Question

Topic: Research/Metrics

Are There "industry Averages" For B2b Websites?

Posted by bill.hoelzel on 10/4/2010 at 10:21 AM ET 250 Points
We use Google Analytics to track metrics on our B2B website in a high-tech industry. We track pageviews, visits, bounce rates and other such metrics.

But we can't find "industry averages" for B2B websites for key dimensions -- pageviews per visit, time spent on site, bounce rate, search as a source of visits vs. direct as a source of visits, and so on.

We want to tell advertisers that (say) an avg. time spent on our website of 3:30 is better than the industry average for high-tech websites.

Is there a B2B industry source that regulary posts the "industry averages," either for B2B websites overall or (I hope) for high-tech websites?
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by Markitek on 10/4/2010 at 12:28 PM Accepted
    just entering "industry averages for b2b websites" delivers a lot of info . . . never exactly what you're looking for but you can piece together what you need.

    Lots of places sell studies on this.

    You might want to leverage other properties' research--read their media kits: they want to make the same case you do and they may have already done the research.
  • Posted on 10/4/2010 at 9:05 PM Accepted
    The problem with industry averages is that they are ... well, averages. They include results from companies with a wide variety of objectives and very different strategies.

    Some companies, for example, are out to get a lot of clicks. Others are focused on conversions with fewer clicks. Some want higher quality, more expensive clicks. Others want the lowest possible cost per click.

    So then you take an average of all this and think you're getting a decent benchmark ... only you're fooling yourself, because the average is actually representative of no particular company ... and certainly not a valid basis against which to measure your own results.

    So my suggestion is to decide what YOU want and what success looks like for you, and forget what the industry averages are. A start-up company will have very different approaches, strategies and results from an established company, etc. Just pursue your own goals.
  • Posted by bill.hoelzel on 10/8/2010 at 11:29 AM Author
    Thanks for these ideas, but I need a single, authoritative source to quote since that's what my boss is demanding. We want our advertisers to see that our website's stats are better than average. So far, none of the big metric firms -- comscore, net ratings -- has been able to help. My Google search didn't unearth any recent data, but if you see a source there, tell me. I want to award these points -- and keep my job!
  • Posted by koen.h.pauwels on 10/10/2010 at 9:43 AM Accepted
    Nielsen Online says: 56 seconds (data from March 2009):

    https://www.annoyingdesign.org/blog/2009/05/07/average-time-spent-on-site-5...

    https://www.influxinsights.com/blog/article/2262/people-will-give-you-56-se...
  • Posted on 10/12/2010 at 10:13 PM Moderator
    And if your boss were demanding live mermaids or unicorns what would you do? Where would you find them?

    Sounds like your boss is missing the whole idea of effective marketing. WHY should someone in your target audience want to advertise on your site? What's in it for them? Who cares if your stats are better (or worse) than some industry average?

    This sounds a lot like inside-out thinking. Instead of focusing on the customer needs and the benefits you provide, you're hung up on features and internal specs. That's just not good marketing.

    Maybe you need to explain this to your boss, Bill. That's a better way to keep your job than dressing a horse up like a unicorn and passing it off as though it were the real thing.
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