Analytics metrics, defined and explained
Most measurement arguments are definition arguments. Two people say "active users" and mean different things, so the numbers never reconcile. These pages fix the definition first, then the formula, then the decision the metric is supposed to drive.
16 guides in 4 parts
Part 01
Metrics versus analytics
The distinction that decides how you structure everything else.
- 01Metrics vs Analytics: What Is the Difference?
A metric is a number with a fixed definition. Analysis asks what is behind it and recounts it a different way. Why the usual "what versus why" split misses this.
- 02How to Pick the Right KPIs: Start with Your Business, Not Your Dashboard
A process for choosing KPIs that change decisions: start from the outcome, pick one metric per stage, drop the ones nobody acts on.
- 03The North Star Metric: Finding the One Number That Defines Your Growth
A North Star metric is the one number that captures the value customers get.
- 04The Danger of Vanity Metrics: Why Pageviews and Visitors Do Not Matter
Vanity metrics look impressive and change no decision: pageviews, followers, raw signups.
Part 02
Usage and engagement
Who is active, how often, and whether that is going up.
- 01What Is MAU? Monthly Active Users Defined and Calculated
MAU counts unique users who take a qualifying action in a 30-day window.
- 02Product Adoption Dashboard: The Metrics That Show Whether Users Actually Get Value
The product adoption metrics worth a dashboard beyond DAU/MAU: activation, feature discovery, time-to-value, habit formation and expansion readiness.
- 03Product-Led Growth Metrics: What to Track When Your Product Is Your Sales Team
The metrics that matter for a product-led company: activation, expansion triggers, viral coefficient and self-serve revenue, with the formula behind each.
- 04Activation Rate Optimization: Getting New Users to Their Aha Moment
Activation rate is the share of new users who reach the aha moment. How to define the activation event, calculate the rate, and improve onboarding to lift it.
Part 03
Retention and churn
Who comes back, who leaves, and how early you can tell.
- 01What Is Customer Churn? Definition, Calculation, and Prevention Strategies
Customer churn is the share of customers who stop paying in a period.
- 02Net Revenue Retention: The Most Important SaaS Metric Investors Look At
Net revenue retention measures expansion minus churn on an existing cohort.
- 03Cohort Analysis: How to Track User Groups Over Time and Why It Matters
How to group users by time period or behaviour and follow their engagement over weeks and months: reading the curve, choosing the cohort, avoiding the traps.
- 04SaaS Churn: How to Diagnose, Measure, and Fix Your Retention Problem
SaaS churn analytics from rate to root cause: how to calculate churn, read cohorts, spot leading indicators, and the retention fixes with measured effect.
Part 04
Growth and lifecycle
The metrics that describe a business rather than a page.
- 01Growth Metrics: What to Track, Formulas, and Benchmarks
Growth metrics fall into five groups: revenue, acquisition, activation, retention, efficiency.
- 02Customer Life Cycle Stages: The 6 Stages Explained
The six customer life cycle stages, from awareness to referral, with the metric that proves each one is working and where teams usually lose people.
- 03Cost Per Acquisition for SaaS: Why You Need Customer Analytics to Get It Right
How to calculate the true cost of acquiring a SaaS customer, by channel, and how it should compare with what that customer is worth.
- 04Marketing ROI: How to Measure What Matters and Prove Your Impact
Marketing ROI is revenue attributed to marketing minus its cost, over the cost.
Definitions used in this guide
Power Users, Engagement Score, Purchase Frequency, Retention Analysis, Real-Time Analytics.