Measure my web site's success - oh yeah! Is my Web Site Successful?

If you've got a web site or are planning on building one, an important question that will come up is how to measure the success of that web site.
It's important to understand what you want your web site to accomplish so you'll know if you're achieving your goals.

Goals are an all important part of life - and web sites included. If you don't have goals for your web site, how will you ever know if your web site project has been worth the effort?

Case in point: Recently New Bedford Internet completed a new web site for a local area non-profit organization and within days of the web site launch, it was receiving donations, membership applications and event registrations. The new non-profit web site was immediately deemed to have been a success. The organization had expectations from their new web site and immediately recognized those expectations (or measures of success) as being met as the orders/donations came in.

What are your expectations from your new web site? Are your expectations realistic? How are you planning on measuring success?

Success is not always measured in increased "sales." If your company has launched a web site primarily to serve as a means of providing product information (e-brochures, price lists, product specifications, safety specifications, etc.) to your customers or wholesalers then perhaps you can measure sussess in how many downloads of those documents have taken place from your web site.

How about taking a look at how much money your company has saved by not having to send out expensive brochures to prospective customers? The next time the phone rings, why not encourage your caller to visit your web site where they can download your latest catalog or technical specification manual instead of waiting until you send it out via snail mail. With a web site, you can satisfy the needs of your prospects for company and product information in an instant, instead of having to mail expensive color brochures that take days to arrive in the mail. Did I mention that mail is SOOOOOOOO SLOW and color brochures are EXPENSIVE?

Another case: New Bedford Internet created a web site that over the course of two years, saved our client over $20,000 in color brochures and related mailing costs. The web site only cost our client $3000. Could that web site be measured as successful? Absolutely!

Another one: New Bedford Internet created a web site for a New Bedford client that allowed our client's end users get answers regarding their particular repair/service inquiries from the web. This resulted in our client being able to re-assign an employee who had previouly been occupied for 40 hours per week, answering these phone inquiries. Now however, with a frequently updated FAQ and a custom customer login system, their customers can access their repair status online 24/7 and no longer need to call the company's front desk for status updates. Being able to re-assign an employee costing over $30K a year to more profitable work, was a significant measure of success for this client.

So don't think that just because you don't sell "stuff" (jewelry, shoes, whatever) doesn't mean that you don't need a web site. A web site can serve many purposes. Ask a New Bedford Internet web development expert how your business can be enhanced with a properly functioning and well designed web site.