Answer These 10 Questions to Immediately Improve Your Website

The hardest part about owning a web site is maintaining a sense of objectivity about it. We get caught up in the mechanics or, perhaps, the aesthetics – the ‘way cool’ flash intro, the funky font, our name in ‘lights’ – and lose sight of the overall purpose of the site. Heck, we may not even have an overall objective other than to ‘have a website’.

The 10 Questions that will Improve Your Website

Here’s a list of 10 questions that should help you to focus more clearly on delivering a web site that affirmatively answers the question every website visitor asks, “WIIFM?” Don’t know what that means? Well, it’s the central question that every browser asks when determining whether to invest his or her time and treasure in your site, namely, “What’s In It For Me?”

Would I buy from my site? Whether it’s service, products or simply reputation, you’re selling something on your site. So ask yourself this, “If you were looking for what you are selling, would you buy it from your website?”If you can’t answer with a resounding yes then your action plan is to list all the reasons why not, and fix them.Oh, and a corollary to the question, “Can I buy from my site?” Seems like a silly question but the truth is that too many sites have shopping carts or processes that are unwieldy or just plain broken. Is yours one of them?
Would You Buy from Your Website?
Again, same criteria as question 1, if this wasn’t YOUR site ask yourself…Would I recommend my site to friends, family or colleagues?Don’t be embarrassed, most people don’t recommend the sites they visit to their friends and colleagues. A site has to be pretty extraordinary to motivate you to ‘impose’ on your personal network in that manner. Right?If you can’t answer, “you bet!” then your action plan is to define what your site needs to offer that would make it a sure recommendation.
Would I sign up for my email newsletter or ezine or subscribe to my blog? Now we’re moving from casual dating to a committed relationship. We aren’t going to your place; you’re coming to mine. So what’s going to motivate you to give the keys to your inbox to a relative stranger? No! You’re kidding, you wouldn’t sign up for your own ezine; subscribe to your blog? Answering the question, “Why?” is your next action step.
Would I bookmark or subscribe to my site and/or blog and return on a regular basis? Is anybody else? Have you ever looked at your website statistics to see how many visitors return on a regular basis, your loyalty metric? Or the number of new versus returning visitors? Or reviewed your bounce rate (defined by one Google Analytics wag as, “I came, I puked, I left!”) – a website’s bounce rate is key as it shows how many visitors came to your site and, without so much as a thank-you click, turned around and left.A high bounce rate means that either your attracting the wrong traffic or your site isn’t appealing enough to convince the right traffic to stay. Or maybe it’s that built and abandoned in 1999 vibe that it’s giving off…Your action plan is to create a list of steps you can take to make your site more appealing and ‘sticky’.If you can’t answer the above questions then you either haven’t installed Google Analytics or you aren’t reviewing your site metrics on a regular basis. So either set up an account or get familiar with your existing statistics. Google Analytics are easy to implement, provide powerful insight into your site and they’re free. If you aren’t blogging, consider starting. Add an industry news feed to your home page or a sidebar on your interior pages. Create an upcoming events or recent company happenings section to spotlight announcements pertaining to your company, industry or customers.Keep this is mind; when you’re site’s been bookmarked or subscribed to it’s been selected to be part of someone’s Internet reference library; a site of singular value. Is your site in your own library?
Would I choose my site as a model if I was building a new site or redeveloping an existing one? I mean, isn’t this what we do when developing our own site? We tell our developers we want a site just like ABCCo. Why? Because it delivers the kind of value that you want yours to deliver. So, next time you’re contemplating a major overhaul or addition to your site will you say, “I want a site just like mine … just more of it?” Your action step is to look at the site’s of 10 of your competitors and ask yourself, “how do I compare.” If the answer is, “poorly!”, then take the necessary steps to fix this situation.
Would I request more information from my site? That’s the key, right? You’ve whetted my appetite and now I’m even hungrier. I’m so intrigued that I’ll give you my name, email address, why, heaven forbid, maybe even my phone number. I’m smitten! Have you smit yourself lately? If not, your action step is to figure out what value you can offer that WOULD smite you! And, by the way, what about those Calls to Action”? Do you have great calls to action throughout the site that motivate browsers to click, subscribe, download and buy? If not, another action step!
Would I link to my site? Not only do I think my site is great but I don’t mind sharing it with others – even if it means losing their attention. I’m not talking about the ‘you rub my link & I’ll rub yours’ reciprocal link exchange kinds of arrangements. I’m talking about other sites that link to you just because you’ve got something special to offer. So, how about it, what would it take for you to generate such an unconditional link? That’s this question’s action step.
Like a Bull Rider Your Website Has 8 Seconds to Make a Good Impression
Can I describe the purpose of my site within 30 seconds of hitting the home page? How about in 9 seconds?Unless they’re a returning visitor or you’ve directed them to the site, your new visitors need to be assured that they’re in the right place. After all, if you were shopping for shoes you wouldn’t walk into a store which didn’t look like it sold shoes, would you? Your site visitors are no different. We all seem to be very good at conveying what we’re not, how about becoming even better at conveying what we are? Your action step? Grab a neighbor or the guy who’s in the office next door. Buy them a cup of coffee or give them a gift certificate but sit them down in front of the your website and ask them, “what’s this site about?” And, “What can you do on this site?” If you don’t like their answers (or they don’t have one) then fix it.
Would I go beyond the home page to explore my site in depth? Look at your site stats (Google Analytics again). How many people enter and exit on the same page; the majority, right? While that’s not okay. Let’s take a different look. How many people look at 2 pages and then leave? You got them to invest a precious click but then you blew it. You turned them off and turned them away. So ask yourself, “How do I turn my turn-offs on?”
Would I spend more than 5 seconds on my site before clicking through to the next listing on the Search Engine results page (SERP)? I’m sure you’ve seen the statistics on how many seconds (anywhere from 3 to 8 seconds) you have to make a good impression upon meeting someone for the first time. Well the web’s no different. It’s a big party out there and your visitors don’t have time to waste in dull, boring conversation when the party host, Mr. Google, has so many potentially interesting guests lined up for you to meet. Question, are you sitting on the dais at Mr. Google’s party or by the swinging door next to the kitchen?

Too often pride of ownership, complacency or just plain busyness affects our efforts to make our web site as effective as it can be in complementing and promoting our business. Next time this happens it might be worthwhile to ask yourself a few questions.

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Action Step to Improving Your Website

Contact Gray eMarketing Solutions if you’d like to arrange a complementary, no obligation 15 minute review of your website’s home page. Call 1-720-319-8256 or click the link and ask for your free evaluation in the “Other Needs and Interests” box.

Article Originally Published at: http://www.articlesbase.com/internet-marketing-articles/10-questions-every-website-owner-should-ask-themselves-808924.html

About the Author:

Tom Gray is the founder and Chief Website Improvement Officer for Gray eMarketing Solutions. An internet marketing expert and social media mentor, Tom’s been using the internet to market and promote his and his client’s business since 1996. Contact him at 1-720-319-8256 to discuss how he can help you improve your website, establish or expand your social media presence and enjoy the rewards of an effective internet presence.

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