What to Track After You Launch a New Website

You just launched a new website. Congratulations!

Now what?

Most business owners launch a site and move on. But if you're not tracking the right metrics, you have no idea if your website is helping or hurting your business.

Here's exactly what to measure—and why it matters.

Why Tracking Matters

A website without tracking is like a storefront with no cash register. You don't know:

• How many people visit
• Where they come from
• What they do on your site
• Whether they call, book, or leave

Without data, you can't improve.

The 3 Categories of Metrics

1. Traffic Metrics (Are People Finding You?)

2. Engagement Metrics (Are They Interested?)

3. Conversion Metrics (Are They Taking Action?)

Traffic Metrics

Total Visitors (Sessions)

What it is: The number of people visiting your site.

What's good:

• New site (month 1): 50-100 visitors
• New site (month 3): 200-500 visitors
• Established business: 500-2,000+ visitors/month

Traffic Sources

Categories:

• Organic search (Google, Bing)
• Direct (typed your URL)
• Referral (other websites)
• Social (Facebook, Instagram)
• Paid (Google Ads)

What's good:

• Organic search: 40-60%
• Direct: 20-30%
• Referral: 5-10%
• Social: 5-15%

Engagement Metrics

Bounce Rate

What it is: Percentage of visitors who leave after viewing one page.

What's good:

• 40-60%: Normal
• 60-80%: Could be better
• 80%+: Problem

Average Session Duration

What's good:

• 1-2 minutes: Normal
• 2-3 minutes: Good
• 3+ minutes: Excellent

Conversion Metrics

Phone Calls

What it is: Number of people who call you from your website.

What's good:

• Service businesses: 2-5% of visitors should call
• High-ticket services: 1-3%
• Emergency services: 5-10%

Form Submissions

What's good:

• 1-3% of visitors should submit a form

Google Business Profile Actions

What to watch:

• Search views: How often your profile appears
• Website clicks: People clicking to your site
• Call clicks: People calling from GBP
• Direction requests: People getting directions

Tools You Need

Essential (Free)

1. Google Analytics 4 - Traffic, engagement, conversions
2. Google Search Console - Search performance
3. Google Business Profile Insights - Local visibility

What to Check Weekly

• Traffic trends (up or down?)
• New leads (calls + forms)
• Google Business Profile insights
• Any technical errors

What to Check Monthly

• Traffic sources
• Top landing pages
• Conversion rate
• Bounce rate
• Page speed

When to Worry

Red Flags:

❌ Traffic dropped 50%+ suddenly ❌ Zero conversions after 30 days ❌ Bounce rate over 90% ❌ Load time over 5 seconds ❌ No mobile traffic

If you see any of these, investigate immediately.

Need Help?

Tracking and optimizing a website is ongoing work. Get a free visibility check to see what's working and what needs fixing.

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About the author: Edgar Romero is the founder of Desert Nomad Media, helping Coachella Valley businesses build websites that drive calls and bookings.