Survey results
Each of the questions in the survey relates to an important factor in website development, online marketing or search engine marketing. Here are the results, and an explanation for each:
1. How long has your business or organisation had a website?
Under 6 months 22%
More than 6 months 0%
1 year or more 11%
2 years or more 67%
This question relates to the age of a given domain name (www.yourcompany.com) Domain names that are older are given more value in the “eyes” of search engines, just like an established company will have more credibility over a start-up.
Further, companies should register their domain names as far in advance as possible, as this is seen as a further sign of stability – that the search engine can trust that if they send traffic to your site, it will still be there in the future.
2. When did you last add new content to your website?
Last week 22%
Last month 22%
Last 3 months 11%
Last 6 months 11%
Longer 34%
People prefer a site that has fresh and relevant information, over a site that appears to be outdated. New content is also an important factor in search engine optimisation – the process of improving your website to achieve a higher ranking. Fresh content on a website is a sign that the site is active, is being updated, and the information in it is likely to be more relevant. The job of search engines is to deliver the most relevant information to the searcher on their chosen topic. Therefore if you update the information on your website frequently, you will have a better chance of appearing in the results.
3. How often do you receive/enquiries or/leads/via your website?
Daily 11%
Weekly 22%
Monthly 34%
Quarterly 0 %
Never 33%
This is an indicator of how visible your site is to people who are searching, and how effective your e-marketing is. If a site is not generating enquiries at least weekly, it probably bears improvement.
4. Do you use ecommerce to sell products or accept payments?
Yes 0%
No 78%
NA 22%
With many people choosing to shop online these days, this is a useful convenience you can provide to your customers, assisting them to make the buying decision in the moment.
5. Does your business or organisation produce a periodical enewsletter to communicate regularly with prospects, providing them useful information about your field or industry?
Yes 56%
No 33%
Don’t know how 11%
E-marketing, including enewsletters, is one of the most cost-effective and targeted methods of marketing to your prospects and customers. It is also a method that is useful in building brand awareness and credibility with prospects over time.
6. If so, what is the response rate of your enewsletter?
5% Response 60%
10% Response 0%
25% Response 20%
50% Response 20%
Measuring the response rate of your enewsletters is an important factor is assessing their effectiveness. Unfortunately, many businesses with websites do not have the capability to measure their website visitors, or marketing effectiveness. Anything over 50% is excellent, and above 25% is commendable.
7. Can you gather prospect’s contact information and profiles in order to send targeted and relevant communications to them?
Yes 44%
No 56%
Prospects should be able to easily send an enquiry or get on your database as easily as one or two clicks. Generally speaking, this function ought to be the number one purpose of any business website. Why? Because a database of customers is the best source of continued revenue, and adds to the value of the business.
8. Do you use new/social media in your online marketing i.e. blogs, podcasts, video, social networks?
Yes 0%
No – not yet 89%
No – waste of time 11%
New/Social media is a great way of engaging with new audiences and benefiting from free traffic to your website. People are talking about any and every issue through these channels, including products and brands. Free word of mouth is never a bad thing.
9. If so, which one(s)?
No respondents indicated that they currently used social media in their online marketing mix.
Depending on industry, some forms of social media are more beneficial than others. We hope to provide more information on this in the future.
10. Does your site get on the first page of Google for a desired keyword term for your product or service?
Yes 11%
No 89%
The fact is, there is no point in having a website, if no one knows about it. Search engine traffic to your site is so valuable because the people who visit are actually searching for your product – you don’t have the cost of finding customers, they’re trying to find you!
Generally, if you’re not within the first three pages of search results, searchers will never know that your site exists. The top 3 positions are the most valuable – these are the results that appear without having to scroll down the page.
Conclusions and Recommendations from the survey
So what do these statistics mean? Some correlations from the individual results of the survey that are worth noting are these:
- Sites that are updated regularly receive more enquiries. Conversely, those sites that are not updated receive few enquiries. Users who find fresh content on a site are more likely to find it useful and visit it more frequently.
- Few sites that participated in the survey achieved a first page position on Google, even those which are updated regularly. However those sites that are not updated regularly are much less likely to achieve a high ranking.
- Subsequently, those sites without a good ranking generally received significantly less leads and enquiries.
- There exists a strong correlation between companies that produce frequent e-newsletters, and the number of leads that they receive. Conversely, those companies that do not produce an e-newsletter are less likely to receive leads through their site.
Must do recommendations for business website owners:
- Consistently update your website content – For the benefit of both your visitors, customers, and your search engine ranking. As your site becomes an industry authority, visitors will find it more useful, other sites will link to it, and you will get a better ranking, naturally.
- Produce an e-newsletter at least monthly – This is a cost effective, targeted and non-invasive way of staying in your customer’s minds. If you really have something exceptional to say, consider going weekly. A word of caution though; make sure that the people you send the e-newsletter to have given you permission to communicate with them. Otherwise its spam, its illegal, and it will really annoy them.
- Start engaging with new/social media – Whilst it is difficult to draw a strong connection, it is interesting to note that Western Sydney businesses are not engaging social media, and also are not ranking well in search results. Consider creating a free blog and writing to it weekly, joining a professional or industry social network, or creating a podcast.
Implement the above recommendations on your business website, and you’ll be well on the way to effective online marketing.
By C.S. Thompson – Online Communications Specialist
For more information about improving your online communications, contact me via info@thompsonmarketing.com.au
Get a free website evaluation by taking our online effectiveness survey at http://www.thompsonmarketing.com.au
C.S. Thompson is an online communications specialist whose firm focussed on targeted marketing communications delivered primarily via electronic media. Based in Sydney, Australia, Thompson Marketing Consultants delivers results for customers via effective and well managed websites, email marketing campaigns, social media strategy and marketing planning.
Author: Cameron Thompson
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