5 Steps to Successfully Monitor a Website’s Goals

Bojana Sever, Helena Habjan10.01.2022eCommerce, Websites

When redesigning a website or online store, the website’s visual appearance is usually at the forefront of every consideration. Alongside it is also the serious consideration as to how the company can present its offer to visitors. But, to ensure long-term success of the new website, an attractive interface and intuitive user experience are not enough. We also need to answer these key questions: What are the goals of the redesign, how will we achieve them and how will we measure, if we were successful?

Let us take a closer look at what it means to set up goals and how to effectively measure the website’s success.

When basic Analytics is (no longer) enough

To get the basic information about the website’s visitors, for example the share of new visitors or traffic sources, the basic functionalities of Google Analytics are sufficient. But, if you wish to have a greater overview of what’s happening, you will quickly realise that the basic Analytics data is not quite enough.

If you fail to plan, you're planning to fail - Benjamin Franklin

To really understand which part of the website is successful and which part does not perform as expected, it is essential that we first define conversions; meaning we first consider where and how we will “catch” the user and transform their activities into tangible information. Naturally, the strategy then needs to be implemented by correctly setting up conversion measuring and by upgrading Analytics, so it will be more effective.

Relation between website and business goals

Every business invests in its website with a certain intention and of course with the wish that such investment will be as profitable as possible. That is why it is essential that the first step of the website redesign is defining your business goals. The most important business goal of most companies is of course more sales, be it in the form of direct purchases via the website or in the form of inquiries that later lead to sales.

Without clearly defining the business goals we wish to achieve with the new or upgraded website, we will have a hard time monitoring how online users reacted to the changes and how – and in what scope – these affect the overall business. But, if we know in detail what we wish to achieve with the upgrade, it is much easier to see what was well received by our online visitors (maybe it was a new functionality that can be expanded or upgraded …) and where there is room for improvement.

Business goals therefore represent invaluable guidelines for developing a user interface, as they specify the inclusion of UX elements via which the website will “communicate” with the online users or ensure that the interaction between the visitors and the website will lead to the fulfilment of those goals.

Concrete examples of goals that lead to an informed business decision

Analytics tools such as Google Analytics in essence offer a broad overview of your online success and allow us to extrapolate for example:

how many online users visited the website in a specified time frame,
how long the visitors remained on the website,
which content the visitors looked at the most or
how the visitors moved between different contents.

Such information is of course the basis for analysing the website’s success, but if we wish to further compartmentalise the website’s effectiveness based on the set goals, a more complex approach is required. We therefore need to answers questions, such as the following:

How many purchases were made through the online store?
How many inquiries or qualified leads did we obtain via the inquiry online form?
How do online users try to get in touch with us (via e-mail or the contact form, in-person/live chat, telephone, etc.)?
Are online users interested in downloading files (e-catalogues, manuals, pdf documents) or watching videos on the website?

A deeper insight into the site traffic can reveal more data about who our online users are and how those visitors who have fulfilled our key conversions move around the site. Only based on this information can we judge how successful the website is in terms of our business goals and if further optimisation is necessary. The data also shows where exactly improvements need to be made to improve our operations.

How to set up the best measuring plan for the website’s goals?

Step 1: Clearly define the key redesign goals

“If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail!” – Benjamin Franklin

For the measurement to be successful, clear, strategic and most of all measurable goals need to be established in the initial phase. During the planning phase, cooperation between different departments, from the management team to the marketing and sales department and all the way to the development and other teams is necessary.

To identify the right goals, all parties need to clearly state their wishes, requirements and expectations and use the gathered information to collectively define their priorities. In doing so, the USP of their products and services, their competitive advantages and specifics of the business environment in which the company is established based on its activities needs to be considered.

But, what if you start planning with the help of an agency or you yourself take on the role of an external service provider who is entrusted with configuring the client’s Analytics? Based on our experience, the best course of action in such cases is setting up a planning workshop in which the business’s ambitions are clearly translated into tangible goals.

Hereby, success is in most cases dependent on the quality of the cooperation: the agency must thoroughly analyse the client’s activities, strategy and current position, while the client is responsible for clearly defining their business priorities, strategic goals, advantages and obstacles.

Step 2: Translate business goals into the right metrics

When the entire team agrees on priorities, it is time to transform them into real and measurable metrics that clearly express the basic goals of the new or redesigned website. These goals need to enable every project member to reach the right conclusions and then decide on possible additional SEO or UX modifications.

Strategically designed measurements allow not only the monitoring of primary, i.e. sales conversions, but also of supporting metrics. Those for example tell us, whether the design of the user interface is effective, how well the sales funnel functions and how much interest there is for the offered items or services. Such measurements are usually not monitored in the form of goals, but as events, which we analyse when required or when we need an answer to a specific analytical question.

A workbench with a computer that displays graphs.

Step 3: Document the agreed upon settings

It is prudent to clearly document or describe the agreed upon idea before implementing it in the measuring plan. The scope and structure of this important document depend on the project complexity and the number of intended measurements. It is essential however that the goals and events are clearly defined, meaning it is evident from the plan, which goal/event belongs to which category and what needs to happen for it to be fulfilled.

A detailed and systematic measuring plan has many advantages.

It allows for greater transparency, as individual parties do not need to check the Analytics or Tag Manager settings to understand which goals are analysed and how the website’s effectiveness is measured. This is especially helpful to employees who are not as accomplished in working with analytical and advertising tools or do not have access to them (external contractors etc.).
It facilitates the onboarding of potential new employees that were not present during the planning phase but need an overview of the configuration to perform their work effectively.
It helps advertisers to better understand the website’s goals and align their advertising campaigns accordingly.

Step 4: Implement

After careful planning it is time for the most technically challenging step: implementation. The proposed configuration needs to be transformed into actual settings, which includes adjustments of the website’s source code and work with analytics tools, such as for example Google Tag Manager.

Here we really need to stress that even the most perfect and individually adjusted measuring plan will not be effective if the measuring will not be set up correctly or if the displayed information will not show the real situation. Therefore, it is crucial to entrust this part of the process to an experienced professional, regardless if it’s a specialist within a company or an external digital profession who joins the project from a specialised agency.

Step 5: Monitor and upgrade

As we stressed before, appropriate and correctly set up conversions are essential to make full use of a company’s digital potential. Their monitoring gives us clear insight into the user interaction with the website and allows for an unambiguous conclusion on whether the new website aligns with our business goals or if we need additional upgrades in the form of optimisation or other modifications.

During the analysis, we must therefore avoid getting caught up in looking only at the data on successfully completed conversions. Usually, it is the data indicating more noticeable shortcomings that is most valuable to us. The right measurements allow us to perceive possible errors in due time and correct them as soon as possible.

Those errors can be simply anomalies in the function of particular elements (forms, embedded videos, etc.) or incorrectly presented content. Diligent monitoring and responding to negative feedback is therefore also important or even more important than the confirmation we obtain from successful results.

In addition, it must be noted that the nature of the web and the interaction of users with the website are constantly in flux. Therefore, the ability to quickly react to small or large changes in online behaviour that are noted through the changes in the area of conversions is one of the key competitive advantages of goal monitoring.

And last but not least: each adjustment based on measuring the website’s success additionally optimises the website, as it improves its opportunity to rank better in search results. Search engines prioritise websites or web pages that present products or services to customers in an efficient way and thus more likely lead to conversion.

SEO = taking care of your business

The above paragraph clearly shows that website optimisation does not rest solely on keywords and backlinks, but also on the basis of website upgrades that are in accordance with the wishes, requirements and preferences of its users. The website’s business success is oftentimes mirrored in its organic ranking, as a completed conversion gives search engines a clear sign that a visitor found what they were looking for on the site.

The reason lies in the fact that search engines strive to show relevant websites to more visitors that use similar search phrases and thus satisfy even more online users. Therefore a completed conversion has been an important website ranking factor for a while, which is another important argument in favour of advanced Analytics configuration.

Correctly defined goals conversely also indicate to search engines which conversions are most important for our business. If the website is successful in those predefined areas, search algorithms will more likely identify it as a website that correctly fulfils its business goals and this signals a profitable operation.

Knowing means understanding

Monitoring the website with the help of Analytics is therefore the key step in reaching new business heights, but there is one huge obstacle on the path to success that is almost unmanageable for the experienced. Why? Because reading of the results as well as understanding and translating them into a tangible upgrade strategy requires knowledge of Analytics tools and experience, which is a requirement for analytical interpretation. For business managers or marketing experts that do not have such experience monitoring conversions is therefore very difficult.

This is why at Optiweb we offer a solution that gathers all company’s key data in one place (therefore there is no need to monitor your Analytics) and presents it in a comprehensive, simple and understandable way.

We are talking about the Google Data Studio report, which we individually adjust to the preferences and requirements of our client, who can access the data any time using any device, share it with co-workers or partners and simultaneously check the data from other communication channels, such as different social media profiles. And best of all: the data is refreshed in real time so the information is always relevant.

Graph screens in a personalized Google Data Studio report.

How we Create a Personalised Google Data Studio Report in just 4 Steps

It’s never too late to jump on the Analytics bandwagon

What to do in cases when there are plenty of convincing arguments for goal configuration, but experience in this field or qualified personnel are few and far between? Here is where our specialists for website analytics can jump in and help you create a comprehensive review of your online business. How can we help you?

Within the scope of an SEO analysis we look at the current Analytics configuration and if needed, we recommend setting up key conversions or upgrading existing ones.
Based on your specific needs and with your input, we define and create a measuring plan.
We then take on the task of technically configuring goals, events and conversions in accordance with the measuring plan.
Additionally, we prepare personalized Google Data Studio reports for different participants and those reports will allow each department clear insight into different areas of their online presence (SEO, social media, ads, etc.).

If you wonder how we can help you, we would be more than happy to (virtually) meet for coffee and together we will find the best solution for your business. Our team eagerly awaits your message!

GET IN TOUCH!

Bojana Sever

SEO and Analytics Tech Lead

As an expert in technical solutions for analytics, I help our clients implement systems to collect relevant data that is crucial for their business success. My main goal is to ensure that our clients understand and effectively use this data to make better strategic decisions and optimize business processes.

Helena Habjan

Project Manager

You won’t find Helena in our offices anymore, but we know that no matter where she is now, she is doing a phenomenal job. We’ve kept a piece of them with us as a memory. :)