How do you measure success?© James Lewin
Jun 13, 2001
Partially because of well-publicized site failures, and partially
because of the maturation of companies' Web strategies, companies are
looking more closely than ever before at the amount of money being
spent on their Web sites. Most Web projects will need to provide a
clear return on investment, and you will probably need to provide
metrics that demonstrate the your site's benefits as well.
Generating traffic used to be considered enough. In fact, a Forrester
Research study showed that hits and page views are the most popular Web
site success measures. While site traffic remain an important measure
to be aware of, traffic alone doesn't paint a clear picture of your
site's benefits. You need to find better Web site success metrics.
What you measure is determined by your site's goals. Most sites have
several jobs, such as distributing product info, handling tech support,
and selling products and services. Establish your site's main goals and
then create metrics that allow you to measure your site's performance.
Here are some suggested metrics for a variety of site goals:
- Community Building
- Measure the number of users, or registrations over time.
- Track session length to determine "stickiness" of online
community.
- Determine user participation, or the ratio of posters to users.
Distributing Company Information
- Log files showing the number of product info or file downloads.
- Measure the percentage of users that have viewed a page or file.
- Track whether distributing info online reduces support line calls.
Improving Internal Business Processes
- Track increases in productivity.
- Determine if your site improves timeliness of delivery.
- Does it allow your company to meet deadlines more often?
- Track costs the Web site eliminates, such as printing, overnight
mail, or phone lines.
Improving Customer Satisfaction
- Use Web surveys and other tools to determine customer
satisfaction.
- Track the number of customer feedback forms generated online.
- Measure the number of returning users.
Promoting Your Company
- Track references to your site in online and offline media.
- Track the number and type of references using clipping services.
- Use log files to determine site traffic and number of visitors.
- Use search engines to determine your site popularity, or links to
your site.
Sales
- Track revenue online sales, or revenue resulting from Web site.
- Measure the number of online buyers over time.
- Track the percentage of returns. Is your site creating informed
buyers?
Online Support
- Track the total cost of support to see if site reduces other
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