Does it eat you or feed you?

by Guy Levine - Tuesday, 22nd April 2008 - (6) comments

Let’s be honest, most websites underperform. When I was a young grass hopper looking to spend my hard-earned lucre on the latest gadgets, my uncle always used to ask, ”will it eat you or feed you?” Which does your website do?

Welcome to the world of internet strategy where KPIs, calls to action and ROI rule! To make sure your website feeds you, follow these three rules; I guarantee they will add some fire to your online presence.

Rule number one: Decide what you want your website to do. An online brochure is not acceptable any more. Define your goal and measure it. "I want to attract 1,000 people a month and generate ten leads, from people who are based in the UK and are senior project managers." It either works or it doesn’t, but you have a baseline to measure against.

Rule number two: Make sure every word on the website moves people to your goal, in this case ten leads. Have you written a call to action on every page of your site? Does every page contain a compelling reason to buy? For example: "For our free guide on search engine optimisation, use the form below so we can send one over straight away" or "For further advice from a product specialist, please call...." As a great friend once said to me, if you don’t ask, the answer is always NO!

Rule number three: Track and test and track some more. We all look at our bank statements because that one piece of paper tells us whether it's beans on toast or champagne cocktails. Your website statistics give you similar insight into your online performance; how many people come, how many people leave and what’s the most popular page. With a bit detective work and some effective changes, you can engineer massive improvements to your ROI.

Guy Levine is the chief exec of SEO company Web Marketing Advisor.
Photography: Miusam-ck

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6 Comments

July 22, 2008 2:59pm
James Fisher Says:

Seems like Guy has got his pals to comment on his article! Talk about stating the obvious in terms of "what makes a successful website!"

April 29, 2008 11:22am
Jeff Anderson Says:

True the advice is simple, but it's also priceless! If someone gave me £1 for every project that I looked at that was failing because the client failed to do the basics I'd be a very rich man

April 24, 2008 9:07am
Richard Dinnick Says:

Hmm. I do agree with most of what you say, Guy. But it's pretty simplistic. And, yes, brichure sites are still perfectly acceptable. It depends on your online strategy... While it's great to say "ooh yes, I'd like 1,000 unique users a month and thus 10 leads", that doesn't just fall form the sky. If the site is not promoted, this won't happen. The piece neglects to mention this, even though its appears to be a veiled advert for SEO/SEM!

April 22, 2008 8:12pm
Kintish Says:

gresat advice Guy. I also find giving away lots of free and valuable information about what we do is really good for the search engines

April 22, 2008 4:29pm
Shane Goldberg Says:

That is a fantastic advice. Something every graphic designer and web designer should read so they understand there is more to marketing that just pretty pictures. It's all about results. Great reminder about testing and measuring results - Thank you.

April 22, 2008 4:00pm
Joel Tobias Says:

Good article, sounds like great advice. I wish my SEO/SEM company had given us advice which was as clear, simple and logical.