Tech Trends e-Newsletter

Web site ROI

How do you make sure your company's Web site extends your business strategy, sets you apart, and delivers a return on your investment?

Over the last few years, Web sites-and the process of Web site revisions-have become an established and necessary aspect of doing business. To the relatively uninitiated, however, the Web world might appear to be a mysterious planet of unanswerable questions. How can you ensure that your company's site extends your business strategy. Do you know if your Web site sets you apart? Are you being noticed by search engines?

As bewildering as it might all seem, numerous Web experts say that it's now easier than ever for company leaders ever to answer these questions-and to squeeze true value out of their Web sites. Two big reasons why: A combination of advanced technologies and a fundamentally revised notion of the Internet as a serious business tool. "For a number of years Web sites were written off as a loss leader, but as newer technologies mature, companies are starting to realize they should be able to measure ROI from this," says Jan Hepola, an MTI Internet business consultant.

The key, as Hepola and others note, is to design (or redesign) a Web presence using some carefully scripted steps.

1. Assess your goals

In a sense, a Web site is like any other business activity: You need specific goals and a plan that will allow you to reach them. A Web site can serve numerous aims, including providing information about a company's products and services, communicating a specific image or brand identity, generating sales leads, or providing customers with an online store. It pays to initially decide on what you want to accomplish-and to make each goal specific. "A goal to sell more stuff is not specific enough," says Hepola, noting that you need to clarify what "more stuff" actually means. "Does that mean 10 qualified leads? Does that mean 15 people clicked through and offered their contact information? Does that mean you had 1,000 visitors to a white paper?"

2. Assess the competition

Another smart first step: Assess what your competitors are doing with their sites. Consider what's working, what isn't, and why. By the same token, it also pays to mull over other Web sites-perhaps from outside your industry-that you admire.

3. Assess your customers' goals

What do your customers want and expect from your site? If your Web site is at odds with customer needs, then it probably won't generate ROI. Here again, research pays.

4. Seek to be found

A superbly designed, well thought-out Web site is useless unless the world sees it. And increasingly, search engines such as Google are the key to making that happen. Choosing the right search terms and having Web site builders craft your site so that search engines can find it is critical. Here are a few sites that lay out the basics of the art and science of Web site optimization:

For more information on MTI's Internet services, go to www.minnesotatechnology.org/consulting/ebusiness.asp , or call 612/373-2900, 800-325-3073.

<<Previous Article | Issue Home | Next Article>>