Website Conversions
6 Google Analytics Insights for Improving Website Performance
Your website probably has Google Analytics tracking code installed. But are you using the data available to improve the performance of your site?
Begin by critically questioning what information you need to help drive your business strategy. Google Analytics contains some fantastic data to help you understand the experience of visitors on your site, their motivations and behaviour. And by monitoring the trends in this data you will be equipped with the knowledge to expand your audience reach and drive growth.
Here are 6 insights Google Analytics can yield about your site:
1. Buying Behaviour
It’s great to know that your total visits are increasing over time, but what does this really say about your website? Let’s assume you have an Ecommerce site. A more valuable insight into the performance of your site is gleaned from analysing those keywords that are motivating your customers’ decision to buy. Taking this even further, we can look at the different buying patterns exhibited by new and returning visitors.
Google Analytics Navigation (New): Traffic Sources > Sources > All Traffic
- Viewing: Keyword
- Report Tab: Ecommerce
- Report View: Pivot Table
- Pivot by: Visitor Type
- Pivot Metrics: Transactions | Revenue
Armed with this data you are now able to consider the following:
- What keywords are generating the most revenue for your business? Can you redesign your homepage to focus on those keywords that are enticing your visitors to make a purchase?
- Are new visitors to your site behaving differently to returning visitors? Are your SEO efforts successfully driving traffic to your site? Is your site effectively converting this traffic into sales?
5 Reasons Why You Should Invest In Website Performance
Investing in the performance of a website is usually the last thing most companies consider when deciding how they will invest their marketing budgets. Most companies allocate budgets to advertise their website using Google Adwords, SEO, online advertising, offline advertising and social media but few companies think about how important their website is to their overall success.
Your website is the single most important component of your online marketing strategy – it will literally make or break your success online. Here’s why…
1. Your Website Determines How Many Sales You Achieve From Your Advertising Budget
When you run advertising online, or offline for that matter, you’re driving prospects directly to your website. You might be spending $2,000 per month on advertising, or you might be spending $100,000. In either case, the number of sales you achieve from your advertising is directly related to the performance of your website.
Let’s take a quick look at the numbers… if your website converts 1% of website visitors into customers you will generate 10 new customers from 1,000 visitors. But if you can increase the performance of your website to convert 5% of website visitors, you’re generating 50 new customers from the same advertising budget, or 5x as many sales without spending a cent more on advertising.
Many companies we speak to are happy to spend $10,000 per month on advertising but baulk when we suggest investing $10,000 one-time on improving the performance of their website – this is one of the biggest mistakes a company can make… just take a look at the numbers.
The Science of Performance Website Design
There are myriad of tools available that help improve the performance of your website. Today, the No.1 technique that’s changing the way we think about web design is split-testing.
1. What is split testing?
Split-testing is the process by which we create two different versions of the same web page and, utilising Google’s Website Optimizer tool, we present one version to half of your website visitors and the other version to the other half. We then analyse the performance of each web page by tracking the conversions each version produced, be it a product purchase, a newsletter sign-up or any other measurable action.
We then collate the data, align it with the variations in the design of the two web pages and learn something new about what produces a higher level of performance. Doesn’t sound very designy though does it?
But this is the paradox of web design as an art form. It’s a sym-biotic relationship with the linear world of code and analytics.
This is how it works…
10 Lessons From Barack Obama’s Online Marketing Strategy
In 2008 Barack Obama won the presidency of the United States on the back of one of the most successful online marketing campaigns in history.
The time has now come again… with the upcoming U.S. elections in November, Barack Obama has re-launched his online marketing campaign with the hope of achieving similar, if not better, results than in 2008 (of course this time he has the benefit of already being the President).
In this article I’ll cover 10 areas of his 2011 strategy, as well as explaining how you might apply them in your business.
1. A High Performance Website Is Used To Drive Action
When you go to www.barackobama.com the first page you see is a landing page that is focused on one thing… to get your email address and zip code. The main call to action is red so it stands out. It is obvious what they want you to do. They also use the words “I’m In!” in the button to encourage people to follow through.
Barack Obama’s people know that the key to gaining maximum leverage from those who visit his site is to capture their details and stay in touch with them on a regular basis through email marketing… the entire website is geared to drive email subscriptions and donations.
Action: What is the main action that you want your visitors to take? Are you capturing the email addresses of people who visit your website? Think about the best free offer you can make and integrate that offer into your website to drive action.
3 Simple Tips For Improving The Performance of Your Website’s Home Page
Your website’s home page is the window to your website and your business. It is often the first interaction a prospect has with your business, and is critical to the performance of your online marketing. Yet why do so many businesses get it wrong?
Here are 3 simple tips you can use to improve the performance of your website’s home page…
1. It’s A Snapshot
What should someone understand from the first impression of your Home Page? Should they understand the entirety of your business in the blink of an eye?
Is this even possible?
The answer is, “Kind of.”
The trick is to provide a snapshot of your business by displaying a core message backed up by an exciting overview of your business, all the while utilising great imagery and strong messaging to draw the eye.
Technically, of course, the navigation is your access to the entirety of the site however there’s a limit to how exciting or descriptive navigation can be.
That being the case you need to use strong banner design in terms of imagery and message and follow that same theme and combination throughout the Home Page utilising icons, images, points of difference and success, to generate interest in a blink of an eye and tell a brief but compelling story about your business.
Which brings me to point two.
