As we all look towards the new year December becomes a month of planning and goal setting. Which means its also the perfect time to look at your website’s overarching business goals. A well planned website strategy can significantly boost your brand, attract customers, and drive revenue. Whether you are looking to launch a new site or optimize an existing one, setting clear, actionable goals for the new year is the key to success.
Here are three critical steps to guide you in setting goals for your website that supports your business objectives in the year ahead.
1. Reflect on Past Performances
Before figuring out your goals for the new year we need to look at past performance- what is working and what isn’t. A clear understanding of your past performance and your broader business objectives can give you a firm foundation to set meaningful goals.
Analyze Website Metrics:
Use analytics tools like Google Analytics to review key performance indicators such as traffic sources, bounce rate, conversion rates, and average session. Knowing this information can inform you on what your website needs. Assess whether your website is meeting its current objectives or if you need to focus somewhere specific in the coming year.
Identify Business Objectives:
What are you hoping to get out of your business this year? Tie in those business objectives to your website objectives- if the website isn’t a stepping stone towards your overall goals change up the goals for the website. For instance:
If your goal is increased revenue, your website might need to improve on the e-commerce functionality. Or, looking at metrics, you may see that your checkout process has a higher bounce rate. If so, a goal for the new year can be to streamline the process.
Or if you are looking to grow your audience look into your Google Analytics about your SEO. Or even make it a goal to collect your visitors in a newsletter so you can build a relationship and maintain current numbers through the year.
By reflecting on where you’ve been you can more efficiently decide where you need to go.
2. Focus on SMART Website Goals
Remember, vague goals lead to vague results. You need to be specific for what you want out of your website this year. Aim for SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound). These criteria categories will ensure that your goals are clear and actionable- leading to actually accomplishing them.
Examples of Smart Goals:
1. Specific: “Increase email subscribers by 20% in six months.” Notice how we have a specific thing, growing by a specific amount, in a specific time frame. This will help you know if you are on track or need to adjust.
2. Measurable: “Improve organic traffic by 15% by optimizing five core pages for SEO” There needs to be a metric that is measurable so we know we are actually improving. Tweaking SEO only works if we can measure a difference in the old SEO and the improved.
3. Achievable: “Add a chat bot feature to the website by Q2 to enhance customer service”. Don’t set expectations or goals that are unmanageable. Except the process and that not every new feature can be added in Q1.
4. Relevant: “Create three targeted landing pages to support a new product launch”. This suggestion only works if you are actually adding these products. Don’t add features just to add something new- set goals that the business is already aligned with.
5. Time-Bound: “Reduce bounce rates by 10% within the first quarter.” Give exact time frames for goals. An open ended goal is going to always be an incomplete goal.
When setting SMART goals, prioritize areas that will have the greatest impact on your business.
Setting and achieving your website goals is a crucial step toward realizing your business aspirations in the new year- but you don’t have to do it alone! At Netpoint Consulting, we specialize in creating websites that will align seamlessly with your business objectives. From crafting compelling designs to updating your user experience we can help you turn your goals into measurable outcomes.
Contact us today to collaborate on a tailored strategy for the new year. Together we can make the coming year one of your most successful years.
