Six Things Every Business Owner Should Know about their Website

We’re way past the late nineties, when business owners were just beginning to realize they needed a website for their business, and yet, some know as much about how their website is doing as they did when they first launched their online information. That’s bad, and irresponsible. A hands-off approach to this critical calling card for your business is dangerous. At a minimum, every business leader should know the following about their company’s website:

1. What is the typical traffic to the website? Do you get 10,000 visitors or 50? Is the traffic steady; are there predictable peaks and valleys?
2. If you own multiple domains, do they all redirect to a single, main domain URL where you track your statistics?
3. How high is your bounce rate? This statistic tells you whether visitors to your site are finding what they seek. If they don’t they “bounce” right off, moving on to another resource. (In general, lower is better. Bounce rates over 60% may indicate a problem with your content or the site display.)
4. Does your website publish an RSS feed and is there an easy way for visitors to subscribe to updates?
5. What is your website built in? (Many people have no idea. If the answer is “Dreamweaver” it’s time for a new website.)
6. What is the most popular content on your website? A quick look at Google Analytics (you DO have Google Analytics for your website, don’t you?) can tell you the most visited pages/most compelling information your visitors want to know.

It’s easy to learn all of this, and someone in your organization or the vendor who helps manage your website should quickly and easily be able to catch you up to speed on all six items.