Get the Return On Investment from your Website

Facts

• 83% of businesses use the Internet to research and find potential vendors
• 75% of users admit to making judgments about the a company’s credibility based on their website’s design

It’s becoming increasingly clear that a website is becoming a must-have if you’re a business owner, big or small. Yet I still run into business owners who are not concerned about their website’s form/function or about web marketing.

You have to think of your website as an investment, plain and simple. It’s as simple as determining your ROI. Here’s what I mean:

Return - investment = net gain.
Net gain / investment = ROI

Every business uses optimization to improve the shopping experience and increase conversions. Basic changes like wider aisles, keeping store entrances clear of clutter, product placement in key places, and other adjustments are made and proven to have a positive effect on sales. Often times a company’s website is overlooked because it’s not considered as important as concrete, physical interactions. This mindset is flawed especially as the shift to online consumption continues to grow.

Normally the obstacle in our way is fear of the unknown or a misunderstanding of how an investment in website optimization for ROI will produce a return. If your website was a sales force you would put time and money into making it better and less wasteful; the same concept applies to your website. It has taken the Internet only 5 years to reach 50 million users, compared to cable (10), TV (13), and radio (38).* We are still in the early stages of this medium and early adoption to it’s efficiencies will insure long term ROI. Late comers will inevitably be playing the catchup game or paying a heavy price to join in with the leaders. We see this with some online establishments already.

Think of your website as a funnel. The goal is to increase the number of prospects entering the funnel while at the same time widening the bottom of the funnel so more leads are able to get through? If you spend $20,000 per month to deliver traffic to your site does this traffic improve in conversion as you keep spending it month after month? What if you spent half your monthly budget to increase your website conversion or widen the funnel? That $10,000 investment will pay you back month after month with the increased lead conversion! Investing in an improved conversion rate will yield a higher ROI over a longer period of time rather than the investment to merely increase website traffic.

Seems basic but the most common question I get is “how can I get more traffic?” More traffic is always great, but if it’s not the right type of traffic or if it’s traffic that’s dropping out because your site’s conversion is weak, then that doesn’t do anyone any good.