"How Do I Know My Website Is Doing What It Should Be Doing?"

Your website is a valuable business tool, so make sure it’s doing its job – and that it ties in with the rest of your marketing

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It’s easy to assume that website hit sequal success. Seeing your visitor numbers grow is an undeniable ego boost – but it’s worthless if the extra bandwidth they’re using doesn’t actually drive income or engagement.

Outside of media brands and blogs, few successful online businesses chase traffic for its own sake any more. Almost without exception, they’remore concerned about what their visitors do once they arrive. That’s a far more nuanced question, and one that takes effort to answer – particularly in an age when even the biggest, soberest brands have taken to Twitter and Facebook in an effort to catch a wider audience.

Separating signal and noise

“We can all get caught up in the noise of social media and be excited about big numbers of likes and shares,” said Susan Bromwich of marketing consultancy SBL Media. “But we need to take a step back and ask how that translates into spending power. Are those people who are interacting with us actually coming to our business and spending money with us?”

Understanding the fundamental objectives of your website becomes key. “What does your ideal customer do, and what do you need to do to help them along that journey?” asked Bromwich. “How do you lead them to a successful conclusion?”

Websites can no longer be treated as stand alone marketing tools; to be a success your site itself needs to be supported by marketing efforts across the various platforms that are relevant to your intended audience.