10 Questions To Ask Yourself About Your Website.

It’s easy to neglect your website, but in reality it should be the centre of your digital activity. Before diving into social media, you need to make sure you it’s healthy. Some questions to ask yourself before taking the plunge into building something new:

1. Do people like your website?

Undoubtedly, your users have something to say about your website. These compliments and complaints can point out what is going well and what needs improvement. If you don’t know, ask them.

2. Does your website serve you or your users?

Too often websites are designed with a completely internal mindset. Remember you’re not the one to convince, your website needs to be customer focused. But how do I know if it is? Run a usability workshop with a range of people of all technical abilities. If they can’t navigate your website how are they going to know what you do?

Oh and please make sure your website is optimised for mobile. This is non-negotiable.

3. Do you have analytics running?

Analytics help measure the performance of your website and your social media channels. Analytics are absolutely essential to understanding your users and how often they engage with your company’s digital activities. Analytics also provide your social media strategy with data-driven insight — an essential in proving the return on investment and necessity of your social strategy to your company.

4. Does your website have e-commerce capability?

Do you sell products or receive donations? Make sure you are offering customers the ability to purchase/donate with a few clicks.

5. Do you have e-commerce tracking?

So you’re selling products online. Great! Now make sure you are tracking the financial transactions on your site. Tracking is essential in understanding the connection between social media and ecommerce as it will tell you how where your transacting users are coming from (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Google search) and what they are purchasing. Then you can review and optimise, optimise, optimise!

6. Are users currently buying?

If your current website visitors are not making financial contributions via your website, it is unlikely new users will either. If this is the case, it’s absolutely necessary to work on your website before working on a social media strategy. This is a chance to bring together various parts of your strategy and see where opportunities exist.

7. Is there a way users can give you feedback?

Your business can do better online, and the easiest way to find out how is from the feedback your customers give you. Customers want to give you feedback, so let them as their questions, complaints and compliments will be valuable in optimising your business online.

8. Are you responding to feedback?

Make sure you respond to it in a timely manner, remember everyone wants to feel some email love. It’s not just a case of fixing and issue, explaining an aspect of your product or thanking them for a compliment. It doubles as a relationship building exercise and provides customers with further insights into “who you are” as an organization. Doing well in this area is one of the best ways to prepare for dialogue in the social media space, where authentic human connection is vital.

9. Do you invest in search engine marketing?

It’s simple. If you want to make money from your website, search engine marketing is a good investment. Focus on this channel before even thinking about your social media.

10. Is your website social-friendly?

A social-friendly website means visitors can share your content, their purchases and easily find your social media channels. A website that is optimized for social engagement will help to fuel your customer’s relationship with your brand.

An improved website and meaningful social media activity can positively impact your users in a way that keeps them interacting with your messages. ntegrity was founded on this very principle. We aim to empower and enable organisations to execute brilliant social media that will build authentic experiences with your customers; giving them the potential to transform into advocates. Conversely, by listening, responding and adapting to your online users, you have the power to put your target demographic at the centre of your marketing strategy.

*This is an adaptation of my original post written for Steve Fogg