How Can I Drive Performance without a Goal

Something that has been talked about in the Web Analytics industry long before I came along is how to make Web analytics actionable. There have been many articles and books written about remaining goal-driven when developing a new website or creating/implementing a strategic online campaign. As a biased analyst, this is something that seems logical to me. Yet, I often see others struggle with the idea.

Let me see if I can help clarify this type of idea. When it is time to launch a new website or acquisition campaign, what is the goal? What are you trying to accomplish at the end of the day? I think for lead and e-commerce sites this is a self-explanatory goal: to increase leads or increase online orders. What about those sites that do not have a lead form or Commerce store for transactions to take place? Well, that’s when it’s time to get creative and do some research to find some information about the visitors to your website. I think, and please correct me if I am wrong; at the end of the day it’s every business’s goal to increase revenue. If that can not be accomplished online, then find out what visitors do on your website that provides value to them making the transaction. Maybe it’s visiting a page on your website that provides information to that person or visitor.

When the call to action or desired action is unclear, maybe it’s time to re-evaluate your website goals. If there is nothing on the site that measures success, then something needs to change so that a success metric can be measured and ideally monetized. Everything on a website can be measured, and it’s time to take advantage of it if you are not doing so. What are some goals you have used to track the success of a web development project?