Metrics & Analytics Glossary

A/B Testing

A/B Testing is a controlled experiment that compares two variants — A (the control) and B (the challenger) — of a web page, email, or individual element to determine which performs better on a specific metric. By randomly splitting traffic between the two versions and measuring outcomes, A/B testing replaces guesswork with statistical evidence.

Bounce Rate

Bounce Rate is the percentage of visitors who land on a page and leave without taking any action or visiting another page on the same site. A high bounce rate is typically a signal of poor relevance, weak messaging, or — critically — insufficient trust: visitors arrived but nothing on the page convinced them to stay.

Click-Through Rate (CTR)

Click-Through Rate (CTR) is the ratio of users who click on a specific link, button, or element to the total number of users who view it, expressed as a percentage. Calculated as (clicks ÷ impressions) × 100, CTR is a direct measure of how compelling and persuasive an element is to the audience that sees it.

Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)

Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) is the total cost of acquiring a new customer, calculated by dividing all marketing, advertising, and sales expenses over a given period by the number of new customers gained in that same period. It is one of the most fundamental unit economics metrics for evaluating the efficiency and scalability of a business.

Engagement Rate

Engagement Rate is a metric measuring the level of interaction and participation that content, a campaign, or a page receives — relative to its reach or impressions. Interactions typically include clicks, likes, shares, comments, saves, and time spent, depending on the channel. A high engagement rate signals that the content is resonating with its audience.

Funnel Analysis

Funnel Analysis is the process of tracking and analyzing how users move through a defined series of steps — from initial awareness or site visit to a final conversion goal — in order to identify where and why they drop off. By visualizing drop-off rates at each stage, teams can prioritize exactly where intervention will have the greatest impact.

Heat Map

A Heat Map is a visual data representation that uses color coding — typically a spectrum from cool blues through warm reds — to show how users interact with a webpage. The 'hottest' areas in red indicate where users click, move their cursor, or spend the most scroll time, while cool areas show where attention drops off.

Return on Investment (ROI)

Return on Investment (ROI) is a performance measure used to evaluate the efficiency or profitability of an investment. Calculated as (net profit ÷ cost of investment) × 100, it expresses return as a percentage of the original outlay, making it possible to compare the value of different investments on a common scale.

Review Velocity

Review Velocity is the rate at which new customer reviews are being generated over a given period of time — typically measured as reviews per week or per month. It is a signal of both business health and review program effectiveness, and it directly influences search engine rankings, review platform trust scores, and visitor perception of a brand's current activity.

Sentiment Analysis

Sentiment Analysis is the use of natural language processing (NLP) to automatically identify and classify the emotional tone of text — such as customer reviews, testimonials, and survey responses — as positive, negative, or neutral. More advanced models detect granular emotions, aspects, or intensity, enabling businesses to understand customer perception at scale without manual reading.

Session Duration

Session Duration is the average amount of time a visitor spends on a website during a single visit, measured from the moment they land on the first page to the moment they leave or the session times out. It serves as a proxy for content engagement and user intent — visitors who spend more time are typically processing information more deeply and considering a purchase more seriously.

Trust Score

A Trust Score is a composite metric or rating that aggregates multiple trust signals — including review volume, average star rating, recency of reviews, response rates, verified badges, and third-party certifications — into a single number or tier that represents the overall perceived trustworthiness of a business to prospective customers.