Your Website’s Health & Vital Statistics

Put your webmaster hat back on! Last week we talked about the daily and weekly webmaster tasks for small business owners. Were you able to complete the tasks for the first week? If so, you are on track for web marketer success.  Let’s review our daily, weekly, and new monthly tasks!

1. Login to WordPress daily to check for completed customer forms.
2. Fix any broken links weekly.
3. Write one blog post or website update weekly (Check out Sarah Manley’s recent post for help on writing great blog posts!)
4. Review your website statistics monthly and take action when needed.

By checking your website statistics once a month (at minimum) you will have your finger on the pulse of your website’s health to keep it on track and thriving. Sometimes website statistics can be overwhelming, but it helps to know what to look for and why.

Your Vital Website Stats:

• Unique Visitors – This is the main metric that most people use to measure and compare the success of their website. This statistic counts each visitor (computer) only once during a given time frame.
• Time Spent on the Site – Are you posting content that you readers want to spend time reading and browsing on your site? The longer the time spent on your site, the more likely that your readers are really enjoying what they see.
• Popular Pages – Are your most popular pages also your top selling products, most valuable resources, or landing pages? Examine what your visitors like best, and determine how to improve or maximize what you are giving them.
• Mobile Statistics – How are your customers accessing your website? If many people are looking at it thru a mobile phone, make sure that your website is made-for-mobile.
• Search Terms – What terms are people using to find you through search engines? You may see some obvious ones like your company and product name, but also some surprising ones that you may have not thought of yet.
• Incoming Links/Referrers – What websites are linking to you or sending traffic your way? If you are putting efforts into social media, you will probably want to see websites like Facebook or Twitter sending traffic back to you.

Warning: If you have an ounce of marketing in your blood, you may find your website statistics slightly fascinating. Don’t be alarmed, there are others with this condition.

Ensure your Website’s Health & Wellness:

Now that you have reviewed your website statistics, use the information to help your website traffic thrive!

1. Set SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely) so that you know what numbers or results you want to see next month or quarter.
2. Feed your website with content nutrients (blog posts, various media, incoming links, etc).
3. Think beyond your main website to social media and mobile (using Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, local search, and your mobile website to attract more visitors).
4. Proactively act on what you see (make changes to see how it impacts your future stats).

If you are interested in learning more about your website’s statistics and services that Vivid Image offers such as Quarterly Meetings, contact your project manager or request a quote.

When is the last time you reviewed your website stats? What changes did you make in order to reach your goals and increase overall traffic? Which stats do you find the most useful?

Photo Credit: hudsonthego