In a previous post, we talked about how-to measure completion success on video creator platforms such as Instagram, TikTok and Youtube, and the importance of knowing if our content is being used successfully. In this post, we spice things up and turn our attention to WordPress which has a plethora of tools and plugins that can help us determine if people have completed our how-tos.
So let’s dive in!
Ask Your Readers: While the video platforms are restrictive in how you can talk to ask your audience, WordPress is very customizable. You can encourage your readers to leave feedback in the comments section and by allowing image uploads, they can attach pictures of their finished creations.
Use Poll Plugins: Create a poll using a plugin and ask your readers if they completed your how-to. Some tools will let you ask more than one question so if that’s the case, ask your audience if they found it helpful and if they have any suggestions for improvement. And for the people who didn’t complete, ask why not?
Create A Feedback Form: Feedback forms can be more detailed than polls, allowing you to ask more in-depth questions about your how-to content. Quiz Plugins and Survey Plugins let you create interactive content with plenty of options to choose from, including multiple choice, true and false, fill in the blank, and more. Take advantage of this and ask questions about more than just completion success. Was the how-to too complicated? Too hard? Did the description match the actual how-to?
Add A Rating Plugin: Rating Plugins are a great way to get a quick snapshot of your audience’s overall satisfaction with your how-tos. Some plugins even allow you to add Feedback widgets so users can provide anonymous feedback about their ratings.
Use A Heatmap Plugin: This function uses data visualization to show which parts of your how-to content are getting the most attention from your readers. Where are people clicking? How are they moving the mouse? Are they scrolling down to read the whole how-to? These signals of engagement can help us determine if they have followed the how-to or not.
Use Google Analytics: Tracking metrics with Google Analytics can help you better understand your audience and improve your how-to content. Consider monitoring the following metrics to paint a picture of the completion success of a how-to:
- Time On Page: The average amount of time that visitors spend on a page before moving on to the next one. Google Analytics provides more specific data compared to other platforms.
- Unique Pageviews: How many individuals have visited your how-to page. This won’t give us the amount that has completed the how-to but will tell us the reach of our post.
- Search Queries: Queries that sent visitors to your website from search engine results. Visitors with queries related to your how-to indicate that they landed on your website with the intention of following it.
- Landing Pages: Which pages are visitors entering when they visit your website? Entrances on your how-to page suggest that people are visiting to follow it.
Send A Survey Via Email: Sending surveys directly to your email subscribers can be a great way to gather feedback from a targeted audience. You can use marketing tools like Mailchimp or Typeform to create and send surveys to your subscribers. Ask if they completed the how-to and other feedback you may want.
Monitor Social Media: Motivate your readers to share their completed work with you through social media channels such as Instagram or Twitter. This way, you can see how people are engaging with your content and respond to their feedback and questions. By using Social Media Monitoring Tools you can track mentions and engagement across multiple platforms.
Conclusion
Measuring completion success is key to understanding how effective your content is, and this applies to all platforms including WordPress. By utilizing tools like the ones we’ve mentioned above, you can gather valuable insights into whether your readers are completing your how-tos or not. This will allow you to continue to improve your how-to content and ensure that it meets the needs and expectations of your reader.
