Getting started with a website is a big first step. It takes guts, determination and a lot of smart thinking. We can help with that. This is the fourth in a series of five posts on getting started with a website.
Once you’re up and running with a website it’s important to pay attention. If you’re going to reach your goals and objectives you need to be watching for the appropriate indicators that measure success. These may be your site’s traffic or response from the site or customers or whatever it is you’re tracking.
Just be sure you’re tracking them. Use a stats system like Google Analytics to track some of the big numbers. If you’re tracking things that aren’t automatically trackable like number of customers or responses you could just set up a simple Excel file (or a free Google Doc, to continue the economical streak). Maybe you’re tracking multiple numbers, like customers, sales, web site visitors, RSS subscribers, Twitter subscribers, etc., and an Excel file is an ideal way to bring them all together. The point is to pay attention to the important numbers and see how your strategies and tactics are working.
Especially as you’re getting started it will be slow going, so don’t get discouraged. Your website will need time to become established and you’ll need to spread the word. Your customers won’t realize you have a website until you tell them. As word begins to spread and your plans fall into place you should see your metrics begin to rise.
After a little time you should be able to notice if your efforts are paying off. This is especially important because you don’t want to waste time on something that isn’t working. If you’re posting blog entry after blog entry and your site’s traffic is still flat, you might need to try something else. But if you notice a little rise each time you post a blog entry that might be an indicator that you’re doing something right.
Keep in mind that you can’t put complete trust in the numbers. There are always other indicators that might trump the numbers (for example it might not directly bring in customers to blog, but blogging might give your brand an unquantifiable shot of respectability). And it’s also easy to become obsessed with the numbers. Especially when you can look at snazzy graphs you might be tempted to check your stats every day. Resist the temptation. While you do need to pay attention to what’s working, you can’t obsess. Instead obsess with getting your content right. Figure out how to track your stats and then do it infrequently enough so it’s not a distraction, but often enough that you can spot patterns and react accordingly.
Above all, be patient. You can build a website in a day, but you can’t build a great website in a day.
