Five Things To Ask About Your Web Site

Your web site is the cornerstone of your company's Internet presence, but have you taken a serious look at it recently?

Don't get me wrong. There are plenty of great sites out there, usually created for Fortune 1,000 companies or for well funded not-for-profit organizations. But one thing I have noticed about the web sites of mid-sized companies, particularly those in the manufacturing arena where I've spent the bulk of my career, is how their sites have not really evolved beyond the "catalog on-line" mindset.

That mindset may have gotten the job done in years past, but today a company's web site is more than an easy to access product catalog, it is the face of the company - sometimes the only face - to millions of perspective buyers, investors, and partners. The problem is that as buyers, investors, and partners expectations of their web experience have grown over the years, many sites for companies from $50 million to $500 million have not.

If your organization is like many medium sized companies, then you have ample opportunity to not only enhance the experience of your web site's users, but to also increase key conversions from your site such as leads, quotes, request for information, e-newsletter sign ups, transactions, and on and on.

When evaluating your current site or planning a new web site, there are five base questions you need to ask. Implement the answers to these questions into your site design, and you may very well best your competitors' web site - their face to your mutual perspective customers.

1. Who is the audience for your web site? You must understand who you want to attract to the site, and the days of "everybody" are long gone. Understanding who the target audience is will drive site design, content, key word placement, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), and the conversions you hope to drive.


2. What do you want them to do on the site? Once you bring your target audience onto your site, what is it that you want to accomplish? Is it to increase awareness of your brand, introduce a product or service, convert them into a lead, sell them your product through a shopping cart, gather information about them? The possibilities are endless and only you can define what want to accomplish. These decisions will help your web designers understand the main goal of the site.


3. What does your audience want to do on the site? Now put yourself in front of your user's key board or mobile key pad - what experience are you looking for? Why have you come to the site and what do you want do you want to get out of being there? Understanding what motivates your audience will help guide your web designer with how a user interfaces and experiences your site.


4. What is your definition of web site success? Define what success means up front. For example, if your key conversion is leads, then how many leads per week or month are expected? Being clear with your web designer about expectations before the first line of code is written is important. Doing so may also uncover a budget constraint to meeting your expectation, which could lead you down a different path altogether.


5. How will you measure the key conversions that define success? The web is immensely measurable - with the analytic tools readily available you can easily get a good read on what is working and what is not on both your web site and your interactive marketing programs. Before the design work is started make sure you have all agreed to the analytics that will be used to evaluate the site.

So, take 20 minutes to take a serious look at your current web site and see how well you can answer these five questions. Then, take 10 minutes and look at your top competitor's site and ask yourself the same thing. A half hour's worth of work may uncover a good opportunity for your marketing and your company.