7 key things you need to know about your website performance

Did you know that according to a research from DemandBase in the US, 100% of BtoB buyers visit their supplier’s website at one or several points within the buying cycle?  Whether we like it or not, websites are a key component of any sales enablement strategy. From advertising and newsletters, through to off-site brand awareness activities, all outbound marketing is effectively designed to drive prospects to your website. Today, websites are the integration cornerstone of every marketing plan. Here are number of useful insights to keep in mind when it comes to improving your website performance.

Two years ago, you could still ignore mobile browsing. You no longer can.
Considering the outstanding improvements of smart phones in terms of web browsing friendliness, as well as the broad success of tablets, which are now virtually replacing laptops in homes, the smart marketer must make sure that his website fulfills its marketing objectives efficiently on all mobile devices.

Grab a place of choice in Google rankings
How much traffic do you capture from user’s Google searches with relevant keywords which do not include your company’s name? You want to capture a large share of the audience that is searching online for the type of products and services that you (and your competition) provide, without looking for a specific brand. Anything short of best SEO practice will put you behind your competition. Google Analytics has the ability to provide a large amount of data regarding your website SEO performance, user behaviour and demographics.

Polish your website’s user experience
Marketers should lay the foundation by ensuring there is a plan of action in place for the website user experience. Put yourself in your prospective customers’ shoes. Smart website strategies come from the ability to identify your audience’s genuine motivations for visiting the site. When telling your story and promoting your products, don’t forget that your site is also expected to help educate your prospects and answer their questions.
Your website is effectively a lead conversion tool. So establish clear conversion routes based on your analysis of the behaviour of visitors to your site. Remember that your audience of tomorrow will most likely behave a lot like today’s audience. When it comes to improving user experience, the vast amount of data provided by Google Analytics will prove extremely insightful.

Mind your Navigation Strategy
One important point is to make sure that your entire navigation structure and site architecture is intuitive and well “sign posted”. Remember that your users don’t have the time or patience to randomly look around for information. Dropdown menus and quick-links are must have elements if you are to guide them through the visiting path you have chosen for them. The optimisation of your user experience, and creation of efficient conversion routes, must be informed by your Google Analytics traffic data analysis.

Incorporate interesting features to your site
Viewing audio-visual content is one of the most popular actions that visitors take online. Improve your user experience by imbedding videos, product demos, motion graphics or info graphics to your website. Remember that technology is great only when it can be used in a straight forward manner by your audience. Users don’t have the time to understand the technicalities to use you site.

Become an online thought leader in your area of expertise
Non media companies must now think and act like publishers. It’s about feeding the content beast with material that solves the customers’ pain points. Your website must offer content that is informative instead of trying to sell. Occupying the online space with regular informative content is the best way to capture traffic. Many BtoB buyers will be less interested in buying your services or products, then buying into your approach to solving their problems and serving their need.

Finally, consider this carefully:
All prospects will search for your product online after they have been exposed to some sort of outbound marketing. So what is the point of investing large budgets in outbound marketing activities like advertising if you haven’t invested in the relatively smaller cost of harnessing those prospects through a high-performance website?

Alesia Communications combines 20 years of experience in marketing and renewables. We offer expert turnkey website optimisation services for competitive costs.