Yesterday’s Website Critique Webinar was a great success, and as well as looking at six different websites in detail, we also asked attendees a series of questions in the form of live polls, with some interesting results. We’re just collating the data now, so watch this space.
As the webinar was limited to only one hour, some attendees emailed me with questions afterwards. I’m still digging my way through them, but thought that some were worth sharing here. Names have been withheld.
“You talked a lot about the “first impression” on the homepage, as one is coming via Google. I know I’m working hard to make google deep-link people into my site (which will then be their first impression).
Would you say that it’s less likely that someone ends up directly on a product page than on the home page, when searching on google (and NOT searching for company name : )”
Most websites will see most visitors enter at the home page. It’s not always the case, but this is the most common scenario.
As for making sure that Google find your other content, this is reasonably straightforward, at least in theory. Create good content, link it in, and Google will find it. Make sure you have quality and relevant incoming links to the pages, then cross your fingers and hope for the best!
“Thanks for a fascinating and entertaining hour! However I did wonder how to take your theories into the real world. For example you regularly refer to ‘improving’ a page. How can you measure whether this has in fact taken place?“
Your server logs or analytics package should contain all the information you need.
For example if you see that 95% of visitors arrive at the main page then leave within five seconds, it may be a sign that something is wrong.
However it’s very important to first identify the traffic source. You might, for example, see that Google are sending you a large amount of traffic, but that most of this is off-target. If you’re selling Mac screenshot software, and your website ranks for the phrase “who shot my Mac”, you can exclude these visitors. Their exit rates will be high, and this will distort the data.
Also pay attention to how many pages people visit. If a visitor views an average of 1.1 pages, and most of the traffic appears to be targeted, then something isn’t right.
“In the nicest possible way, who are you to decide whether a website looks good or not?“
I’m the guy running the webinar. I’ve been working with digital marketing since 1997, and Sharon has been marketing online for more than 13 years.
The site in question was AutoRun Architect, and I made the point that the buttons looked dated. If I was looking for software to create impressive menus, old-style buttons on the website would put me off. You may feel differently.
Note that the person asking the question wasn’t the site owner!
Further questions may well follow. If you have any more, please feel free to either email me or add them to the comments below.
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