Digital Platforms
What I am about to share with you is the worst-kept industry secret ever: Your website is the most important element of all of your marketing efforts. Duh, right? It sounds so basic and rudimentary, yet it is easy to forget, overlook and leave unattended.
Your company’s website is the destination for all of your digital traffic, and you may spend a good amount of money to drive people there. The last thing you want is for your audience to be confused by your website, unsure of who you are or what you do.
While this blog doesn’t speak to your website specifically, I can provide you with some areas of insight, sharing with you a new perspective on which to view your MVA (most valuable asset).
The best way to evaluate your website is to ask yourself and your team these three questions:
Is it achieving our desired results?
Does it effectively represent our brand?
Is it responsive?
You’ll want to answer these questions carefully. If you can’t confidently check off any or all of the boxes, it may be time to consider a website overhaul.
Does our website achieve the desired results?
This question is both simple and complex to answer.
You’re basically asking yourself, “Does it do what we want it to or not? Is it achieving our goals?” For example, if your goal is to sell X number of products, have your sales been increasing or on the decline?
That’s the simple part. Now we add more complexity into the mix.
To accurately gauge your website’s efficacy, you need to understand what users do when they’re on your site. Analyzing your bounce rate is a great way to do this. “Bounce rate” refers to the percentage of users who land on your website but exit it without ever navigating to any other pages.
A high bounce rate means users aren’t having a good experience and can’t find what they’re looking for. According to Semrush, as a general rule, an optimal bounce rate is between 26% and 40%. The only exception to this rule is if the majority of visits are via paid traffic, which typically has a much higher bounce rate due to the larger volume, as you’re casting a wider net and capturing people who are potentially less engaged and/or familiar with your brand.
Bounce rates will vary from page to page, but there is one part of your website that must have a lower bounce rate: your homepage. It’s like your company’s billboard, because it's your best chance to make a quick, positive impression. If people are quickly exiting your site after seeing your homepage, you have a problem.
