What type of website do you want? Each site has to have a purpose. Is the intention to gather leads? Sell Product? Increase Customer Loyalty?

A website can do a few or all of the abovementioned things, but its primary objective must be clear and defined.

If the purpose of a website is to gather leads, what is the preferred method? For example, do you want a customer to fill out a form, call your office, message you directly, or do something else?

Once a purpose is laid out, your data will only serve that purpose. Having KPIs and Metics will help you know what to expect from your website and what you want it to do. Then, you will know whether your website is working or not (or better, even define what ‘working’ means).

With this being said, let us say you want your website to collect leads. You want those leads to be filled out on the site and then sent to you to call from.

Once this is laid out, you must ensure your website is built to make the form process easy for your prospect. A landing page created for forms should lead the potential customer to a website with other information, but the website should direct and sell the benefit of filling out a form online. It should have action buttons and may form a high value to them. So they will get something out of it. It’s what most people who land on the site will do.

You can even track how many people are landing on the form page and how many are filling it out once they land on the page. Are there any issues with the form preventing prospective clients from filling it out?
You have to have a clear purpose for the website. ‘I want something nice’ will not work, and ‘ I want people to come to my website does not work either.

The more specific your goal, the better it will be to see if your website is reaching its goals.

Set up KPIs (key performance indicators) for your website.” I want to increase online leads with an online form by 20% in 12 months.” This is a specific goal. You now know the direction of the whole site and what it will mean for the website to succeed.

Your web designer (or if your doing it – you) will have to know what your goals are – so that way, you know if your website is working and serving that purpose.

If your closing rate is 80% and you want to increase leads by 20% online – you now have nearly an exact target (let’s say a $5000 increase in company sales as a result). Now you KNOW what your website will be worth to you. You want a website that will generate $5,000 for your business’s first year by increasing leads by 20% in the first year.

As an exercise, write down a KPI for your current website. Will your existing website hit that goal? Is it worth the money (the goal you have set) to get your website designed by a professional so it can meet the KPI you set?

Knowing what your marketing tools are doing and how effective they are will keep you on track and focused.

For more information on KPI, follow the link below.

10 Website KPIs Every Growth-Driven Marketer Should Track