We all know that every journey includes a destination, a plan to get there, and an adventure doing so. What we often forget about is that you’ll never get there if you don’t have the most vital piece; your starting point.
The fact is, if you don’t know where you are, you have little chance of getting to your destination. Embarking on a marketing journey to reach your client is no different. You need a starting point.
In the Internet world, your starting point isn’t a location, but rather a metric. If your goal is to double your sales, then doubling the people that find you is the logical way to get there. The amount of people coming to your site is known as your traffic, and you measure your traffic levels with tools called analytics.
The most popular analytic is Google Analytics, which Google provides for free. It’s fairly easy to install into your site, and once you install it, Google will record all sorts of information for you to use in your marketing, including traffic levels.
Among other things this tool can visually show you:
* How many people visited your site
* Which days they visited
* Which hours they visited
* Where they visited from
* Basic information on how they found you
* Even whether they checked out your site from a computer or mobile device.
This sounds like a lot of information. It is. Right out of the gate it is set up with all sorts of data gathering, and it can be made to do even more complex things with the right expertise.
Keeping things simple at first is the right idea though, so start simple and just concentrate on the traffic levels.
Use this main measurement as a benchmark to tell you if you’re going in the right direction or not. If you get 1500 views per month, you want that number to go up. As you make changes you will be able to see if they are helping by watching this number.
Keep in mind that as with all metrics, there are going to be anomalies, so try and focus on the long term averages. When you install your analytics, it will take time to gather enough data for you to have an idea of where you are beginning, so if you’re making your plans to dominate the internet, install analytics today. You do not want to start your marketing campaigns until this is in place.
When you have your analytics installed, then it’s time for a goal, a plan, and rolling up your sleeves. The Internet awaits you.
About Kalon Wiggins
Kalon Wiggins is the CEO of Epic Design Labs web design firm. They offer custom web design, online marketing and e-commerce sites in Portland, OR. Learn more about them here or connect with Kalon on Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn