Having a website is only the first step to generating new leads or processing impressive amounts of orders online. Most business owners track how many “hits” or views that their website receives, but how many of these become customers or potential client? Wikipedia defines a website conversion rate as “the number or percentage of visitors who convert casual content views or website visits into desired actions based on subtle or direct requests from marketers, advertisers, and content creators.”
This conversion rate allows us to assess how well or how poorly your website is doing independently of general traffic levels. These rates will vary between different industries and the measurement techniques used are still not standardized.
How to Determine Your Conversion Rate
The most obvious conversion rate is with retail or ecommerce websites. We can clearly see the number of visitors who complete a purchase in relation to the total number of visitors. Lead generating websites allow us to measure website traffic against the number of visitors who give you their information and permission to contact them again.
Websites that consist entirely of written content can measure conversion rates through newsletter subscriptions or involvement in some form of an online community. If your site is geared towards customer support or service your can evaluate it’s success by the number of people who are able to locate the information you want them to find. They could download a document or contact the appropriate person.
In any of these cases you will need to track your website’s activity through some form of statistical software. This software may even allow you to setup custom criteria to display an estimated conversion rate. You can then monitor improvements and changing in your website’s performance to help gauge your success.
What’s the action plan?
The first step is to ensure you can stand out from your competition. You’ve heard it before and it can actually start with the domain name you choose. It is important to pay close attention to your written content and the design of each page to ensure you’re displaying what your target audience is looking for. You also need to ensure that your “relevance” is high for your search terms on any landing pages. If someone searches for a specific keyword that word should be prominent on the page they arrive at.
Every campaign involves a certain amount of experimentation under watchful eyes. Be sure to talk to LinxSmart Toronto Web Design to determine and improve the success of your investment.
Sean Doering is the Creative Director of LinxSmart and can be reached at 905.393.6052.
