Websites & data, three important concepts for website strategy
This post is not a promotion for my new product. It is a reflection of how and why the”You’re Trending!” report became an important tool for non-profits and small businesses.
My clients partnered with me to understand how visitors find and consume their website content. The results were exciting. They also highlighted important patterns I’d like to share with you.
I am all about idea collaboration. I hope my musings inspire you to reflect and take action.
Here are three concepts to consider to attract your ideal customer .
1) Know your purpose – your website supports that purpose
Consider website analytics as the 2D version of brick & mortar observations. Analytics uses different terms and jargon, but it often aligns with how we navigate the physical world. Consider these observations when building a website strategy:
Don’t let the jargon stop you from building a vision and purpose for your website. Data is how our physical world observations translate to a virtual setting.
If you can imagine how you would design, organize, manage and advertise a brick & mortar store, there is a translation for implementing and observing those decisions on the internet.
Make your ideas a reality, virtually, by hiring a good web or graphic designer. If you’re looking for inspiration, here are a few links to some amazing talent in the industry!
2) Always asking Why – a fresh perspective is necessary
Through sorting traffic, referrals, technology, landing pages, and visitor counts, an organization begins to see what users find valuable on their site and how they are engaged.
Website analytics allows organizations to observe the way potential customers interact with their products and services. However, how these two perspectives intersect can be challenging to navigate. A little extra effort can go a long way.
Example: An organization focused on foreign language instruction might be surprised to learn that most visitors find their site by searching emotional intelligence keywords.
When we broke this idea down, we understood that the ability to be vulnerable and gain insight from others and being able to describe your own feelings are part and parcel to language learning.
Once you know why visitors land on your site, you can communicate your value and realign your communication to attract your ideal customers.
Example: Insights might not surprise organizations, but can inspire new approaches. In looking at the landing pages for a food-focused organization, two of the top ten pages are over five years old. Despite the age of the posts, bloggers continued to reference these pages, keeping them relevant.
The organization admitted they knew of this, However, they not been able to recreate the success.
Intrigued, I asked if they had dug deeper into the data of the articles. Specifically, had they looked at the authors, the types of post & writing style (i.e., was it only a recipe or was there intent for broader engagement or deeper topic), the referring blogs, or paralleling social trends that might explain their endurance? The organization admitted they had not thought of these being reasons for the posts’ success.
They were open to investigating impacting trends to help boost their readership and provide outstanding and valuable products to their customers.
3) Quality or Quantity – knowing your priority is important
Across all my clients, there is the beginning of a trend in quantity vs. quality traffic referral platforms. For the record, this data set is not statistically significant, yet. I am merely fascinated by this emerging pattern of quality & quantity.
A lot of traffic comes from traditional social media outlets (i.e., Facebook), but most of those visitors spent only seconds on their site. Whereas, newer or more specialized platforms (i.e., Meetup or TripAdvisor) brought visitors to landing pages for minutes.
Deciding which platform to prioritize can be the difference between a potential client and a new client.
One website had thousands of Facebook hits every month, but none of these visitors purchased their services. The organization conducts webinars and remote coaching. I found that Meetup visitors were engaged and interested in the organization’s products and services.
Meetup is designed to organize events and gatherings, so the organization decided to focus less attention on Facebook and more on Meetup. This increases the likelihood that they will get exposure and attendance for their upcoming webinars and online events.
Perhaps the organization’s goal is to provide the public with contact details so people can follow-up in-person or with a phone call. Knowing that quantity is priority, I can tell a data story geared towards their goals, enabling them to identify additional ways to increase their visibility.
How does traffic arrives on your website?
Are you interested to know if your social media & campaign efforts were successful?
I’d love to help.
Click here to learn more about “You’re Trending!”
Contact me via my website or put a meeting on my calendar.