Far too many business owners have little or no knowledge of the online space and what is required to succeed. This can potentially leave you open to being exploited. To prevent this, it is essential that your senior management is educated in how the online space operates and what is needed to succeed and derive value.
Analysis
Businesses are often impressed by the detailed Google Analytics report they receive from their online supplier. These reports are simple to generate. If you have access to the backend of your site, you can insert the Analytics HTML coding, providing you with the same information your supplier sends through.
If you are paying someone to analyse your site, make sure that they send through detailed and relevant reports that offer insight into your core business. This should be accompanied by customised reports that answer questions and provide suggestions on how best to improve the volume and quality of traffic to your site. Reports mean very little unless they tap into the competencies and experience of your online service provider.
Advertising
Advertising platforms are by and large relatively simple to operate, the complex part is the ongoing analysis and the time it takes to do this effectively. Before giving your supplier the go ahead to embark on an online advertising campaign, spend an hour getting to terms with the relevant tool.
By having a basic understanding of the bidding mechanism involved with Pay Per Click advertising and how certain words are more competitive than others, you will be able to monitor your supplier more effectively.
There are various options in online advertising, but due to its ease of use I have found Google Adwords to be the best. However, depending on your audience, Facebook or MSN might be better suited to your needs; it all depends on who you are focusing on and where your target audience spends the most time.
Website analysis and web presence tools
There are a number of excellent general analysis tools out there that showcase how your website ranks both locally and internationally. Alexa.com is a free online service that measures Internet traffic rankings for websites and gives a good indication of the popularity of your site, including the number of unique links to it.
There are various other tools available which can also provide detailed information on your actual website, suggesting areas where you can improve and help drive up your online ranking. Sitereportcard and websiteoptimization are both worth checking out.
Going forward
Having an online presence is vital to the sustainability of your business. With over 1.8 billion internet users worldwide, the web will continue to grow and as a result its impact on the business world will continue to increase.
“If you don’t have the online capability in-house, look for a reliable provider who will provide you with both the results and explanation of how they reached them, says Patrick Gordon of DUO Marketing + Communications.
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