Whether it’s redesigning an existing website, rebranding, adding e-commerce functionality, taking digital marketing strategy to the next level, or building entirely new websites, there must be an analytics or measurement framework. Oftentimes, marketing professionals have analytics and are tracking, but not looking at benchmarks, or goals, for conversions from their campaigns.
Most of us are familiar with Google Anaytics, so lets focus there to start. It is very simple to install yourself and, depending on how it is set-up, you can gain a ton of insights from watching specific data points change, make comparisons from month to month, and year to year. Some of the basic stats you probably are already familiar with include, general visits, page views, bounce rates, average time spent on site, and a breakdown of traffic sources.
A high bounce rate can be a result of by poor messaging or design, among other things. A/B testing can be performed to determine the problem, and can be done regularly to understand what is working or not working for site visitors. Sometimes something as simple as link button colors or the navigation bar layout can make a big difference.
Another important data point is traffic source data. While you’re in the mist of running online marketing campaigns, track the sources that are driving the most traffic. This stat will also be very important to showing the impact of social media on your overall marketing efforts.
With Google Analytics’ conversion tracking, complex and detailed measurement structures can also be put into place – tracking sales or conversions against defined goals. In conjunction with other software, you can get granular and see a user’s path as they navigate through your website, as well as where they go after viewing your website. If you do not yet know the different types of users who visit your site, you can use this information along with survey results to determine distinct user profiles for the people visiting your site. This examination will be very valuable, especially if you think that your website should be generating more conversions.
In an effort to help companies increase conversions, we offer a Heuristic Analysis on existing websites. This analysis is an assessment of the usability of your website and social channels, conducted by one of our User Experience Architects (UXA). The site’s interface is evaluated against a set of heuristics, or “rules of thumb”, for creating intuitive, rewarding websites and applications that resonate with the way we humans think.
How do you benchmark your website conversions? Do you use Google Analytics?