Is your website working for your business?
October 08, 2019 Reading Time: 2 Minutes
Let me guess, you have a great looking website. It hits all the marks. It’s clear, concise and has great calls to action. But do you have any idea if it’s actually working for your business?
In order to understand that, you need to have a way to understand how people are using your website. Where are they coming from? On what pages are they taking action? Where in the world are they coming from?
These are all questions that you should be able to answer.
Otherwise, how do you know what works? How do you know if you need to double down on an offer online or remove it altogether?
There are a variety of tools that can allow you to get a better picture and grasp of how your website is working for or against your business.
Just about everybody has heard of this tool and everyone should have it installed on their website.
Google Analytics allows you to answer the questions above, and millions of other questions you may have about how your customers use your website.
The tool is free, but it’s quite a learning curve to really get used to how to navigate the data it provides.
This tool is not nearly as popular as Google Analytics, but it’s just as powerful in a different sort of way.
Google Optimizer allows you to run split tests. For instance, on your homepage, you have a value statement that you think can be improved. Instead of deleting it, why not test it? Come up with a new value statement and test it with the existing value statement. Google Optimizer will show 50% of your visitors the old statement, while the remaining 50% will see the new statement. The test will run for a certain amount of time, and at the end you will know which statement is best. Then, repeat the process over again.
That’s a simple test. You can test a variety of things on your website including the design, color, and whatever else you can dream up.
This is the most user-friendly tool of the bunch.
Hotjar allows you to measure how your visitors are using your website visually. For instance, it will generate heat maps that show where most of your users are clicking on your website. It will also show you how far the majority of your users are scrolling down the page. It also allows you to record your users mouse as they use the website. This is extremely eye-opening. How you thought your users use your website is not how they really use your website.
Wrapping It Up
With all the tools above, the entire goal is to allow you to understand how people are using your website. Then you can make wise decisions to improve your website. Otherwise, every decision that you make is blindfolded.
If you need help to integrate these tools on your website, please give us a call (360) 450-3711
Written by Shawn Hooghkirk on October 08, 2019
Last updated on May 04, 2020. Shawn is the President of Graticle, Inc.