Show Me The Money (Page Views)
By: Curt Conrad
President, BrightCite Inc.
Great websites have a purpose. In business that purpose should be tied to measurable results. Many small businesses don’t measure the results of their website. Those that do typically quantify results by transactions made on the site.
While transactions are an important metric they often fall short of providing overall website performance results. Why? Online transactions do not represent how your website influences business done with your company through other channels.
Do You Measure Money Page Views?
At BrightCite, we feel a key measure of overall website performance is the viewing of "Money Pages". "Money Pages" are those that require a specific action from the visitor. It may be - buying, registering, contacting, referring, submitting or any other relevant transactional verb.
It Doesn’t Matter If They Convert
A high number of "money page views" indicates your website is functioning in a healthy way even if the money page is abandoned before a transaction is made. It shows interest in your offering as evidenced by a visitors willingness to follow an information trail (click stream) to the end. Analyzing this trail provides plenty of insight on what’s working on your site and what’s not.
If your money page views are strong but are not converting that’s easy to fix. Test adjusting the offer, reducing the number of registration fields, etc. Getting people to the money page is the much more difficult task.
The Hidden Value Of Money Page Views
Another reason money page views are a strong indicator of your website’s performance is they can usually be traced to a visitor doing business with your company offline. Many people use the web as a research and information tool. They want to learn, compare and get comfortable with your offering. Once done they prefer to transact with you on the phone or in person. However, your website was still a key part of their sales cycle. Money page views show you that prospects are consuming your information.
An example can be seen with a recent client we redesigned. They are making an online offer for a free week membership. One of their money pages was a five field registration form They were disappointed the registration form was not producing the results they expected. I explained that the form was only one results indicator of the online offer.
At that point the client said their walk-in traffic was picking up. A quick look at their analytics showed their money page as the number two most visited page on the site. I asked the client to ask every walk-in if they had been on the website.
The Answer Was Not Surprising.
90% of the walk-ins had visited the site and commented positively on it. They used the site to gather information but preferred to get their free membership in person at the club.
Time and Money Never Lie
One way you can be sure about a consumers behavior is when they pay you. They have essentially voted with their dollars. Their vote was for doing business with you.
The second way consumers vote is with the clock. If someone spends time on your site it shows a commensurate level of interest - they are voting with their time. Money page views let you measure those votes .
So focus on guiding your website visitors to your money pages. Remember, when it comes to "money page views" - time means money for you.