ARR, MRR, fundraising, organic traffic... ? In my opinion, here are the three key indicators to monitor to assess the performance of a good web agency.
"Long story short"
The three most important KPIs:
- SEO positioning on strategic keywords
- Client reviews
- ARR and MRR
A well-positioned website on search engines, with social proof (client reviews, partner companies, certifications, etc...) ensures recurring customer acquisition. These two indicators are therefore essential for measuring the performance of a web agency in the short, medium, and long term. The third and final indicator, ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue) or MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue), is a metric to monitor in the ongoing challenge of scaling the services offered by agencies and their ability to retain clients.
"Long story long"
1 - Keyword Positioning (SEO)
There are two main strategies that companies use to find new clients: outbound marketing and inbound marketing. At Digidop, we have tried both approaches, and the one that works best for us is definitely inbound.
Inbound vs Outbound: The Difference
Outbound involves going after clients. This is known as "prospecting." A classic example of outbound is door-to-door salespeople. These individuals go directly to potential clients' doors and talk to them about their products until a sale is made. Here are examples of outbound actions:
- Cold calling
- Mailing
- Trade shows
- Etc...
This method is quite invasive and typically disrupts your prospect's daily routine.
Inbound, on the other hand, focuses on attracting clients in a non-invasive manner. Inbound marketing is generally achieved through content creation and sharing information online. Examples of actions that can be effective for inbound marketing include:
- Blog articles
- Search engine positioning
- Podcasts, YouTube videos, webinars
- Etc...
Why Invest in Inbound?
An inbound marketing lead is much easier to convert because they already know you. They have read your content, watched your videos, and/or listened to your podcasts. Generally, it's the client who seeks your help, which changes everything.
For a web agency, we consider organic search traffic as the best source of incoming traffic acquisition. Therefore, our website's position on our strategic keywords is the most important KPI to track for ensuring the acquisition of our current and future clients.
Bonus: As a web agency with SEO expertise, what's a better selling point than the classic:
"- How did you find us?
- You were the first on Google."
💡 SEO Checklist Before Launching Your Webflow Project
2 - Client Reviews (Qualitative Indicators)
Client reviews are an important performance indicator that can have both internal and external effects.
- Internally: measures client satisfaction, highlights strengths and areas for improvement
- Externally: reassures prospects, client reviews improve conversion rates by 30%
Learn more about the impact of client reviews on a website.
Bonus: Partner Companies
Backlinks, social proof, reassurance, etc... There are many reasons to forge strategic partnerships with companies in your field. For instance, when it comes to your conversion rate, being able to showcase certification badges or strategic partnerships with excellent companies helps enhance your credibility with new visitors.
This is an additional indicator to monitor.
3 - ARR, MRR? The Recurrence Indicators
ARR stands for Annual Recurring Revenue. It is a key metric used by SaaS or subscription-based companies that have fixed-term contracts, meaning there is a contractual obligation to continue using the product.
MRR stands for Monthly Recurring Revenue. Monthly recurring revenue is a term used to define a company's ongoing income. It allows a company to gain visibility on the recurring income it receives. It excludes temporary clients as well as variable and one-time invoices.
We enjoy sharing our experience. However, our agency is still young, so if you’re seeking an experienced perspective on ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue) or MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue), we apologize in advance. We are just starting to set up subscription services to ensure recurring income. For now, we’d rather wait a year before telling you how to properly analyze the recurring revenues of a web agency!
P.S.: And also to share with you the recurring services that work best for "scaling" a web agency!
Conclusion on the KPIs of a Web Agency
Key Performance Indicators, or KPIs, allow you to track the performance of an agency. In our opinion, the three most important KPIs are (1) the SEO positioning of strategic keywords on search engines like Google, (2) the client reviews of the agency, and (3) its recurring revenues or retention rate.
Bonus: an increasingly important key performance indicator is the level of engagement of individuals in your community (such as the number of followers you have on social media or on YouTube, for example).
Highlighting your agency's KPIs through a Webflow animated number counter
