Web Impakt

When you decide its time to redo your website or create a website for the first time, there are many things to consider. For first timers, it’s great to do start with a little research. Find some examples of websites you think are great, and even some you think aren’t successful at all.

For second (or third, or fourth…) timers, a good thing to think about is what you like about your current website, what you think is successful, but more importantly what you could improve upon.

And whether you’re creating a site for the first time, or whether you’re revamping your current site, everyone needs to decide what the point of having a website is. Why spend your time, energy, and money on a website? Deciding what you want to get out of your website will help you know how to create it. By setting goals for yourself and success metrics for your site, you give yourself, or your web designers and developers a great place to start.

Some examples of success metrics might be:

• If you’re thinking “I want to see more people in our stores”, make sure your site has a clear way to show users your locations. One trend is to incorporate an interactive map that can generate driving directions.
  You could also consider offering deals to entice customers to go to the stores “If you stop by our store during the month of March, you can take advantage of our buy one get one free sale!”
  • A good way to measure this goal would be to keep an eye on how many people looked up locations on your website, and compare it and the traffic in your stores to how many people, on average, were visiting your stores before.
• If you’re thinking “I want to improve online sales”, then you need to make sure the shopping experience is as easy as possible for the customer. E-commerce can be tricky and very complicated, but one thing is for sure, if your users don’t understand the buying process on your site, they won’t be buying.
  • You can measure this goal by keeping an eye on user behavior. Are they buying more? If they aren’t, where are they exiting the site? If they exit the site on the checkout page, you know it’s your sales. If they exit on the products page, you know they’re not interested. These behaviors will help you determine what else your site, or products, might need. Another way to measure this goal is by sales numbers. Compare sales from your old E-Commerce system to your new. If there was room for improvement, you will definitely see the difference between the two.
• Or maybe you’re thinking “I’m a new company. I want to make sure people know who we are and what we are about”, then you have a lot of options. It’s best to start with a strong website that reflects your company exactly the way you want to be portrayed. Make sure your design is strong and consistent and that the company values and vision are cohesive and expressed effectively.
  You could also consider having more than a website. Other options for spreading awareness include Search Engine Optimization, Pay Per Click Advertising, Banner Advertisements, and Page Sponsorships. All of these options will get your name, and in some cases your brand identity out there, boosting awareness and will also generate traffic to your site.
  • Measuring this goal is as easy as keeping an eye on the traffic to your site and if you decide to do separate campaigns as well, keeping an eye on Ad Impressions and Click Through Rates.

As simple as it sounds, it’s true. Setting success metrics for your online projects will help you succeed!

Tags: Online Advertising, SEO, Success Metrics, Website Design

This entry was posted on Friday, January 16th, 2009 at 8:53 am and is filed under Design, Marketing, SEO, Web Site. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.