You’ve built a website to show off your builds (and if you haven’t made a website yet, this guide will help you get started, but how do you know if it’s attracting business? A website isn’t something you can set and forget, and it can take some time to get everything right.
Getting it right also requires looking at some basic website metrics, and that’s what we’re going to review today. This data will help you understand how well your business’s website is working, and don’t worry – you don’t have to be a Web developer to understand these metrics.
Setting up Google Analytics
Before you can look at your website’s data, you need to connect Google Analytics to your site. You can do this here — Google will then create a tracking ID that needs to be inserted into the code of your website.
It might sound complicated, but there are tons of resources available online to help you get started. This Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Google Analytics is an excellent resource to reference.
Once you have everything set up, here’s the data to look for.
Website traffic
Are people visiting your website? The traffic data will answer that question, and you can even break down the total visits into unique and repeat visits.
Both are important, because repeat visits show that you’re building a loyal following, and new visits show how well your website is attracting a fresh set of prospective customers.
Traffic sources
You also need to know where your website traffic is coming from. Ideally, you’ll have a mix of these three categories:
- Direct visitors enter your website’s address directly into their browser.
- Search visitors found your website from an online search, like Google.
- Referral visitors visited your site after seeing a link on another website or blog.
Bounce rate
A website’s bounce rate measures how long visitors stay on the website. A poor bounce rate means that people are leaving your site quickly, and that’s not a good thing.
If you have a high bounce rate, think about ways to improve the visitor’s experience:
- Does your website contain the information potential customers are looking for?
- Could your photos be higher quality?
- Is it easy for the visitor to navigate from one page to another?
- Does your website load quickly?
Each of these factors, and others, have an impact on bounce rate.
Conversion rate
Conversion rates measure the percentage of people who completed a desired action on a webpage.
This action could be filling out a form, subscribing to an email list or following your business on social media. Pages with a high conversion rate are ideal, because it means your online marketing efforts are paying off and people are responding to the content on your site.
If people aren’t converting, it’s important to question why. For starters, is the action that you want people to take obvious? If you want visitors to enter their email address, ask them to do so. If you want them to call your business, make sure contact information is readily available and easy to find.
With a construction website, perfection isn’t the end goal
Your initial data findings might be troubling, but that’s okay. With construction websites (and any website), it’s not about being perfect across all metrics. If you’re monitoring your website’s performance and making thoughtful changes as needed, you’re on the right track.
Structural Warranties can protect builders and their buyers from devastating structural problems. But, maybe even more importantly, they give homeowners that all-too-important peace of mind that when something goes wrong, they’re covered. Learn more today!
