In order to assess the level of your website’s performance, you need to do the comprehensive and systematic process of a digital marketing audit. This will help you determine any weak spots and other problem areas that you can immediately address.
Ideally, a digital marketing audit should be performed by an experienced third party equipped with fresh eyes, to look into your overall digital marketing strategy from a fresh perspective. The information extracted from this audit will tell you what areas you need to improve on, budget re-allocations that need to be done, and critical areas for improvement that need more focus from you or your marketing team.
Before embarking on the auditing procedure of your digital marketing, you must take into account the two most vital things -
1) Know Your Goals
I cannot stress how important it is for a business owner, be it a sole trader or small or medium sized business to have business goals. What plans do you have for your business over the next year, 3 years, 5 years? What are you trying to gain from your business? Are you trying to grow or are you happy with the level you are at? It can be very tricky as most businesses would like to say “our goal is to make money”. I recommend reading 'How To Do A SWOT Analysis For Your Business Planning' if you do not yet have a business plan.
2) Evaluate your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Your KPI’s should be completely tied to your business goals and measured on a regular basis. The marketing KPI evaluation helps you understand the areas that you are doing successfully and other areas where you are not doing so successfully. This will help you answer the following questions:
- How many web visits and sales do I need to support my company’s sales goals?
- How can my website perform better for visitors, and for search engines?
- How does my messaging stack up against my competition?
- How can my marketing programme be more efficient?
The KPI’s can vary from business to business and there are no industry standards. The JDR Group can go through some of your current practices in identifying KPI’s of various digital marketing initiatives at NO COST.
Now let’s talk about what strategies you have in place. Are they right? What you should specifically be checking for in the 4 part digital marketing audit.
3) Website and its contents
Remember your website is like body language. It gives away a lot about your company. Does it look professional? Keep in mind that quality content should appeal to the interests, needs and problems of your buyer’s persona; be interesting and well written. Provide valuable, thorough and detailed information about a particular topic. Produce and leave the reader with next steps (such as calls to action , links to resources etc). Another thing you must consider is if your website is mobile friendly so that you are not missing out on the vast market out there that are searching for your services/products using iPad’s, tablets or smart phones.
4) Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
Is your website optimised for lead generation and conversions? While high quality SEO is a great way to boost your traffic numbers, it’s what happens once those visitors are on your website that really counts. This is where optimised calls to action, marketing offers and landing pages play a major role in the performance of your website. Not only do they offer you opportunities to capture visitors’ information so you can follow up with leads, but they also keep your visitors engaged with your website and your brand.
5) Other online marketing strategies-
Pay Per Click , video marketing , social media, blogs, email marketing etc. help your web pages convert more. If a keyword isn’t working for you or you decide to target a different audience, these will help create additional traffic to your website, expanding your online visibility and helping you establish your company as a leader in your industry.
A lot of businesses who sell to businesses rather than consumers feel that social media is not suitable for their organisation; however, there are a number of businesses who use them successfully. Only last week, I was talking to a Dental Technician, who only deals with the dental labs or dentists in the UK. He pointed out “I can’t believe lots of businesses don’t use Facebook, it’s really good. I often get top enquires and leads via Facebook”. For further information on social media for B2B, please read this blog… How to Use Social Media if You Sell to Businesses, Not Consumers
6) Take Action
In undertaking an audit, you will have generated an outline of your marketing plan, which will work as a roadmap to help you achieve your business goals and objects for the coming year. As new ideas pop up, this can help remind you of the big picture. However, ignoring the results is a sure fire way to dampen enthusiasm for future audits. Hence, it will affect your business performance and level of leads your website will generate.
Get free expert assessment NOW by calling us on 01332 343281 or visit our website www.jdrwebsites.co.uk. Remember, this report is the result of our team looking your overall online marketing in depth, not an automatic analysis that will give you wrong information without looking at the overall picture of your business.
Article by Katie Pun
