Alex Stonehill of the Seattle Globalist writes “An analytics account just isn’t enough to measure success, especially for those of us in the nonprofit ecosystem who are answering to foundations, subscribers and individual donors rather than advertisers.”  Noting that analytics data is crowded with global search traffic that may not have meaningful connections with local communities, the co-founder and editor of the daily online publication suggests five success indicators that are off the analytics grid:

1. Driving coverage through publications: The Globalist uses a simple Google form to take note when one of its stories directly influences coverage elsewhere or when one of its contributors becomes a source or writer at a renowned publication.

2. Offline reputation: As important as site traffic numbers. Though not scientific, Stonehill writes, “...if  people are talking about your content, coming to your events, and thinking positive things about you and your writers, you’re winning!”

3. Audience engagement: Keep comment threads as open as possible.  Noting that many publications have hidden or closed comment threads because of awful sentiments, Stonehill says that the Globalist often find that when commenters get angry, the topic is likely to be important and can lead to a valuable conversation, which nevertheless may need monitoring.

4.  Opening conversations but never closing them: “Audiences are looking for space to talk and think about things they care about,” Stonehill says, rather than to being told the right way to be or to think.

5. Converting readers into writers: When commenters may have a particularly insightful perspective, invite them to tell you more in a post on your news site.  “Breaking down the barriers between readers and writers (and encouraging all of them to become supporters) is all part of building a real community around a publication.”