Unless you've been living under the proverbial rock, you're already aware that businesses throughout the United States are facing some tough economic times. Some businesses won't make it through. Other businesses will take a hit but will be able to keep going. So what's the key to helping your business rally through these trying times? Keeping a calm mindset, and figuring out ways to do more with less.

If you're a marketer being asked to do the same or more with a smaller budget, you are not alone. And one way to help prove the value of your marketing campaigns is by using Web analytics to provide qualitative and quantitative information on the success of your recent and current campaigns.

So what kinds of questions can Web analytics provide the answers to?

• How is my Web site performing?

  
  
  It isn't just about the number of page views or hits - it's about how visitors are finding and interacting with your site. Use the average time on site metric to examine the internal site search terms that result in short visits and understand why people are leaving your site – what were they looking for but couldn’t find? Perhaps you need more relevant content focused on a specific topic or keyword--or maybe you need to improve your navigation to make it easier for your visitors to find what they’re looking for so that they can make the purchase or sign up for the special offer.
  



• Is my site easy to find and optimized for search?

  
  
  The average time on site metric can also be used to identify the keywords and keyword phrases that generate the most interest, resulting in longer visits and/or the highest number of conversions – use this data to optimize your content accordingly. If you discover important keywords or keyword phrases that aren’t performing well organically, try adding a relevant page on your site detailing the benefits of your product/service offerings related to that keyword.
  



• Are my online marketing and pay-per-click efforts working?

  
  
  By segmenting visitor groups (i.e. by email campaign, banner ad, keyword, referrer, etc.), you'll be able to quickly determine which efforts are paying off and which may need to be revamped - or revisited in the future. Compare revenue generation across campaigns, the average time on site and/or the cost per conversion. You'll be able to better judge the quality of your online ad spend by identifying not only which campaigns lead to a quick conversion, but which campaigns effectively move visitors into the next stage in the sales cycle. Be sure to examine statistics before and after a campaign to determine if it yielded any significant positive or negative results you can use in upcoming campaigns.
  



• Where are my best leads coming from?

  
  
  Web analytics will help you pinpoint the campaigns and Web sites that consistently send you the most interested traffic. You may find that your public relations efforts are paying off (via a large number of interested visitors from a bylined article you authored) or that a particular PPC campaign is far outperforming other similar campaigns. Work to maintain or increase exposure on these sites. Also explore ad opportunities on sites that tend to send traffic your way, there may be less expensive solutions (i.e. low cost per conversion rate) on content-relevant sites that refer high quality targeted traffic, in comparison to the higher volume media-driven sites. When possible, reward top referrers with a link from your site back to their site to nurture the link building relationship.
  



• Are my landing pages working?

  
  
  Watch for poor performing conversion pages. If visitors see the page but aren’t converting, perhaps the form is too long, too complicated, or asks too many personal questions. Always test the form to make sure it is working. Or perhaps the page is not what they expected – ensure the content of your landing page is relevant and consistent with your ad copy to avoid surprises and establish trust. If few visitors are seeing your conversion page, you may simply need to improve the call to action, or provide a more engaging offer that provides more value to your audience. It is good practice to use a unique landing page URL or parameter to track and compare the relative success of each online and offline (i.e. TV, radio, print, etc.) campaign and to allow for easier segmentation of visitors.

No matter which Web analytics program you choose - and of course, we hope you'll consider ClickTracks, the Web analytics solution built in to Lyris HQ - one thing remains the same: you need to approach your Web analytics program with an open mind. You never know which activity or campaign may be yielding surprisingly good results. Use your Web metrics to justify your current campaigns and expenditures, and to provide evidence of your successes, both now and in the future.

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