6. Analytics
One excellent (and free) way for webmasters to measure the effectiveness of their site is by analyzing, tracking and measuring user activity through analytics. The most popular tool, by far, is Google Analytics. This resource allows users to find out what’s been most effective, what’s not, and discover which keywords people have been using to find them. Take time this spring to drill down to the most popular pages, and find out how much time users are spending on your site, which browsers they are using, and experiment with the countless other data points.
Once you have the numbers, set an appointment with your team to assess and analyze your successes and failures. Ask yourselves, “Why aren’t people using the site the way we thought they would? How can we better serve our users? Which pages are visitors viewing the most? Why did they leave?” Having open honest and discussions about your site this spring can help you adapt your content to meet your users’ needs, as well as help you achieve your business goals more effectively.
