So you’ve spent hours, days, maybe even weeks, getting to know your prospective audience and carefully planning what will-and will not-go on your new website.
Or perhaps your website wasn’t completely new but was simply in need of redesigning. So you interviewed clients and visitors to learn how they interact with your website in order to know what works. You maybe even used cutting edge techniques like eye tracking software to get a proper handle on what goes where and why.
The result? A perfect website built after your audience’s heart.
You’ve done a great job! But don’t switch to autopilot and relax just yet.
The launch of a website is just the beginning of your online journey.
You will only know how effective your new website is once traffic begins to trickle through and you start tracking user interaction in real time. Tools like Google Analytics and others can help you zero in on some of the metrics that are important to your goals such as: number of site visits, length of site visits, how your visitors got to your website, most popular content, best performing content, and also actions taken by visitors: whether it’s buying a product, signing up for an event, or simply filling out a form, etc.
In other words, analytics can help you know if your visitors are going where you want them to go and doing what you want them to do. If visitors are not doing this then you have to do something about it.
Take the example of a pest control company that has just set up a website and has begun to see some traffic. A lot of thought has been put into their content, which clearly shows the dangers posed by pests. To top it all off, there is a nice call-to-action or button at the bottom asking for a consultation.
Everything seems okay on the surface, except nobody is clicking for the consultation.
There are several ways our pest control company can go about salvaging the situation including moving the call-to-action to a different location, increasing the size of the button, or overhauling the website design if need be.
This is just one out of dozens of scenarios in which analytics and an effective digital strategy can make the difference and determine whether your website is a success or not.
So the website launch is just the beginning!
Once your website goes live, it’s time to roll up your sleeves and work on your digital strategy; create traffic, and deliver conversions, all the while using analytics to optimize the effectiveness of your website and grow your digital presence.
And this is not a one-off process either. It’s a continuous process that will go on and on as the digital landscape and the needs of your visitors change. Your website is a living, breathing thing and one round of edits is not going to cut it. Rather, constant maintenance and attention is necessary to consistently deliver the sort of user experience that will move you swiftly towards achieving your business goals.
Eternity is here to help guide you through your launch journey and beyond. Give us a call today to discuss your unique journey.