Web Analytics - Make the Switch to Performance-Driven Design
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Free Download - Web Analytics - Make the Switch to Performance-Driven Design By Brian Molstad |
The Old Way
Web design in small, medium, and large companies alike has traditionally been driven by the loudest voice or the highest-paid person’s opinion (HiPPO). The Big Cheese steps into the meeting, and lays down the law, dictating what the next month’s web development priorities will be. Websites can also driven by committee with the end result resembling a camel when the original design called for a horse. While these approaches can keep things moving, it usually does little to ensure that an organization is directly responding to the needs and wants of its customers and enhancing the website with the express purpose of advancing key performance indicators (KPIs). Today, with sophisticated web analytics tools (including inexpensive and even free ones), companies have more access than ever before to the data that reveals customer behavior and very specifically, how the website is performing.
The Better Way
Yet, even with these web analytics tools, information overload is a common experience for companies. Their first foray into the tool, finds them wandering from report to report and thinking, “This is nice, but what do we DO about it?”
The key is to formulate a methodology around that data which is informed by organizational goals and guided by KPIs. With a plan in place, you’ll have a specific agenda as you review, and even customize the reports to give you exactly the numbers you need to gauge performance. This becomes especially important when a company has multiple tools in their internet marketing arsenal such as, blogging platforms, video websites, Twitter account, Facebook account, email marketing tools, RSS feeds, and more. Each of these tools may offer crucial data in relation to a KPI, but if that KPI isn’t specifically in mind when accessing the reporting, insights can easily be missed.
For each key business goal, consider across all your tools which ones can offer insight for a specific KPI. For instance, how many email sign-ups are we getting off of a specific landing page? How many views and/or shares are we seeing for relevant blog posts? What relevant terms are being searched for via our internal search? What is the bounce rate for our key landing pages? Which external marketing campaigns are driving quality (not just high quantity) traffic?
Map business goals, to measurable business activity, to appropriate metrics. Group all related metrics together and track them month to month. Be sure to keep notes on how these metrics are devised, which tools they come from, and what configuration needs to occur to coax out the right figures.
Then, each month, review your web analytics data and KPIs, and use this data to identify the low-hanging fruit. For instance, from your membership page, you notice that there have been a large number of internal searches related to membership renewal. It’s obvious that page doesn’t make it clear how to renew your membership and doesn’t provide clear calls to action. You now have a top-priority task for the month. Review the metrics around each conversion event on your site and continually optimize.
Your web analytics efforts will only be successful if someone owns the process. Someone needs to ensure on a regular basis, that KPIs are reviewed and adjusted according to organizational goals, the data is properly collected and analyzed, and insights are summarized and clearly communicated to stakeholders and implementers.
Effective web analytics requires a fundamental shift in the way companies approach website updates and internet marketing efforts, but the process has a wonderful way of keeping everyone aware of, and focused on, key organizational goals, drastically reducing internal arguments, and increasing conversion rates across the board. That’s something even the HiPPOs can appreciate.
Web Analytics Make the Switch to PerformanceDriven Design - To learn more about this author, visit Brian Molstad's Website.
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Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
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Jeff FosterWebBizIdeas.com is a Minneapolis website design company founded to help people start an internet business by providing them with website, business, and internet resources that help foster the growth of successful online businesses and develop innovative Internet business ideas. We specialize in internet consulting & internet marketing. - Visit Jeff Foster's Website |
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Staging DivaDebra Gould, aka The Staging Diva®, is President of Six Elements Inc., an internationally recognized home staging company. Inspired by many requests from aspiring home stagers wanting to start similar businesses, Gould created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. Gould has trained 4000+ students worldwide to start staging businesses. Buying decorating and selling six of her own homes in four years lead to an interest in real estate staging which she turned into a career with the launch of sixelements.com in 2002. Since then she has staged hundreds of homes in addition to teaching home staging training. Gould is the author of several home staging resources including a series of popular home staging guides made up of a Design Guide, Color Guide, Portfolio Guide and Twitter Guide. For more information about Debra Gould visit stagingdiva.com. - Visit Staging Diva's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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