You can determine the effectiveness of your website by the results it achieves. Does it have a means of gathering user details for you to add to your marketing database? Does it prompt the user to action? 

These are just a couple of actions your website needs to be performing for you to ensure you have the competitive advantage and you are getting a return on your investment.

Here’s a few things that may help you achieve your online goals.

E-commerce store - Increase your sales by selling online. Less overheads means you can offer very attractive deals on your products or services. Sell online nationwide or even internationally.

Lead generation - Users fill out a registration form to accept an offer (generally free). Doesn’t have to be a physical product. For example, give away an e-book on a topic that your target groups would be interested in, or a free consultation.

Educate - Keep your users on your site for longer. This increases the chance of them responding to your call-to-action's (you should have a couple on every page), and remembering your brand in the future. Website content should be easy to find, informative and well written. 

Relationship - Build relationships with your users. Keep your brand fresh in your prospects minds through regular, informative communications. Businesses that offer helpful information will win hands down over those that push their products everytime. Have an opt-in for your users to receive communications on an ongoing basis.

This is crucial for good search engine rankings.

Find a name that reflects your main business activity promoted on your landing page or website. This will allow search engines to find your webpage based on the specific page name as well as the density of keywords on that page.

Consider having as many URL’s as you have activities on different pages of your website. This will increase your traffic and direct users to the exact page that relates to their search, boosting your rate of conversions.

Don’t try to appeal to all users. Decide where your biggest market lies. Create a profile of that target group, then construct your website with that particular group in mind. Statistically, you have 0-8 seconds to convince users that your business is exactly what they’ve been looking for.

Make sure a measurement tool, such as Google Analytics is setup on your site so you can monitor the success of your website as a lead generation tool. These tools gather the data you need to make strategic decisions regarding your online marketing. 

For example, determine

• Your leads as a percent of total site visitors
• Estimated average sales value per lead
• Your lead traffic sources
• Length of time users stay on your site
• Percent of return users