Web Design Tip #7 of 7: Review Metrics for Web Marketing Results

Alan Robezzoli • December 17, 2011

Using website metrics can be critical to pinpointing web design problem areas, including landing page conversion problems. Web metrics provide a vital feedback loop to help you understand what is working well, and what needs to be overhauled or tweaked for better performance. Make sure you have an analytics package that is easy to use, and the in-house or outsourced expertise to get the most from the information.

Metrics, the Web Design Acid Test

Your website's analytics can be a treasure trove of information that you can leverage to improve the performance of your internet-marketing efforts, and the effectiveness of your website design

Your web metrics are an acid test of your web design performance in terms of traffic, page views, and conversion to leads and sales (E.g., filling out informational forms such as joining an email list, downloading a report, or making an online purchase), as well as a reflection of your internet marketing effectiveness. It is difficult to overstate their importance.

Therefore, metrics should be tracked and analyzed frequently, and changes made to your web design as a result of your findings. Ongoing, continuous improvement is the goal, and having a strong, objective, metrics-based web design feedback loop and the skill to leverage the data can make the difference between rapidly improving your online performance vs. living with sub-par web marketing results.

Metrics Guidelines for Achieving Best Web Design & Web Marketing Performance

It is wise not to focus primarily on metrics that track the technical performance of your website. These have value, but are rarely the key to your success.

Instead, focus on 3 bottom-line web marketing metrics: visitors, leads, and sales

Visitors :
- How many unique visitors?
- From where (referring website, search engine, social media, etc.)?
Leads :
- How many / what percentage of visitors converted to leads (E.g., by filling out a form for an offer)?
- What specific offer caused them to convert to a lead
Sales:
- How many / what percentage leads converted to sales?
- What specific offer caused them to convert to a customer?

Summary:

Great web design is the kind of web design that leads to bottom line results for your business. That includes finding new leads, and converting those leads into new customers. Your website metrics (analytics) package and the skill to properly use it to analyze and interpret results is one key to achieving ever-improving web marketing success.