The Top Seven Strategies for Web Site Success
Whether
you're concerned with business-to-business, or business to consumer,
whether your organization is large or small, commercial or nonprofit,
there are some fundamental questions around your Website and technology
strategy that should be addressed.
Otherwise,
you risk missing opportunities, and not maximizing the return on your
investment in your online presence.
If
you haven't visited your own Website for a while, look at it again in
light of these questions:
1.
Does your Web Site present an appropriate image of your company?
Marketers talk a lot about branding, and consistency of
message. Does your company site reflect how you'd like your customers to
feel about your business? Is it sophisticated, and professional looking?
Does it speak directly to visitors in language that they'll understand,
and in ways that relate to their issues and needs?
Image is also about public relations. Publicity is a powerful marketing
tool, and reporters are increasingly looking for stories and information
online. Does your Website offer a media center? Does it offer comment on
current events in your industry? Do you face up to the bad news, and spin
it to your advantage? Whatever you may think of Microsoft, check out their
extensive Press Pass.
2.
Does your Web Site suggest potential for new or currently untapped
markets?
In almost all the sites that I've consulted for, we've identified markets
or audiences beyond the "real-world" customer base of the
business.
This may be because the site extends the geographic reach of your
marketing. If you have good content on your site, it may also be because
visitors looking for your subject area find you in search engines and come
to read your articles and white papers.
Either way, if you find many "non-traditional" visitors to your
site, you should assess whether they constitute a possible new market area
for your business.
3.
Does your Web Site suggest potential for new products or services?
A clear understanding of your visitor needs may also encourage you to
consider new products or services. On the Web, bundling expertise into
downloadable, for-sale content provides valuable new revenue streams for
many businesses and non-profits.
You can find great clues for development ideas by tracking the keywords
entered into your own site search engine. These show what visitors expect
to find on your site - and therefore what they expect your company to
offer.
4.
Does your Web Site provide continuing added value for existing customers?
Most site owners focus on acquiring new customers and fail to maximize the
opportunities to support and service existing ones.
These include password-protected areas where your clients can follow the
progress of their projects, share documents with you, etc. Personalization
and pre-populated forms (i.e. which are automatically filled in with the
customer's details) help to create a feeling of value and save time for
your visitors.
Check the average response time for a contact from your Website. One of
the top complaints about major company sites is that e-mails are not
answered in a timely (hopefully 24 hours or less) manner.
5.
Does your Web Site support your internal operations and employee needs?
This question relates to whether you're making the best use of all
available technologies and integrating them with your online operations.
Example applications to consider include:
Instant messaging - fast becoming a serious business tool
Knowledge bases - continually updated databases that can provide automated
customer support on a 24/7 basis
Streaming media - perhaps for just-in-time training or on-the-spot manuals
for your operatives
Intranets and extranets - which are really just fancy names for
password-protected employee and client areas
6.
Does your Web Site integrate fully with your "real-world"
activities and processes?
One of the most frustrating visitor experiences is to complete
a form, an application, or to submit a search on your Website, only to
receive an error message.
Customers want the security of an e-mailed purchase confirmation. They
want to know that they'll be taken off your mailing list quickly and
without the need for multiple requests.
With the complexity of technology and programs today, sometimes a change
to a seemingly unrelated system can wreak havoc. Do you regularly check
all the input forms and processes on your site to ensure that no
unexpected gremlins have crept in?
7.
Does your Web Site provide you with a justifiable return on investment?
This is probably the most important question of the seven and possibly
also the most difficult.
That's because the answer depends on a clear understanding of the goals of
your site, both in direct financial terms, and in other less tangible
benefits, such as name recognition.
The keys to evaluating ROI, to improving your site, and often to further
business development ideas can be found in your traffic reports. These
show what visitors are looking for, how long they spend on the site, where
they go, where they leave, and what rate of response you get to the
various calls to action.
These reports can be daunting - a mass of figures, graphs and URL's. But I
strongly suggest that someone in your organization understand them.
Otherwise, you're shooting in the dark with your Web investment.
|
