How does your website page performance look?
When I say page performance, I'm talking about the performance of the pages of your website. If you're not even paying attention to or measuring that you're not alone. While a pretty website that accurately reflects your brand is important, it's also a huge opportunity to turn traffic into leads and eventually, customers.
Tracking page performance is a key part of any digital marketing strategy. It becomes especially important when your website takes place of a brick and mortar store and acts as the only place for people to come and visit you.
Often times I find people stress about the importance of getting traffic to the website, that they forget about what comes next: converting that traffic into sales.
I've created a checklist that you should use for EVERY page on your site. Are you doing the following:
First and foremost, what is the purpose of the page? While it used to be "good" for SEO to have multiple website pages, that trick has fallen by the wayside. What's important is that your website isn't overcomplicated with content and is easy to navigate. Each page should have a clear purpose for being there.
Who is your audience? For each page who are the visitors that are viewing it? If you have multiple buyer personas, what pages are directed at who? What buyer cycle stage are they at? Just browsing? Wanting to learn more? Or ready to buy?
What is the objective? Or what is the behavior you want your visitor to complete? Each page should have a "what's next" option. On the contact page, the objective is to get the visitor to contact you. On the home page that introduces your product or service, are you trying to get them to learn more? Signup for a demo? Go to your online store? Make sure that is clear in the design and copy of the page.
Don’t make your visitors think. Go back to #3 for this one. When you are clear on what the objective is of that page, don't make it difficult for them to complete it. Make a clear path to the next step. Create eye-catching call-to-actions and easy to fill out forms if necessary.
Don’t make Google think. While SEO is really all about creating good, helpful content for your visitors. Don't forget about basic on page SEO. (You do not need to hire an SEO guru to get this done.) Cover the basics, make sure one of your targeted keywords is in the title, in an H1 formatting, and in your meta description. Make sure your meta description is also clear about what is on that website page and enticing. Additionally, make sure you include links to other helpful pages or blog posts on your websites.
Your home page is the starting point. I'd say about 75-90% of your website traffic is going to come in through your homepage. Make sure that there are enough clear actions for each of your buyer personas and buyer cycle stages.
Test and Analyze. After your website is live, you're not finished. Monitor your traffic and your conversions. A/B test different headlines, calls-to-action, navigation placement, etc. etc. until you get your traffic visits to an optimal conversion rate.
Creating a website that also converts sales isn't an easy (or cheap) process. Don't rush through it and just pick the "prettiest" design. Make sure each page is clear and concise with an objective in mind.
A good way to test your website page performance (not analytically) is to have people who are entirely unfamiliar with your product or service go through your website. Ask them if it's clear what each page is describing, why it's important and what they are tempted to do next.
What other issues do you run into when optimizing your website page performance?
