After convincing you to add SEO to your marketing dashboard, I’d like to focus on the importance of segmenting all the sources of your Web site traffic to improve results.

Segmenting traffic sources to your Web site from all your media campaigns (paid search, organic search, email marketing and banner ads, as well as the TV, radio and print ad URLs) is important for maximizing Web site and campaign performance. This allows you to focus on each subset to calculate its value, make recurring adjustments based on the data and ultimately ensure the highest return for marketing and sales expenditures.

Your site visitors place different values on price, volume, technical features, complexity, risk/reward, brand name, options, status quo, social trends and benefits. Therefore, the manner in which a visitor perceives your offer is critical, especially when the introduction to your business is via your Web site.

The point of entry, the pathway followed to view your offer, and your messaging are all of utmost importance. A dashboard tracking keywords and their traffic sources can reveal behavior from click-through to landing page. This provides the necessary data to evaluate conversions vs. non-conversions so you can make improvements at the right point.

The Importance of Analytics

All online campaigns provide the opportunity for continuous improvement through analytics. The value of having good analytics and regular reporting following site optimization can’t be overemphasized. Measurement is the key to discovery, and discovery uncovers the factors responsible for your site’s maximum success.

If you sell mops, whether you sell through a worldwide, national or regional distribution center, you want to direct your prospects and visitors through an optimized conversion funnel that results in a purchase. As obvious as it seems, few Web sites consistently use analytics for continuously improving conversions.

Your Web site performance is directly related to the changes triggered by the regular use of analytics. Without a dashboard in place to monitor key performance indicators (KPIs), you will experience opportunity loss. By reviewing data to improve your media spend and maximize Web site performance you have a clear advantage over traditional, pre-1995 business strategies.

Finding a Centerline

Running a business at the speed of light is a major challenge in today’s business environment, and on the Web, it’s more like warp speed. If you are accelerating to 1,000,000 mph, you’ll need a centerline to follow.

Analytics, KPIs, periodic reporting, and ongoing Web site optimization can serve as your centerline. They are the key to increasing conversions and accomplishing your business goals.

First Impressions Count

To over-simplify what is going on with many Web sites -- every day, search engines and humans seek to understand your subject matter as quickly as possible and then leave.

First impressions are critical, and the first thought consumers experience upon arrival to your Web site is based on the very first piece of information you present to them.

It doesn’t matter if it is a search engine or a human being, upon entering your site, there is an expectation. This is also true of your ad campaigns on the Web or TV, radio and print.

Human expectations are often set through marketing and advertising initiatives. For example, in its simplest form, companies set an expectation with keywords in Sponsored Listings at Google and Yahoo. Each keyword you use is setting a specific visitor expectation. When that expectation is matched with a highly relevant landing page, the visitor is satisfied. When the links and supporting information on the landing page are relevant to the first impression (their keyword query), the visitor will go deeper and is much more likely to convert or take the desired action.

Make Your Landing Page Relevant

Don’t you just love it when you ask a question and you get an answer relevant to that question? Wouldn’t you dislike it if you asked a question and got gobbledegook?

The content on the landing page generated for a keyword search or any other advertising campaign is of utmost importance and should address the customer’s query. This page should provide the visitor with a first impression that directly answers the query. The page and its content must greet the visitor at the highest level of relevancy in order for that visitor to feel good and take the next step.

Improve Marketing ROI

Placing strategic variables in your dashboard and adhering to sound marketing principles can further enhance your Web site and marketing campaign performance. By putting all the right media in your dashboard for analysis and action, you will get the best return on ad spend and marketing ROI.

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