Lead Conversion: Analytics, Decision Making, and Reading Behind the Numbers

I  came across a very interesting article over at MIT Sloan Management Review that discussed a couple of recent findings in one of their annual reports. The report covered the surprising lack of information most employees feel they have and consider necessary to competently perform their job. Moreover, the article elaborates on the increasing frequency of analytics and how the subsequent data from analytic reports are playing an ever prominent role in decision making with companies.

To be honest, this was an absolute relief for me when I read the article (the increasing use of analytics in decision making, that is). In our line of business, I encounter a lot of companies that say, "ya know, we really need to get more traffic coming to our site" or "if we only had more traffic, then we could really increase our overall revenue." Superficially, this may seem like a very logical sentiment, but my retort to these statements typically goes something like this:

"Sure, traffic to your site is important, but what do you think is going to pay the bills first: Traffic coming to your site, or traffic converted into qualified leads?"

So how do you convert the traffic coming to your site into qualified leads? In short, it begins and ends with following usability and conversion best practices and then testing, testing, testing.  In order to measure success though you need benchmarks and measurement tools.  The ability to measure is the fuel that feeds that decision making power - we find this ability through web analytics.

Without the Data, You're Just Guessing

Analytics can tell you a great many things. It can tell you exactly how many people viewed your website or specific page on your website on any given day, week, month, quarter, or year. Analytics can tell you if that costly Facebook or Google AdWords campaign is truly effective or not, and it can tell you what the conversion rate is for your newsletter sign-up form.

Perhaps the most important part of analytics, specifically in regards to your companies online brand presence (read: your website), is you know exactly what is working and exactly what is not working.

To say that this is extremely valuable information is, quite honestly, painfully inadequate.

If you are unable to know exactly what visitor behavior is indicating, or what trend is being represented and how that translates positively (or negatively) for your business, then you really are flying blind. How, then, can you expect to make as sound and informed of a decision as possible based on inadequate or incomplete data? Business, especially in today's economic climate, is hard enough as it is. Why in the world would you not want to take all the advantages that you possibly can?

This is why we stress to all of the companies that we interact with, whether or not they ever become partners with Gainesville Marketing, the importance of analytics. Businesses desperately need to come to terms with the fact that this precious, ever so valuable data will only prove beneficial to them and to the future of their company.

Having a Difficult Time? You're Not Alone!

Knowing that your company needs analytical data from your website is very important; learning how to interpret that data can be intimidating. You are in the right place: Sign up today for your free SEO Analysis and start taking advantage of your analytic information today!