Website Traffic is Only the Beginning

If you have ever worked in a retail environment, you know the meaning of the word traffic. It refers to the number of people who come into the store on any given day. When there is not traffic, there is no chance to make a sale. When the store is filled with people, the odds are someone is going to buy something.

In the age of the internet, traffic has a related meaning. It refers to the number of people who visit your website on any given day. With tools like Google Analytics and Jetpack Stats for WordPress it is easy to measures website traffic.

Website Traffic Numbers

There are lots of numbers to look at including overall traffic and website traffic by source (organic, direct, referral, and paid). You can review page views and time on site, even studying the performance of an individual page.

I love numbers so it is easy for me to get lost in the data. Don’t let that happen to you. While all the tracking and viewing information is helpful, remember the real reason any of this matters is – SALES.

Even if your business is not selling products online, you can (and should) be guiding your website traffic to a specific destination on your website. Your objective should be to collect leads and move prospects through the phases of your sales funnel.

An Offer They Can’t Refuse

Borrowing a line from the Godfather, you need to make “an offer to visitors they can’t refuse.” Five years ago you could simply say “Hey we have an email newsletter, do you want so sign up? “

That isn’t enough anymore. We all get so many emails, unless you are offering something which meets a very specific need, you are unlikely to get many takers.

That’s why so many companies have moved to a more sophisticated strategy offering reports, white papers or other marketing tools in exchange for an email address. Now you can send specific follow up information designed to nudge a mildly interested browser to move closer to buying. With automated email programs it is fairly easy to set up a series of follow up messages which are sent automatically, on a specific schedule.

Once you head down this path, you will have to commit to creating a steady stream of new content. The good news is something old can be new again with minor updates. Remember you are always driving new visitors to your website, and even if you are tired of the salad cookbook promotion, this visitor has never seen it. So give it a new cover, write a new blog to describe the contents and adjust the sign up form.

Track your results. Compare different offers, not just on their ability to get people to sign up, but also on the quality of prospects they generate. We have lots of people who download the Marketing Org Chart, but they never become clients. On the other hand our Position Statement Workbook frequently catches the interest of people who ultimate want to talk to us about our marketing services.

Paying attention to which offers convert website traffic to prospects help you decide where to focus your website update efforts.

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Roundpeg is an Indianapolis web design firm.