Let’s talk about your website. Or, rather, let’s talk about what is happening on. If you’re not focused on your site experience, your metrics and (in general) how your site is performing, how can you get to where you are wanting to go?
Short answer, you can’t. Without measuring your data, and measuring the correct data, the visibility into your metrics is skewed.
Here are some quick-hitting tips to align your site with your initiatives.
Analytics
Feel like you ‘re missing out? You might be if your analytics program doesn’t include personalization testing this year. Obviously, testing is nothing new and neither is personalization. But, we strongly recommended vetting third-party tools for personalization and A/B testing. Hone your scope by doing this at a one-to-one user level to capitalize on recent advancements in technologies.
And one more thing, to avoid performance reporting issues, make sure you QA your UTM parameters and that they are being properly parsed out your web analytics platform.
Data Visualizations
Storytelling. I am sure you have heard that buzz word before. I mean, it is human nature to tell stories. But, did you know that you can do it with data? We are visual creatures and storytelling with data or data visualizations only support that. Data visualization helps you and your clients get an at-a-glance view of your KPIs. So, make them the most effective and digestible by making them concise.
Here’s what we suggest. Leverage your BI platform to improve storytelling through data to help reduce the time it takes for employees to accessing and build reports, as well as connect disparate data sources through automation. Additionally, frequently assess your dashboards and visualizations to make sure they continue to answer your key business questions. Don’t waste your time by looking at irrelevant information.
Site Performance
Keep your site in shape by conducting a one-time cleanup. Then, maintain this momentum by scheduling quarterly optimization of on-site search results. This audit is low in effort but high in impact and can result in immediate revenue increases up to 3x. It is a useful practice to manually review, even when third-party algorithmic tools are in place on the site.
SEO
The use of voice search is only on the rise with plenty of room to go. In January, 21% of US adults said they have at least one smart speaker in their home and with recent changes to Google’s algorithms and treatment of listings, brands with a brick-and-mortar footprint need to be more active in their local search optimizations. To support that, conduct an audit of your local SEO strategy and prioritize optimization for the outlier locations (those that need a boost and top performers).
Data
I’ll keep this one short and sweet. Make sure your data is being collected in the right way and pulling into the right location. Doing this prevents the need for data cleanup, restructuring, and labeling which can be ridiculously time-consuming. Especially when you need to start analyzing or building reports.
Data Collection
I am sure you are well aware of the changes and laws around data and data collection. With the passing of data collection and protection measures like the GDPR in Europe and the CCPA stateside in California, you need to be explicit about what you’re are collecting and how you intend to use that information. It’s more important than ever to make sure you’re not collecting sensitive personal information about your consumers unless they’ve opted-in.
Reporting
And last, but never least, reporting. The main point here, set up your reports before major events like after holiday or flash sales. Don’t think of the reports as a tell for the end results. When data starts coming through, spend your time taking actions on insights rather than building out the actual reports.
There you have it. Our expert tips on how to maximize your site efforts this year. I tried to keep it short and sweet, but if you have more questions (or just want to talk data) drop us a line, we’d love to chat.
