The most commonly asked question of me is “How can I get more traffic to my website?“…

After which I immediately follow with “What are you going to do with it?“…

At this point I generally receive blank stares followed by a request to elaborate.

Here’s the thing – most website owners think that getting “hits” to their website is the most important thing in a web strategy. They don’t care what they are going to do with new visitors – just that they come.

This is a fundamental flaw in your web strategy. Granted – traffic is important but the most critical aspect in your web strategy is doing something with the traffic you get. By “doing something” – we mean accomplishing and executing on your website’s goals (you do have goals for your website, right?).

What’s the point of getting an extra thousand visitors to your site if you aren’t doing anything with them? If they aren’t signing up for your email list, buying your widget, leaving a comment, subscribing to your RSS feed, or whatever – than what’s the point?

Why do you need to generate more traffic when are doing nothing with the traffic you are getting now?

Our colleague Brian Kaldenberg maintains the idea of “It’s easier to double your conversion rate than to double your website’s traffic”. What he means is that it’s easier to optimize your website to meet your goals than it is to get more people to come to your site. It could also be more profitable…

Lets get technical…

All of this data can be found inside your web analytics.

Let’s assume your business, Acme INC, sells a single widget for $97. Currently, your conversion rate – percentage of website visitors who end up buying your widget – is 3%. And let’s say you get 2,000 visitors to your website every month. If we do the math…

• 2,000 visitors * .03 conversion rate = 60 widgets/mo sold on your website
• 60 widgets * $97/ea = $5,820/mo revenue generate by your website

So what Brian is saying above is that it will be easier to increase your conversion rate to 6% than it is to increase your website’s traffic to 4,000 visitors per month. Here comes more math

If you Acme INC doubles their conversion rate to 6%…

• 2,000 visitors * .06 conversion rate = 120 widgets/mo sold
• 120 widgets * $97/ea = $11,640/mo

But guess what – you can optimize your website RIGHT NOW and increase your conversion rate. Doubling the traffic to your website will take a lot of hard work, great content, advertising, and patience (like years). Both are important – but don’t you think Acme INC would like a 6% conversion rate BEFORE they double their traffic?

• 4,000 visitors * .03 = 120 => $11,640/mo
• 4,000 visitors * .06 = 240 => $23,280/mo

For Acme INC doubling their conversion rate before they generate more traffic is a difference of 12,000/mo … doubling their revenue.

Wrapping Up

Back to our main point… Instead of asking “How can I get more traffic to my website”, you should be asking “How can I convert more of my website traffic into my goals”.

Once you’ve optimized for conversion – than you should start generating more traffic. Look at the numbers and make data driven decisions.

If you have any questions, please let us know in the comments or jump into the forums!

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There was a great post from Search Engine Land last week called “It’s A Fatal Mistake To Copy Successful Web Sites“…

Someone asked, “Why don’t we all just copy Amazon.com?” I replied, “Never, ever copy what Amazon does.” The audience responded with surprise, thinking I was not a fan of Amazon.

Not true. The reason you don’t want to copy a successful site like Amazon is that their website requirements are not likely to be the same as your site requirements. Their users may have different characteristics than your site visitors. Their customers’ needs may be completely different. You don’t have the user, traffic analysis and usability testing data they’ve collected over the years that they use as a base for their user interface, information architecture and content delivery.

Now this goes in the exact opposite direction when we said “You Should Copy Amazon.com E-Commerce Design“.

However – I think we are both right. In the context Kim speaks about in her argument why you should not copy is the varying degree of requirements. Obviously Amazon has a unique audience that demands specific requirements that Amazon has thoughtfully researched and implemented over the last ten years. We don’t recommend that you try (why would you?) to copy Amazon’s information architecture or to layout your site in the same exact fashion.

But when it comes down to function, usability, and conversion – why not copy them? They’ve been doing research for the last 10 years on e-commerce usability and conversion optimization. Most small businesses running e-commerce don’t have an analytics research staff – let alone the data to even begin. So why not copy the color of their buttons, or their “Add To Cart” text, or even their shopping cart layout.

One of the taglines we have at 48Web is – “We’ve done the research so you don’t have to“…

In the case of Amazon – they’ve done the research so why not copy them?

Let us know what you think in the comments or jump into the forums!

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Breaking up with your website means that you should remove any emotional attachment to your site. We see this problem infect many small businesses when they begin treating their website like a relationship instead of a tool. I know – you spent a lot of time and hard work on that site…

But when all relevant data points you in a specific direction and you ignore it in favor of your emotional attachment to “your baby” – you are only hurting yourself.

Some common scenarios

You spent a lot of time on that home page making sure everything looked perfect. You made some images and wrote a bunch of great copy about you and your business and what you do. But no one signs up. No one clicks. And visitors leave right away (psst you can measure all that in Google Analytics)… The data says you should make a change – but you don’t because you spent a lot of time on it.

You have a great product or service that nobody ever signs up for on your website. You think that having that elaborate sign up form will help you better target potential clients that you want to get to know. Really – people only want to enter their Name and Email Address so they leave your sign up page (psst you can measure that in Google Analytics).

You spend time setting up hundreds of widgets that you think are cool – but nobody ever uses them and they make your site load slow. By adding a ton of fluff you lose site on the main functions and goals of your website. You don’t want to distract visitors – you want to convert them.

Breaking up with your website allows you to…

• Make data driven decisions
• Focus on function
• Focus on usability
• Test everything

Data Driven Decisions

When making marketing decisions about your website try focusing on search and web analytics data you have. In a recent workshop with a client we found they were targeting the completely wrong demographic online. The market they were targeting online were not searching for what the website had to offer. This meant that search traffic was low and irrelevant. By tweaking some marketing copy and targeting a different market with content we completely change their web strategy. It wasn’t easy but it’s what the data said to do.

Focus On Function

I love a good design but when you focus on your design more than how your site functions you are likely losing out. There are well defined standards for laying out and designing a site that converts – whether you want someone to comment on your blog or buy your widget. By moving your focus away from what works to what you like is a bad move. Stay focused on the goals for your website and make sure your site functions to meet those goals.

Usability Matters

We’ve had clients with great products that were not selling online. In one case the reason was the shopping cart. The process sucked enough that they began to lose a significant amount of sales from it. If you’ve spent a ton of time on a process that doesn’t convert – it’s okay to start over. You could be losing sales or conversions online every day that you have an unusable sales funnel. Try buying your own product once in awhile. If you get confused – chances are your visitors are too. This is the same for any type of conversion. If your email list  is too confusing to get subscribed to – your visitors will have the same problems.

Test Everything

Once you have broken up with your website you have begun to remove any emotional attachment. This is good – now you can start testing. If you look at things like data instead of having an emotional reaction – you may learn that your well thought out headline really sucks and another works 100% better.

Do you have any questions about breaking up with your website? Let us know in the comments or jump in the forums!

[flickr photo from WebRanking]

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I once tweeted “If you are selling on the web and not using Google Website Optimizer than you are missing out”. I still firmly believe this because it allows you to test and hone not only your landing pages – but your advertisements as well. The first thing we tell our web strategy clients is to pick one of five web strategy goals. These goals range from email subscription opt-in to actually making a sale – and Google Website Optimizer helps you to find the best path and methods to reach those goals.

The easiest way to explain Google Website Optimizer is that it allows you to do A/B split testing.

Here’s an example…

Let’s say you are a plumber and your primary source of lead generation is people calling you for a free estimate after arriving to your site from a Google AdWords ad when they search for “plumber Des Moines”. On that page you have a simple sign-up form but you want to see if adding a video demonstration will help. With Google Website Optimizer you can setup an entirely new page with your video and new contact form and test which one gets the most people to sign up. It’s that simple.

What is Google Website Optimizer?

And why do you need it? Here is Google Website Optimizer in 60 seconds

Google Website Optimizer Tour

What if there were a way to find out which images, headlines, and website copy are most effective at getting your website visitors to convert? There is, with Google Website Optimizer.

What are A/B Tests?

A/B Split testing allows you to test different headlines, images, titles, and text to see which generates the most conversions. Here is a simple demo about what A/B tests are and how to easily set them up with Google Website Optimizer.

Introduction to Website Optimizer

Tom Leung discusses the importance and benefits of optimizing your website’s design and content. He provides a detailed introduction to Website Optimizer, reviews the product’s core features, and walks through a simple A/B test.

Tom explains what’s wrong with landing page design and why testing helps fix it. This is the “why you need to test” webinar. He explains that optimizing before the sale will have huge ROI benefits down the road. Tom says you should be constantly enhancing how you drive, measure, and convert your traffic – and explains what tools Google provides to help you.

Advanced Google Website Optimizer Training

Step-by-step walk through of how to successfully create and launch A/B and multivariate experiments in Website Optimizer.

This is a full advanced tutorial for Google Website Optimizer showing you examples of tests and how Google Website Optimizer works. In includes a walkthrough on setting up A/B and MVT tests from start to finish – and testing recipes & best practices. Get your notepad out and a cup of coffee and get optimized!

Questions or Comments?
If you have any questions or comments on how to use Google Website Optimizer in your business – let us know in the comments or forums!

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