7 Questions to Ask When Evaluating Your Website’s Effectiveness

Just having a website is not enough. If you’re hoping you can throw up a cookie cutter website and wait for the leads to start rolling in, you’re going to be waiting a long time.

Effective websites require considerable planning and maintenance. They require that you start with your clients – who they are and what types of information they might be looking for when they visit your website.

Some things to consider include:

1. What types of clients are you looking for? Often, firms claim they are looking for anyone interested in their services. But there are many people out there that won’t be a good fit for you – perhaps because they can’t pay your fees, or they nitpick you to death, or they clash with your personality. Think about the types of people you like to work with and who you’d like to attract.
2. What would your ideal clients be looking for? Too often, firms put up information about themselves and hope visitors will read it. Unfortunately, who you are and what you do isn’t their #1 priority. They’re focused on their current problem and how they can solve it.
3. What exactly does your firm do? This might seem like second nature to you, but if your visitor can’t figure out what you do within a quick page scan, they’ll leave. They also aren’t interested in firms that talk in terms of “our” or “we.” Instead talk in terms of “you” and “your” problems.
4. How easy is it to find relevant information? Readers won’t take the time to figure out how to work your website or read pages of copy about how great you are. That’s boring. When was the last time you read every page on a website you surfed onto? Or became frustrated with a website, yet spent a half hour trying to learn the interface?
5. How professional does your site look? People will judge you by how professional your website is. If you have lots of gratuitous graphics, a long intro flash animation, poor navigation, or if your site takes forever to load, people will leave with a negative impression.
6. How frequently do you add new content? Making sure you have up-to-date content on your website makes your website more credible to visitors and keeps them coming back.
7. How persuasive is your website copy? Persuasive websites encourage visitors to take action. Each page should include some type of call to action – whether that is to join a newsletter, call for a consultation, or simply click another link for more information. This isn’t simply marketing copy exclaiming that your firm is #1, but making a case for your services and proving that you can do what you say. It’s about making prospects feel comfortable about doing business with you and taking the next step.

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