Web Marketing 101: Measuring Success

Metrics are the key to understanding the value that your web consultant provides. Depending on your line of business, these metrics can include things like the value of leads generated as a consequence of the consultant's actions, or the conversion rate improvements on your web site.

GeniusWeb will determine what metrics matter to you at the outset, so that you can see the dividends of our actions.

Here are a few general cases and the metrics we tend to use.

Online Retailers

Retailers primarily want two things:

1. Increase conversions (sales)
2. Increase traffic (leads)

GeniusWeb uses web statistics to measure outcomes in both of these areas. For example, Google Analytics is currently one of the most useful in short-term tracking of trends on your web site. In some cases it can even monitor your conversion rates and trace sales directly back to search queries!

Other web stat programs can also be combined with logging and sales figures to determine outcomes and measure progress.

Leads For Traditional Businesses

Quite a few regular businesses are using the web to generate leads, quotes, and provide customer education about available services and options.

Measuring leads and quotes is pretty straightforward, but measuring customer education could require surveying and other feedback mechanisms.

Other quality assessment measurements are possible, and GeniusWeb will work with you to set realistic goals for your lead generation system.

Software Outcomes

Software quality and productivity are particularly complicated things to measure.

Some organizations blindly use SLoC/hr to calculate value, which is a terrible idea in most cases since the quality of code (organization, reuse, comments) is not taken into account.

Others measure from the testing end, or the bug resolution figures, or customer complaints.

GeniusWeb is very familiar with this issue, and can help find the best fit to help see how software productivity is impacting your company's bottom line.