Joy did a nice post yesterday on how Analytics can help you fix problems on your Web site that may negatively impact conversions.  Analytics data can provide a gold mine of information and is the logical place to start in terms of assessing the efficacy, or persuasiveness of your current site. 

In addition to Analytics, today’s audience research methods can provide even more information that can be critical to the success of a redesign or a new site build.  Audience research bridges the gap between what the customer’s buying process is and what your selling process should be on the Web.

Sounds like good common sense, right?  Yes, but unfortunately, the reality is that both the Analytics review and audience research are steps in the redesign/build process that – more often than not – get skipped completely.

Think back to the last time your company redesigned or built a new site.   What happened?  Most likely, a committee of internal staff got together and decided on the requirements for a new site, with “requirements” being defined as “what my department needs to have published on our Web site”.   Site objectives were probably brought up in this or subsequent meetings as well, but they were likely vague (as opposed to hard objectives such as “I want x number of people to download this whitepaper, submit a Request for Information, or purchase this particular product”).  The next thing you knew, a Web Development firm put some wireframes and a “design” together, and within weeks (maybe even days), developers were writing code.

What’s wrong with this process?  It tends to produce finished products that are designed for internal stakeholders, not potential customers — a mistake that will negatively impact your marketing ROI significantly.

Audience research methods (ethnography, usability testing, persona development and testing) are becoming more sophisticated every day.  Skipping the audience research step because of cost concerns is penny wise and pound foolish.  After all, if your Web site can’t convert traffic, why spend the money on marketing to drive that traffic in the first place?  And, if time is the issue (a launch deadline), remember that fixing something that was built wrong will take more time (and money) than doing it right in the first place.

Filed under: Design & Development on Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008 by Nan Dawkins | No Comments
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