If you’re not measuring your online marketing results, you really have no idea what kind of impact you are having – are you making an impression, finding new customers, getting some sort of ROI?
The best approach is to connect old and new measurement tools to ensure you are competitively promoting your business. Try out the following three simple strategies:
1. Measure conversion sources and click-throughs.
Sales leads have been the standard measurement of marketing efforts for a long time, but the development of new technologies and the growth of the Web are making it easier to get a more holistic view of what kind of impact you are really having.
Use Google Analytics and Omniture to keep track of conversion sources and click-throughs – two very important metrics to track. They’ll help you understand where your Web visitors are coming from and what links and landing pages they are using the most.
2. Focus on exposure.
Google yourself and your business. Where is your content appearing in search engine results when someone enters keywords? How can you promote your website to get higher and higher listings?
As a small business owner, it is in your best interest to develop new ways to expose your ideas before you even get to the actual sales cycle – you want to get potential customers hooked before you get into their pocket. Your ultimate goal is to make your ideas and content more visible to the public.
3. Measure reach from month to month.
It’s easy to get lost in a jungle of information metrics; don’t ignore important data and let it become a confusing burden instead of a gold mine of information that will help you improve your marketing strategy.
Avoid making this mistake by focusing on a few key basics. Track the number of people reading your blog posts and your performance in search engines. Keep an eye on your Twitter following and Facebook page, measuring your improvement month-to-month. All of these tools are easy ways to determine your reach and how it is growing (or shrinking).
Use these strategies to measure what matters, and you’ll soon find yourself with more business than you can handle.
Image by Flickr user Havar og Solveig (Creative Commons)
Web.com is now offering forums designed to support small businesses in cities throughout the US. Learn more about these forums here: http://Businessforum.web.com/
Tags: blog, click-throughs, conversion, Facebook, Google Analytics, Marketing, Omniture, online marketing, ROI, search engine results, social media, Twitter
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