A website is more than just a brochure. It is a 24-hour live sales person that is constantly promoting your company and its products and services.
Among many things, your website serves as a tool that helps communicate the value that your business brings to the consumer. Let your website show why visitors should utilize your business and why you are different from your competition.
As you may only get a few minutes of your potential customers’ time, it is imperative that the information that you provide is conveyed easily, effectively and dynamically. Otherwise you risk the possibility of the individual leaving your site before a connection has been made to your business.
Proper analytics incorporated into your website will give you insight into the effectiveness of your website and the decision making behavior of your online visitors.
Here are 4 ways to determine if your website is setting up the sale:
- Bounce rate – The bounce rate is essentially the percentage of initial visitors who “bounce” away to a different site rather than continue on to other pages of the same site. How many people are just passing through your website and not proactively browsing through your pages? The higher your bounce rate, the less effective your website is. Make sure that every page of your website has valuable and pertinent information so that every person that visits your site will be compelled to respond in such a way that you will be able to generate new sales.
- Click Paths – Click path is essentially the sequence of searching and clicking that led a visitor to your site to browse. Click path is considered as an important aspect of website analytics as it provides detail of visitor behavior and helps website marketers to better organize website content and layout. Analyze how people are navigating through your website. Is there a clear flow from the main page to the products or services page? Are they responding to your call to action or are they just bouncing around randomly and then leaving? Without a clear navigation, your website may be too confusing for visitors.
- Return Visits – Return visits and bookmarking are a good indication that you are offering relevant content and visitors consider your site a good resource. Consider starting a blog that can be updated regularly with content relevant to your industry. This provides an added value to your business which would bring people back to your site more consistently.
- Conversion Events – Obviously, online sales are the best indicator in showing whether your website is truly effective. However, if you are a service oriented business, online activity such as subscribing to a blog or newsletter, downloading white papers, requesting a demo or a quote, or simply asking for more information are all evidence that your website is relevant and engaging.
Not only should you have a web presence, but your website should help generate sales, whether directly or indirectly. Consistent monitoring of your website will ensure that it is doing its job.
OneIMS is a Chicago Web Design Company as well as a technology-based marketing service provider. We specialize in integrated marketing solutions such as Search Engine Optimization, Pay-per-click advertisements and email marketing. We employ cross-media marketing solutions that are designed to deliver results. Some of those solutions are Variable Data Printing, Personalized URLs and custom Landing Pages and triggered emails.
