Three Habits of Highly Effective Websites

There are three things that every website manager should be reviewing on a quarterly basis (or even more frequently). Unfortunately, it’s Sherpa’s experience that few of our customers perform the required reviews to optimize their website’s performance.

So, if you are looking to ensure your websites are effective and you are maximizing your return on investment, the following three analytical techniques are important to consider:

Habit 1: Organic SERP Ranking

Approximately 33% of searchers will click the top result displayed on the search engine, fall-off is exponential from there: the second position secures about 18% of click-throughs with the third position garnering only 11% of the clicks. Less than 1 out of 10 users will proceed to the second page of search results.

With this in mind, monitoring and tracking your Search Engine ResultPage (SERP) ranking is critical in understanding whether your website is being lost in the crowd. More importantly, this tactic provides a means to evaluate your ongoing SEO activities and review your performance against your competitors.

There are tools (and marketing agencies like Sherpa) that can provide you this detail, but steps to keep in mind are:

• A.      Create a baseline to establish SERP rankings for your important keywords. Review against the baseline on a quarterly basis.
• B.      In addition to your baseline keywords, select your top three competitors and review how they performed.
• C.      Define your geographic boundaries: i.e. are they provincial? International? Search results will differ depending on the user’s geographic location.

An example of an organic SERP ranking matrix showing the rank (and change) across a number of keywords would be as follows:

Google Canada:

Google USA:

Habit 2: Comparison of Mobile versus PC Browsing Behaviour

As mobile devices’ share of internet traffic grows and more and more websites implement a responsive design to improve user experience, it is important to periodically review browser behaviour between different devices (desktop/mobile (tablet, hand-held)).

The key here is to identify pages visited or particular custom functionality sections that one technology platform embraces far greater than the other. For instance, if mobile browsers have a high percentage of abandoned shopping carts versus a traditional desktop browser, perhaps your design and user experience for the e-commerce portion of your website needs to be improved.

Comparisons should, of course, be based on share of pageviews within each technology source, and not total pageviews. Nevertheless, a regular review of what your customers are doing across their browsing platform of choice will ensure an opportunity to create an optimized experience for all types of users.

Habit 3: Content and Keyword Analyses

Content is king, but in addition to quality content being added on a regular basis, it is important to keep an eye on the important keywords that should be included in your website’s copy.

For instance, if one would write an article on the importance of monitoring your website’s SERP, in addition to your own voice and vernacular, you should ensure keywords like search engine rankings, serp tracker, marketing seo, etc. are integrated into your website’s copy. One person’s SERP is another’s Search Engine Ranking.

Understanding what these important keywords are can be performed through a number of portals:

• A.      Google Analytics: Through your Analytics accounts, look what keywords are being used to find your website.
• B.      Google AdWords keyword tool: This tool is excellent for reviewing keywords and their related monthly counts. In the example below, important keywords for Canadian browsers interested in advertising and marketing service agencies are as follows. Is your website missing important keywords?
• C.      Your own best judgement: No one knows your business like you do and some of the best keyword lists are generated straight from those “in the know”. Taking keywords recommended by your staff and comparing them to what currently exists on your website can also unearth some important traffic opportunities that are currently being missed.

Try integrating some of these above habits into your ongoing website analyses. Your website will secure additional organic traffic and will be more effective in helping you reach your business objectives.  

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