“You can’t manage what you don’t measure.”

It’s an old management adage that’s especially true with the Internet. This week, I met with several new clients whose goal it is to improve the performance of their websites. At the onset of each discussion, their focus was on what I would do to drive new traffic or to update their sites’ look, etc. All seemed surprised when I suggested we do nothing until we measure.

Any promotion must center on two things: the success of tactics already in place, and the defining of specific, measurable objectives. Consider these two approaches:

Scenario 1:

A business owner determines that the company needs a website “in order to compete” in today’s competitive climate.

Scenario 2:

The business owner sets a goal to increase profit margins by 14% within 12 months and has identified direct to consumer sales as an opportunity to pocket revenue that ordinarily would be lost to its wholesale vendors.

In the first scenario, the website is the stated goal. In reality, the business owner’s true objective is to gain market share or increase revenue; the assumption being that having a website will automatically lead to new business.

The second business owner has identified an opportunity to fatten the company bank account by selling more products directly to customers, offsetting sales through a dealer base at a significant discount. In this example, the decision isn’t whether or not to create a company website, but rather to determine if a website strategy could be used to support that goal.

The reality is that Internet marketing isn’t about the website. It is about the customer and how the web can be utilized as a tool to influence him or her and bolster greater organizational objectives. The good news is that the web is easy to measure as long as you are very specific about what you want to achieve.

The first step is to take control of the data. Server logs record critical information about every visitor to your site. From them, you can determine how your visitors found your site (Google, Yahoo!, directly typed the URL, etc.), what keywords they used, where they are located geographically, how long they spent on the site, which pages they visited and more.

By comparing actual visitor behavior to your measurable business goals, you have the opportunity to make well-informed decisions about site updates and changes in content and functionality.

Ultimately, this is why iPutty Marketing exists—to align your business’ online efforts with your stated organizational objectives. That is, to make sure your website is achieving what it is supposed to. And, there’s only one way to know. You measure.

If you are not 100% sure about your site’s performance, call me. It won’t cost much, if anything at all, to begin tracking visitor behavior. What you learn could change the way you do business.

Web Is Not Like Picking Out Drapes

It occurred to me the other day that one of the main problems business owners have with starting out on the web is that they are provided too little information.  Decisions are made about colors and pictures, but not about visitor behavior or gathering critical data.

One of the key advantages a website provides is that information about the visitor is constantly gathered.  We can track customers and potential customers throughout their visit and use the information to ensure that websites are honed for optimum performance.

Use this information.  If you don't know how to get it, ask your webmaster.  If he or she can't get it, call me (775.324.4400) and I will help you.  Take control of your website, just as you would any other promotional campaign.  The results will astound you.

Your Website is Online but You're Not Finished Yet!

Getting your website online is a big deal. After all, for an increasing number of us, the Internet is replacing the local Yellow Pages as the goto source when seeking a product or service. But, don't make the mistake of simply getting your site online and forgetting it.

I am constantly amazed by business owners who spend thousands of dollars every month on media advertising and print, but won't throw a few hundred toward keeping their websites up to date. Here are a few things any site owner should do to help ensure the maximum ROI from his or her website.

• Update your website content.
• Ensure that your site is optimized to achieve top search engine rankings.
• Make sure all pages provide a path back to your home page.
• Provide contact information on every page.
• Have specific goals for your website and work to achieve them.
• Track the results.
• Monitor your visitor traffic.

Compared to other media, websites are cheap. Your website gives you the opportunity to use as much copy, imagery, video, audio, etc. as you wish to get your promotional message across. No other medium provides the same opportunity, let alone for potentially no cost. Use it!!!

iPutty Marketing Office Address

iPutty Marketing is located at:

115 West Plumb Ln
Suite: 201
Reno, NV 89509
(775) 324-4400

Free Business Website - Seriously Free!

iPutty Marketing is offering the coolest deal in a long time for new businesses to take their messages to the world wide web. It works like this. First, go to http://www.iputty.com/free-website.html. Click the "Click Here to Get Started!" link (takes you to this form: http://www.iputty.com/cgi-bin/free-website.pl), and provide the information you want on your free website.

Once we have all of the copy, you'll be instructed to email images and logos. Within a few days, presto! Your new business will be online! It's a great deal, especially for new businesses for whom getting their business online is just one out of dozens of things they must deal with during the early stages of growth.

What makes iPutty's free website deal special is that, although the site has limitations on the intricacy of design elements, the code is written by hand and includes all of the elements that are critical to a web site's ability to rank well on major search engines. That means, free SEO!

The deal also includes 60 days of hosting, position tracking and reporting! It's all done by humans, who are available by phone or email. Free website!! Who'd of thought??...

Identify Your Online Customer

I deal with clients just about every day whose aim it is to have a "killer website." Great. But, that leaves a lot to question about what that really means. Of course, "killer" is a subjective idea. To some a killer website is one that uses all the latest, bleeding-edge technology. To others, a straight-forward design that sends the company message is just the ticket.

But, when I ask, "who is your ideal customer, and what do you want him or her to do?" I often get silence. Yet, this question should be answered prior to beginning any web design project. As an example, a website that sells books can reasonably expect pretty much anyone to find an interesting title. The goal is to sell books.

But, say you are a kitchen remodeler. It is pretty unlikely that any one is going to make that kind of decision from your website alone. So, a more reasonable goal is to motivate some initial contact by the potential customer.

The point is that a "killer website" is one that leads to your desired outcome. Everything else is just decoration. So before beginning any design project, first identify and define your customer.

The Web Design Process

It is no secret that static websites aren't all that hard to develop. As a result, web designers are everywhere, and to those who are unfamiliar with the web design process, those who can create and publish a website are often viewed in the same bucket. But, this is clearly not the case. Something that frustrates me constantly is to see a "web designer" with dozens of websites to his or her credit, all knocked out using FrontPage, and with little hope of achieving the objectives of the site owner.

Web design and development, at least in the business environment, is a function of Marketing. I think businesses, especially smaller ones tend to take the view that web marketing is like other forms of advertising, in that you throw a page up and hope for the best. When no one comes in or calls, announcing to have "found you on the web," the assumption is that the website doesn't "work." Or, that web marketing doen't work for their business.

But, web marketing does work. The flaw is in the web development process. Before a single line of code is written, the goal(s) for the website, a profile of the company's best customer and a strategy for attracting him or her must be firmly established. Like every form of marketing, tactics must be formulated and measures created for determining sucess.

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