Adventures in Business and CRM

Have you ever wondered what the big deal is with all of these web metrics and analytic companies trying to sell you on their service? If you read publications like Internet Retailer, or Business to Business, then you’ve seen the ads from web metrics companies such as Coremetics, Omnniture, and others. These ads are generally quite powerful, and they usually address the fact that the information that is derived from these types of tools will help your business tremendously. I can tell you from my own experience in managing online businesses that these ads don’t lie. The information from these tools is literally priceless!

Here are:

The 5 Ways Your Website Tells you How You Can Improve Your Business

1. High Bounce Rates- What it means: People are likely not understanding what your site is about, or you’re not conveying your message in an easy to understand manner. Perhaps your web design is misleading, or your copy is not placed correctly. By testing (even split a/b testing with different front page layouts) you can gauge what keeps you users on the site, what what elicits their exit.
2. The Search Terms They Use to Find You: If you look at what people type info the search engines to find your site, is it relevant to what you sell? If not, you may want to re-think your Search Engine Optimization Strategy – or develop one if you don’t have one.
3. The Quality of Leads you are Gaining: If you sell something on your website, take a look at past leads. Have they converted into sales? If so, what percentage of your leads convert into sales? Surprisingly, averages generally rest in less than 10%. However, by making changes to your design, copy, and user experience, you can experiment with what works to convert leads into sales.
4. Customer Interaction: Does your website generate a lot of questions rather than sales? Are people confused as to your services or offerings? Take a look at what people are asking you, and be sure to be flexible when updating your website to reflect the customers needs. Check the pages that people go to for answers. Are they going to the FAQ section, or the “About Us” section to find the answer to that specific question?
5. Page Surfing Depth: How many pages did the average person look at on your website before they decided to leave? What were the top pages of content on your site? This information is priceless when updating your website to be used as a sales tool. If people aren’t really look at the pages of your site, it may be telling you that your site navigation is a bit confusing or mis-placed. If you’ve got a flash based site, be sure to integrate analytics into your code. Your site could be telling you that people are only concerned with one page of your site before they sign up or buy. Take this information very seriously and you’ll find that the customers literally ask for  the content they want to see by the pages on your site that they browse though.

In what ways has your website told you how to improve?

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