Optimizing Your Online Investment
Ensuring your online investment is critical to any business.
Beyond analyzing online data such as visitors, hits and traffic,
examine how your business objectives are being met. Have your
sales increased? Are your new products and/or services being
viewed, used, or purchased?
In today's competitive marketplace, securing online market share
and mindshare are paramount to any business. Online market share
is becoming increasingly important, with more and more consumers
using the Internet. In January, 747 million people worldwide --
ages 15 and over -- used the Internet, a 10 percent increase
from January 2006, according to comScore Networks.
With the rising importance of an online presence, businesses are
spending increasing amounts of marketing dollars to build unique
Web sites that attract consumers, and are designating
advertising dollars to draw visitors to those Web sites.
However, the questions still remain: Are consumers doing what
those businesses want them to do once they get to those Web
sites? Are businesses creating Web sites that engage visitors
and convert them into actual customers? The industry standard
for click-throughs is a 4 percent conversion, and marketers have
accepted that low percentage.
Lackluster Results
It's a common Web site marketing challenge: sufficient visitors
with lackluster results. Controlling the consumer's online
experience and influencing their online actions is the
here-and-now challenge for corporate marketing executives.
However, nowadays, how to do that, is for many companies, a
plus-or-minus "billion-dollar" question.
Although online optimization can be complicated, finding the
right strategy can be as simple as taking a realistic look at
your online business objectives, determining methods on how to
meet those objectives and then tracking the results.
Define Your Objectives
A primary challenge with corporate Web sites is the attempt to
make them "do everything." However, a Web site simply can't. In
order to optimize a Web site's usefulness, a business must ask
itself: What are our online business objectives, why do we have
a Web site and what do we want it to accomplish? Gone are the
days of a static Web site for corporate appearance only.
Companies can and must view their Web site as the ultimate sales
tool whether it is to promote a product or service, sell a
product or service, or solidify a consumer's choice.
In order to develop an effective Web site and increase ROI ,
businesses need to think of the end result of their Web site.
What action do you want the visitor to perform after visiting
your Web site? Do you want visitors to: purchase a product or
service; learn about a particular product or service; sign up
for a service or information; view a particular page; contact
the business; find an answer to a question; or solve a problem?
Here are some suggestions:
• Build a site that encourages a consumer's response.
You've built a dynamic site, now make it work for you. Build in
strategies that lead a consumer to act -- whether it be
purchasing a product or service or signing up for a newsletter.
• Highlight products or services you want consumers to see.
Every company has a flagship product or service. Make sure your
Web site features that product or service so it's clear to the
consumer. If you have a new product or service or even an
element of that you want to feature, make sure it's easily seen
by a visitor to your site. Demonstrations on how a product or
service would work could help optimize sales and consumer
action.
• Enable online strategies that eases the consumer's
experience. Complicated sites don't have to be complicated
to navigate for the consumer. Enable online strategies that help
consumers navigate through your site, your product or service. A
consumer is more likely to remain on your site and act if it's
simple for them to do.
Choose Your Methods
Once your objectives are clearly defined, you can begin to
build, update or enhance your Web site. Choosing the right
solution to develop your Web site to meet your goals is as
important as the Web site itself. Web 2.0 strategies are the
most common.
"Web 2.0 continues to play an increasingly important role in
online business today as consumers look for a new and more
engaging online experience and increased flexibility in how they
interact with businesses online," Webtrends states. Strategies
might include readily available off-the-shelf solutions, or
possibly a state-of-the-art customized solution designed by a
third-party consultant.
When choosing your methods consider this:
• What is your budget? Determine your budget before
researching external resources. This will save time and money to
find the right solution.
• What is the most important aspect to my Web site? After
determining your budget, determine what aspects are most
important to your Web site. Do you want the Web site to pay for
itself in online sales or save time and money by reducing
technical calls?
• What methods are available that fit my budget and business
objectives? Research and determine available methods that
will meet your business objectives and budget. There are many
resources that will enhance a Web site's effectiveness beyond
click-throughs.
• Are the methods proven? Ensure that your company is
engaging proven methods and working with reputable agencies and
firms that have client case studies that are similar to your
business needs.
Track Your Investment
Ensuring your online investment is critical to any business.
Beyond analyzing online data such as visitors, hits and traffic,
examine how your business objectives are being met. Have your
sales increased? Are your new products and/or services being
viewed, used or purchased? Once you've optimized your site to
meet your business objectives, monitor, analyze and evaluate it
to ensure that those objectives are being met.
Optimizing your online investment doesn't have to be expensive
or overwhelming. With the right planning and the right
solutions, your site can begin to work for you in ways
unimaginable. All it takes is a little planning and foresight.
By Saul Ives
E-Commerce Times
06/13/07 4:00 AM PT
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