Evaluating Website Effectiveness

1. Evaluating Website Effectiveness EVALUATING WEBSITE EFFECTIVENESS HOW-TO GUIDE

2. 2 Evaluating Website Effectiveness How-to Guide This report has been designed to provide practical advice for evaluating your website effective- ness compared to your top 2 competitors. Communicating via your website is a key area to drive competitive advantage; don't miss this opportunity. Read this report to optimize your website program to generate more leads, communicate exter- nally, and enhance your brand. HOW-TO GUIDE Understand Website Effectiveness Best Practices Evaluate Your Website with a Proven Framework Identify Areas of Strength & Weakness Compare your Website to the Competition Develop a Website Program Action Plan Communicate Competitive Advantages Online Evaluating Website Effectiveness Websites have become the de-facto standard for communicating externally to customers, pros- pects, investors, potential employees, partners, and other key stakeholders. Surprisingly, since the boom of web activity in the dot.com era, many organizations have failed to maintain an effective website. As the executive responsible for managing website programs, it is your responsibility to drive this online channel forward and create a competitive advantage in online presence. Perform a brief analysis of the strengths & weaknesses of your own website, and your top 2 competitors, to determine who is leading the charge in this area of marketing. If you are being outshined, build the business case for a website upgrade, or at least, improve your current capabilities and web effectiveness. Introduction 2 Evaluating Website Effectiveness How-to Guide This report has been designed to provide practical advice for evaluating your website effective- ness compared to your top 2 competitors. Communicating via your website is a key area to drive competitive advantage; don't miss this opportunity. Read this report to optimize your website program to generate more leads, communicate exter- nally, and enhance your brand. HOW-TO GUIDE Understand Website Effectiveness Best Practices Evaluate Your Website with a Proven Framework Identify Areas of Strength & Weakness Compare your Website to the Competition Develop a Website Program Action Plan Communicate Competitive Advantages Online Evaluating Website Effectiveness Websites have become the de-facto standard for communicating externally to customers, pros- pects, investors, potential employees, partners, and other key stakeholders. Surprisingly, since the boom of web activity in the dot.com era, many organizations have failed to maintain an effective website. As the executive responsible for managing website programs, it is your responsibility to drive this online channel forward and create a competitive advantage in online presence. Perform a brief analysis of the strengths & weaknesses of your own website, and your top 2 competitors, to determine who is leading the charge in this area of marketing. If you are being outshined, build the business case for a website upgrade, or at least, improve your current capabilities and web effectiveness. Introduction

3. 3 Evaluating Website Effectiveness How-to Guide What Makes a Website Effective? 1. Clear Communication Users immediately know who you are/what you do The website objective (provide info, support) is clear Target market is clearly defined and catered to There is a simple call-to-action (register for webcast) No irrelevant content or sections are present Right amount of info provided. Not too much/too little 2. Brand Consistency & Aesthetic Appeal Pages follow consistent layout, color scheme, style Key marketing messages a clearly laid out No spelling mistakes or poor grammar Online branding is consistent with offline collateral Website reflects your expertise accurately Visually appealing and “nice-on-the-eyes” Clean, professional, and follows good design principles 3. User-Friendliness & Easy Navigation Users can quickly navigate to each section Critical information available within 3 clicks of homepage Forms are automatically populated for return visitors There are clear navigation “paths” to key sections All links are active. No broken links or display errors 4. Search Engine Optimization & Structure Website has been submitted & indexed by Google Meta-tags, keywords, page titles are in code Headers are text-based, not graphic-based There is a sitemap that links to all pages directly All pages have incoming/outgoing links The following section will describe 6 key areas that drive effectiveness, to help you understand what makes a solid website. Understand these criteria before doing an evaluation. 3 Evaluating Website Effectiveness How-to Guide What Makes a Website Effective? 1. Clear Communication Users immediately know who you are/what you do The website objective (provide info, support) is clear Target market is clearly defined and catered to There is a simple call-to-action (register for webcast) No irrelevant content or sections are present Right amount of info provided. Not too much/too little 2. Brand Consistency & Aesthetic Appeal Pages follow consistent layout, color scheme, style Key marketing messages a clearly laid out No spelling mistakes or poor grammar Online branding is consistent with offline collateral Website reflects your expertise accurately Visually appealing and “nice-on-the-eyes” Clean, professional, and follows good design principles 3. User-Friendliness & Easy Navigation Users can quickly navigate to each section Critical information available within 3 clicks of homepage Forms are automatically populated for return visitors There are clear navigation “paths” to key sections All links are active. No broken links or display errors 4. Search Engine Optimization & Structure Website has been submitted & indexed by Google Meta-tags, keywords, page titles are in code Headers are text-based, not graphic-based There is a sitemap that links to all pages directly All pages have incoming/outgoing links The following section will describe 6 key areas that drive effectiveness, to help you understand what makes a solid website. Understand these criteria before doing an evaluation.

4. 4 Evaluating Website Effectiveness How-to Guide 5. Content, Forms, & Contact Information “Resources” section provides whitepapers & data sheets Webcasts or other value-added content is available Forms capture web leads by gathering contact info Forms are not too cumbersome or ask for too much info All departments have contact information listed Content added regularly to increase visitor return rate 6. Transaction Capabilities & Analytics New visitors can make purchases without calling you Shopping cart is seamless, easy-to-use, and secure Analytics tell you who is on site, what their viewed Reporting provides web-traffic stats such as page views You can determine where your visitors came from Use Demand Metric's Competitive Website Analysis Tool to quickly evaluate your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This exercise will only take about 15 minutes and will provide a benchmark to demonstrate future improvements. To build momentum for a web program initiative, distribute this tool to other stakeholders in your business to obtain their perspective on your current level of effectiveness. Once you have gath- ered the results, hold a meeting to discuss findings. "Who has the competitive advantage for web effectiveness?” Using the 'Competitor 1' and 'Competitor 2' tabs in the Competitive Website Analysis Tool, you can conduct an apples-to-apples comparison of how your website stacks up to the competition. If achieving budget approval for a website redesign is going to be a chore, use the results of this analysis to build a Business Case for improving website effectiveness. Your focus should be on how this program will drive a competitive advantage for online communications, branding, lead generation, and public relations. Evaluating your Strengths & Weaknesses Compare your Website with Competitors 4 Evaluating Website Effectiveness How-to Guide 5. Content, Forms, & Contact Information “Resources” section provides whitepapers & data sheets Webcasts or other value-added content is available Forms capture web leads by gathering contact info Forms are not too cumbersome or ask for too much info All departments have contact information listed Content added regularly to increase visitor return rate 6. Transaction Capabilities & Analytics New visitors can make purchases without calling you Shopping cart is seamless, easy-to-use, and secure Analytics tell you who is on site, what their viewed Reporting provides web-traffic stats such as page views You can determine where your visitors came from Use Demand Metric's Competitive Website Analysis Tool to quickly evaluate your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This exercise will only take about 15 minutes and will provide a benchmark to demonstrate future improvements. To build momentum for a web program initiative, distribute this tool to other stakeholders in your business to obtain their perspective on your current level of effectiveness. Once you have gath- ered the results, hold a meeting to discuss findings. "Who has the competitive advantage for web effectiveness?” Using the 'Competitor 1' and 'Competitor 2' tabs in the Competitive Website Analysis Tool, you can conduct an apples-to-apples comparison of how your website stacks up to the competition. If achieving budget approval for a website redesign is going to be a chore, use the results of this analysis to build a Business Case for improving website effectiveness. Your focus should be on how this program will drive a competitive advantage for online communications, branding, lead generation, and public relations. Evaluating your Strengths & Weaknesses Compare your Website with Competitors

5. 5 Evaluating Website Effectiveness How-to Guide Develop a Website Program Action Plan Based on the results of your competitive web analysis, develop a website program action plan to make your recommendations. Provide options for the program, including: Demand Metric has produced a tactical Best Practices Report on “redesigning your corporate website” which has the tools, best practices, and actionable advice to kick-start your project. You can also generate ideas with the following Research Notes: Do Nothing Upgrade Existing Website Conduct Complete Overhaul Simplifying Search Engine Optimization Estimating Website Design Costs Free Web Analytics from Google Pull Prospects with Google AdWords Governing your Corporate Website In this day and age, websites are the primary communication vehicle for mid-sized organizations. Strikingly, most websites do not convey the professionalism, expertise, culture, or competitive advantages boasted by their organization. Conduct a very quick website effectiveness evaluation to determine if you could generate more leads and improve your corporate image by updating, upgrading, or re-tooling your current website. Market leaders, growing start-ups, and steady producers, all need to communicate clearly with customers, prospects, investors, potential employees, and other key stakeholders. Take ownership and evaluate your effectiveness. Bottom Line 5 Evaluating Website Effectiveness How-to Guide Develop a Website Program Action Plan Based on the results of your competitive web analysis, develop a website program action plan to make your recommendations. Provide options for the program, including: Demand Metric has produced a tactical Best Practices Report on “redesigning your corporate website” which has the tools, best practices, and actionable advice to kick-start your project. You can also generate ideas with the following Research Notes: Do Nothing Upgrade Existing Website Conduct Complete Overhaul Simplifying Search Engine Optimization Estimating Website Design Costs Free Web Analytics from Google Pull Prospects with Google AdWords Governing your Corporate Website In this day and age, websites are the primary communication vehicle for mid-sized organizations. Strikingly, most websites do not convey the professionalism, expertise, culture, or competitive advantages boasted by their organization. Conduct a very quick website effectiveness evaluation to determine if you could generate more leads and improve your corporate image by updating, upgrading, or re-tooling your current website. Market leaders, growing start-ups, and steady producers, all need to communicate clearly with customers, prospects, investors, potential employees, and other key stakeholders. Take ownership and evaluate your effectiveness. Bottom Line

6. Demand Metric is a marketing research and advisory firm serving a membership community of over 100,000 marketing professionals and consultants in 75 countries. Offering consulting playbooks, advisory services, and 500+ premium marketing tools and templates, Demand Metric resources and expertise help the marketing community plan more efficiently and effectively, answer the difficult questions about their work with authority and conviction, and complete marketing projects more quickly and with greater confidence — thus boosting the respect of the marketing team and making it easier to justify resources the team needs to succeed. To learn more about Demand Metric, please visit www.demandmetric.com About Demand Metric Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Join Linkedin Group © Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Demand Metric is a marketing research and advisory firm serving a membership community of over 100,000 marketing professionals and consultants in 75 countries. Offering consulting playbooks, advisory services, and 500+ premium marketing tools and templates, Demand Metric resources and expertise help the marketing community plan more efficiently and effectively, answer the difficult questions about their work with authority and conviction, and complete marketing projects more quickly and with greater confidence — thus boosting the respect of the marketing team and making it easier to justify resources the team needs to succeed. To learn more about Demand Metric, please visit www.demandmetric.com About Demand Metric Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Join Linkedin Group © Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.