[PLUG-TALK] Google Analytics Bounce Rate

Brent Rieck bsr at spek.org
Mon Sep 13 16:30:02 UTC 2010


On Sun, Sep 12, 2010 at 6:29 PM, Rich Shepard <rshepard at appl-ecosys.com> wrote:
>   From the little I've read I have the impression that all these metrics
> (and terms such as "landing page") are aimed at folks selling products from
> their Web site. I suspect that none have real value for professional
> services companies: consultants, lawyers, accountants.
>
>   Would you select a physician or lawyer by seaching the Web and picking the
> one who's site gave the warmest fuzziest feelings?

I might not pick a doctor or lawyer by their website but it absolutely
influences who I contact first; if your website clearly states what
you do, how you work, and how much you cost I'm more likely to contact
for more information.   The same applies to other professional
services like plumbers and electricians.  I don't want the warm and
fuzzies, I want the information I need to make a decision and a clear
path to take to make it happen; if the warm and fuzzies happen at the
same time, so much the better I suppose.

Analytics can benefit most websites but only help those that actually
use the numbers they're collecting; collect data, tweak design,
collect more data, compare data.  The more ambitious can run
concurrent a/b testing using tools like Google's Website Optimizer.

For your site it sounds like a goal is to get people to contact you,
changing how you present your contact information (where it is on the
page, making the email a mailto link, giving them a form, whatever) is
something you can try and then measure.   Are the users of your
website not experts in (or even vaguely familiar with) your field?  Or
are they?  Changing the copy and messaging are things that you can do
and compare before and after the change.

There's no silver bullet as in "do this thing and you'll be awash in
qualified sales leads", some things you try won't be effective, some
will, the trick is doing more of the effective ones and fewer of the
ineffective ones and analytics will help you find which are the
effective and ineffective.

--Brent



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