS growth. Unlike paid channels, it continues to deliver results without ongoing spending and often brings in visitors who are already searching for solutions like yours.
If organic traffic only makes up 10% of your total visits, you might need to:
Benchmark: For SaaS blogs, organic search should drive at least 30-60% of total website traffic over time.
Keyword rankings measure where your content appears in search engine results pages (SERPs) for specific terms. Higher rankings mean more visibility, more clicks, and more inbound traffic.
Ranking in positions 1-3 on Google captures over 50% of total clicks. For SaaS, ranking well for product-related and pain-point keywords (e.g., “best CRM for startups” or “how to improve churn in SaaS”) can drive high-converting traffic.
If your blog ranks #10 for a valuable keyword, you might need to:
Benchmark: SaaS companies should aim for top 3 rankings on high-intent, product-related keywords to drive conversions.
Clicks show how many users visit your site from search results, making it a more meaningful metric than rankings alone.
A page can rank well but still perform poorly if it doesn’t generate clicks. Click-through rates (CTR) depend on how compelling your title and description are in search results.
If you rank #3 for “SaaS pricing models” but get few clicks, consider:
Benchmark: SaaS content should aim for 3-6% CTR from search results, though this varies by industry and ranking position.
Impressions count how often your pages appear in search results, even if users don’t click.
A high number of impressions with low clicks might mean:
If a blog post gets 50,000 impressions but few clicks, rewrite your title and description to make it more enticing. If impressions are growing, your content gains search visibility, which is a positive sign, even if clicks aren’t immediate.
Benchmark: High-performing SaaS blog posts should generate 50K+ monthly impressions for competitive topics over time.
CTR is the percentage of people who click your result after seeing it in search results.
CTR directly affects how much traffic your rankings generate. Even a small CTR improvement can bring thousands of extra visitors without changing rankings.
If your pricing page ranks #2 but has a 2% CTR, you might need to:
Benchmark: 2-6% CTR is a good target for SaaS search performance, though higher is always better.
Sign-ups measure how many visitors provide their contact information through forms, such as newsletter subscriptions, ebook downloads, webinar registrations, or free trial sign-ups.
SaaS content marketing must drive lead generation. High traffic but low sign-ups mean your content isn’t persuasive enough to convert readers into prospects.
If your blog gets 10,000 monthly visitors but only 50 sign-ups (0.5% conversion rate), you might need to:
Benchmark: A healthy SaaS blog should aim for a 2-5% conversion rate from content visitors to leads.
Conversions measure the number of visitors who take a high-value action, such as starting a free trial, booking a demo, or subscribing to your service.
This is the most important metric—it directly links content marketing to revenue generation. If content drives traffic but not conversions, you’re attracting the wrong audience or failing to build trust.
If your SaaS trial sign-up page gets 5,000 visits but only 100 conversions (2% rate), you may need to:
Benchmark: SaaS content that leads directly to trials or demos should convert at 3-7%.
Event sign-ups track how many users register for and attend your webinars, virtual events, or product demos.
SaaS companies use events to showcase expertise, nurture prospects, and drive product interest. If your webinars have low attendance despite strong sign-ups, you’re losing engagement along the way.
If 500 people register but only 100 attend, you might need to:
Benchmark: Webinars should aim for 40-60% attendance rates of registered participants.
Follower growth tracks how many new people subscribe to your social media profiles over time.
A growing audience expands content reach, but raw follower count means nothing if they’re not engaged. The real value comes from followers who interact with your content and eventually convert.
If your LinkedIn followers grow by 10% monthly but engagement stays low, you might need to:
Benchmark: SaaS companies should aim for 5-10% monthly follower growth while maintaining or improving engagement rates.
Engagement rate measures how actively your audience interacts with your posts—likes, comments, shares, and clicks relative to reach.
High engagement signals that your content resonates, while low engagement means your audience isn’t interested.
If a post gets 50,000 impressions but only 50 likes, you might need to:
Benchmark: SaaS social posts should aim for 1-3% engagement rates, with educational and problem-solving content performing best.
Reach (unique viewers) and impressions (total views) track how far your content spreads.
More reach = more visibility = higher chances of engagement and conversions.
If reach is high but engagement is low, your content might:
Benchmark: For SaaS LinkedIn content, 10K+ impressions per post is a good indicator of strong reach.
Social shares measure how often people share your content with their own networks.
Shares mean your content is valuable enough for people to associate with their personal brand—making it the strongest signal of brand trust.
If your ultimate guide to SaaS pricing gets 1,000 likes but only 10 shares, you might need to:
Benchmark: A high-performing SaaS post should aim for 100+ shares, depending on audience size.
Subscriber growth measures how many people sign up for your email list over time.
Unlike social media followers, email subscribers actively opt-in, making them warmer leads with higher conversion potential. A growing list means your content is valuable enough for people to want more.
If your subscriber count stays flat despite high blog traffic, you might need to:
Benchmark: SaaS companies should aim for 5-10% monthly subscriber growth while keeping unsubscribe rates low.
Open rate tracks the percentage of recipients who open your email.
People who don’t open your emails can’t engage with your content or offers. Low open rates usually mean weak subject lines, poor sender reputation, or email fatigue.
If your open rate is under 20%, you might need to:
Benchmark: SaaS email open rates should be 20-30%, though Apple’s Mail Privacy Protection has affected accuracy.
CTR measures the percentage of recipients who click a link in your email.
A high open rate in your email but a low CTR means your content isn’t compelling enough to drive action. If your email doesn’t get clicks, your content isn’t converting readers into engaged leads.
If your CTR is below 2%, you might need to:
Benchmark: SaaS email CTRs typically range from 2-5%, with higher engagement for personalized or high-value content.
Founders and marketers often waste hours digging through data, trying to make sense of analytics that don’t actually drive decisions. The key is having the right tools, setting up automated tracking, and focusing on actionable insights—not just numbers.
Here’s how to track each major category of metrics efficiently without getting lost in the weeds.
What to track: Website traffic, page views, unique visitors, time on page, bounce rate
Best tools
Pro Tip: Set up custom dashboards in GA4 to monitor:
What to track: Organic search traffic, keyword rankings, impressions, clicks, CTR
Best tools:
Pro Tip: Set up automated reports to track:
What to track: Sign-ups, demo requests, trial conversions, lead-to-customer rate
Best tools:
Pro Tip: Tag all lead forms, CTAs, and sign-up buttons using Google Tag Manager to track which content pieces drive the most conversions.
What to track: Follower growth, engagement rate, post reach, social shares
Best tools:
Pro Tip: Use UTM parameters on shared links to track how much social traffic converts into actual leads or sign-ups.
What to track:
Best tools:
Pro Tip: Run A/B tests on subject lines, send times, and CTA placement to improve open rates and CTRs over time.
Tracking content metrics shouldn’t consume your time—it should guide smart decisions.
Tracking content marketing metrics is not about collecting more data but about making smarter decisions that drive customer acquisition, retention, and revenue.
The mistake many SaaS founders make? They focus too much on vanity metrics (traffic, likes, shares) while ignoring the numbers that impact pipeline growth.
So, what should you prioritize?
1️⃣ Conversions over clicks → A 5% conversion rate on a niche, high-intent post is more valuable than 50,000 views on a generic blog.
2️⃣ Organic search traffic growth → The more high-intent visitors you attract, the lower your customer acquisition cost (CAC).
3️⃣ Lead generation & trial sign-ups → Your content must convert readers into users.
4️⃣ Engagement & retention → High email CTRs, social shares, and returning visitors indicate your content is resonating.
You don’t need dozens of metrics—just the right ones. Set up automated tracking, focus on insights that drive business impact, and refine your strategy based on what works.
What’s next? It’s time to optimize your content based on data, not guesswork. Start by reviewing your best-performing content, doubling down on what works, and fixing what doesn’t.
It depends on your goals. For awareness, track traffic, search impressions, and social shares. For engagement, monitor time on page, bounce rate, and social interactions. For lead generation, focus on sign-ups, conversion rates, and email performance. Balance top-of-funnel reach with bottom-line impact.
Early-stage SaaS startups should aim for 10K–50K monthly visitors, but quality matters more than quantity. Prioritize organic traffic and conversion rates over raw visits—a smaller, high-intent audience beats mass untargeted traffic.
A 3–7% conversion rate from blog visitors to leads (trials, demos) is solid. To improve, optimize CTAs, lead magnets, landing pages, and UX. Test different offers and placements to find what works best.
Write subject lines that spark curiosity without being clickbait. Personalize content, keep emails short and action-driven, and use clear CTAs. A/B test formats, segment lists, and ensure every email delivers value.
Focusing on vanity metrics (page views) without tying them to conversions. Overreacting to short-term fluctuations instead of watching trends. Tracking too many numbers instead of focusing on business-impact metrics. Ignoring qualitative insights that explain the data.
Co-Founder of GTMDialogues & CEO of Inbound Marketing Practice.
