KPI: definition, examples and best practices
Updated on February 22, 2026
Quick definition
A KPI (Key Performance Indicator) is a key performance indicator that objectively measures progress toward a strategic or operational goal. The KPI provides a quantified, actionable view of a team's, campaign's or product's performance, enabling data-driven decisions.
How it works
A KPI is an analytics metric chosen specifically to reflect progress toward a defined goal. Unlike a simple statistic, a KPI is always tied to a precise, measurable objective. For example, if the goal is to grow online sales by 20%, the main KPI could be the site's conversion rate.
We distinguish two categories of KPIs:
- Primary KPIs: directly measure the main goal (e.g. revenue, MRR)
- Secondary KPIs: measure action levers (e.g. number of qualified leads, email open rate)
To be effective, a KPI should follow the SMART framework: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound. For example: "Reach a 3.5% conversion rate by the end of the quarter" is a SMART KPI.
The highest-performing companies don't track dozens of KPIs — they focus on 3 to 5 critical KPIs per team, which prevents analysis paralysis and forces prioritisation.
Why it matters
KPIs are the backbone of performance management. Without clear indicators, a marketing team navigates blind: it accumulates data without knowing which signals truly point to a problem or opportunity.
KPIs enable teams to:
- Align all stakeholders on the same priorities
- Quickly detect weak signals (a drop in conversion rate, a rise in churn)
- Justify investment decisions to leadership with factual data
How to improve or use it
- 1Define your business goals clearly before choosing your metrics.
- 2Use the OKR method to pair each goal with 2–3 measurable KPIs.
- 3Avoid vanity metrics (e.g. raw visitor count) in favour of actionable metrics.
- 4Revisit your KPIs each quarter to ensure they remain aligned with your strategy.
- 5Centralise everything in a dashboard accessible to the whole team to break data silos.
With Sublim
With Sublim, you can build a custom analytics dashboard that consolidates your key KPIs in one place, with no need to cross multiple tools. Sublim is natively GDPR-compliant, meaning your performance data is collected ethically and without forced consent.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a KPI and a metric?
A metric is any measurable data point (e.g. number of clicks, time on page). A KPI is a metric chosen specifically because it measures progress toward a precise strategic goal. All KPIs are metrics, but not all metrics are KPIs.
How many KPIs should I track?
The general rule is to limit tracking to 3 to 5 main KPIs per team or goal. Beyond that, attention is diluted and it becomes hard to prioritise corrective action. A few well-chosen KPIs are better than dozens of unactionable indicators.
How do I choose the right KPIs for my website?
Start from concrete business goals: generate leads, sell online, retain users. Then identify the web metrics that directly reflect these goals: conversion rate, cost per acquisition, retention rate. Make sure you can collect this data reliably and regularly.
Related terms
A metric is a measurable numerical value that quantifies a performance…
The conversion rate is the percentage of visitors to a site or page wh…
An analytics dashboard is a centralised interface that displays in rea…
OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) are a goal-setting and tracking fram…