The Trap of Measuring Everything
Most people drown in metrics.
They track page views, email open rates, social media followers, impressions, engagement rates, click-through rates, bounce rates, time on site, and dozens of other numbers.
And then they feel overwhelmed, confused, or discouraged because the numbers don't tell them what to do next.
Here's the truth: not everything that moves matters.
Most metrics are noise. They look like progress, but they don't tell you if your business is actually working.
This lesson exists to help you ignore the noise and focus on the three things that actually matter.
What Most Metrics Actually Tell You
Let's be honest about what common metrics mean:
Followers: How many people clicked follow. Not how many care.
Likes: How many people scrolled past and tapped. Not how many bought.
Page views: How many people visited. Not how many stayed or took action.
Email open rates: How many subject lines worked. Not how many people read or acted.
Engagement rate: How many people interacted. Not how many converted.
These metrics aren't useless. But they're secondary.
They measure visibility and attention. Not clarity or conversion.
And visibility without conversion is just noise.
Read: Why Vanity Metrics Feel Good But Don't Build Businesses
The Things That Actually Matter
If you narrow your focus to three things, everything gets clearer.
Here's what to measure:
1. Message Clarity
Can someone land on your page and know immediately:
What this is for
Who it's for
What they get
If they have to read three paragraphs to figure it out, your message isn't clear.
How to measure this:
Ask five people to look at your landing page for 10 seconds, then tell you what it's about
Track how often people ask "what exactly do you do?"
Notice if you're constantly re-explaining your offer
If message clarity is weak, nothing else works. People don't buy what they don't understand.
Read: How to Test Message Clarity in Under 10 Minutes
2. Conversion Consistency
Are people who see your offer actually buying?
Not everyone. But some.
How to measure this:
Track how many people visit your sales page vs. how many buy
Notice if you're getting the same question repeatedly (that's a conversion blocker)
Count how many people you talk to vs. how many become paying customers
You don't need a high conversion rate at the start. You need consistency.
If you're converting 1 in 10 people who visit your page, that's a pattern. You can work with that.
If you're converting 0 in 50, something is broken.
Read: What Conversion Consistency Looks Like (And How to Track It Simply)
If Those Three Are Solid, the Business Is Working
You don't need to track 20 different metrics.
If your message is clear, your conversions are consistent, and your output is steady, the business is working.
Everything else is refinement.
Clear message means people understand what you offer.
Consistent conversions mean people are buying.
Steady output means you're not disappearing.
That's the foundation.
Once those three are solid, you can add complexity. But not before.
Read: The Three-Metric Business Health Check
What to Ignore (At Least for Now)
Here's what you can safely ignore when you're starting:
Follower count.
You don't need 10,000 followers. You need 10 people who buy.
Open rates.
If people are buying after reading your emails, open rates don't matter.
Engagement rate.
Likes don't pay bills. Sales do.
Traffic volume.
100 visitors who convert at 5% is better than 10,000 visitors who convert at 0%.
Fancy analytics dashboards.
Most data won't change what you do next.
Focus on clarity, conversion, and consistency. Ignore everything else until those are working.
Read: The Metrics You Can Safely Ignore (And Why)
How to Track Without Overthinking
You don't need complicated tools.
Here's how to track what matters:
Message clarity:
Write down your one-sentence explanation. Test it on real people. Adjust based on their confusion.
Conversion consistency:
Keep a simple spreadsheet. Track: page visits, purchases, conversion rate. Update it weekly.
Steady output:
Mark a calendar. Did you post? Did you email? Did you ship? Check the boxes.
That's it. Three simple systems. No dashboards. No integrations. No overwhelm.
Read: How to Track What Matters Without Building a Dashboard
When to Add More Metrics
Once message clarity, conversion consistency, and steady output are working, you can layer in more detail.
At that point, you might care about:
Which traffic sources convert best
Which email subject lines get more opens
Which content topics get the most engagement
But these only matter after the foundation is solid.
Adding metrics before you have clarity, conversions, and consistency just creates distraction.
Read: When to Add Advanced Metrics (And What to Track Next)
Bottom Line
Not everything that moves matters.
Most metrics are noise. They measure visibility, not results.
Focus on three things:
Message clarity: Do people understand what you offer?
Conversion consistency: Are people buying?
Steady output: Are you showing up regularly?
If those three are solid, the business is working.
Everything else is refinement.
Stop tracking 20 things. Track three. Ignore the rest.
Read: The Simple Metrics That Actually Predict Success