How do I measure Return on Investment on my website?
Here are 5 ways to measure the ROI return on investment in your website:
1. Promotion –
There are different ways a website can add value to your business. But the question of how you measure the ROI of your website remains. Firstly, your website is a marketing tool for you to publish content in the form of pages or articles to explain what you do, how you can be of service or how you add add value and how people can contact you. All this has a value. However, many people underestimate the value of their website as a publishing platform or how a better managed website would make such a big difference to their business. Ask customers if they ever use the site and why. To measure this, check your free Google Analytics account and see how many visitors you get and which pages they look at, before they leave. You will see where they enter the site, where they leave it and how long they stay on each page.
2. Save Time –
It could be that your website wil simply save you or your team some valuable time by answering questions online 24/7/365 or doing online demos, offering video guides, manuals or doing quotations/estimations. You can use the website to take online bookings or schedule appointments. If you are doing it well, then visitors or callers will just want to place an order for your products or services or set up a meeting. Essentially, the website should work like a silent salesman, saying exactly what you want him/her to say.
3. Location –
Ensure that people can find you online and from there they can find you offline. Show exact location complete with Eircode and available car parking or public transport details. It will allow people get to you on time for appointments, which will save you both some time and stress. Make sure that your Google Business Profile entry has the correct details, opening hours, etc.
4. Contact –
Ask all your contacts who call by phone and email where did they get your number or email address. It is an obvious way of finding out which marketing is working for you. You may think it is radio or newspaper or local sponsorship, but ask your customers rather than just guess. Check your enquiry forms on the website, test them regularly. Can you offer a Newsletter subscription? Or create some special offers or create a ‘lead magnet’ to get people to sign up to your mailing list?
5. eCommerce
Obviously, you can see actual recorded online sales for eCommerce sites, which is a pretty good way of measuring financial success. Again, just as with a bricks and mortar store you may have to move the furnishings around or change the display of the products, to get a reaction, an enquiry, sale or order. Maybe you have to do some special offers or lost leaders. Perhaps offer a bonus or a ‘members only’ perk.
Evidently, eCommerce is a whole science unto itself and any sizeable eCommerce venture needs a dedicated webmaster or team to manage its marketing and optimisation responsibilities. As a result, a serious online shop needs to be treated just like a high street shop. Many websites, especially eCommerce sites, need plugins to help add to the performance of your website. These plugins need plenty of care and attention to keep them all up to date and working smoothly with each other. This is all cost or rather investment that needs to come off the gross profit on any sales.
Tip: Make sure you have signed up to your FREE Google Analytics, ensure you have the GA4 code or tag added to your website and that it is working correctly. Then you can look at Google analytics to see how much traffic you are getting. If you do not already do this, please set it up now. Please take a look at our blog item on Website Design, to learn how to create this value.
History – the good news you may not have considered when valuing your website
Every day online for your website is building up a bit of history and credibility with Google. This ‘history’ is adding value to your website, just like goodwill for bricks and mortar stores. Fortunately, you can bring this history with you if you create a new website – and you should do so. Talk to a competent web design agency about redirects and 301s to bring your history to your new website with care.
Bottom line – When you build a website, it should not be seen as a sunk cost for that month, but rather an investment, much like a capital investment. If you invest in a printer, it is depreciated over say three years at 33% a year. With your website, you can appreciate and add value to it, adding it as an asset on your balance sheet. Much like a physical property or commercial premises that appreciates in value, even though it does have some ongoing maintenance costs, much like the physical property. Hopefully, with this guide, you now know how to effectively measure the ROI of your website. Or at least have a better idea how to measure it.
