B2B Web Strategy Blog - eMagine » Is Your Website Leaking Your Advertising Dollars Down the Drain?

Is Your Website Leaking Your Advertising Dollars Down the Drain?

April 16th, 2008 Posted by: Bill Gadless

You may have seen some of our postings summarizing industry forecasts for increasing industry online ad spending …recession or not. (See, for example, B2B Online Marketing Budgets Set to Rise Again in 2008 and Microsoft’s Yahoo Bid Reveals Confidence in Online Spending Growth.)

Of course, “industry spending” is simply the summation of many decisions taken at companies much like yours. So if you’re in the majority that is continuing or increasing your online budget …well, we salute you and feel sure that you’re on the right track.

However… it’s a very good time to ensure that your website is truly ready to capitalize on your online investment. Unfortunately, many are not. Here are just some of the ways that websites can “leak” leads and hence dollars:

its message is stale, out of synch with your B2B’s brand or image, or simply unclear …any one of which can lead to reduced visitor interest and an early exit
its content is fuzzy, not compelling, wandering, and/or lacking in keywords …which also leads to low interest, for both human and robotic (search engine) visitors
it doesn’t steer the visitor unerringly to take action along the path that leads to bookings and sales
its landing pages aren’t sufficiently compelling, and/or don’t provide offers that visitors find irresistible …thus failing to convert them to prospects
it doesn’t track activity all the way to closed orders, so that you can measure your e-ROI and spot areas where improvement will pay off

Don’t let a leaky website waste your advertising dollars!
You’ve got to know how close your website is to peak effectiveness …in difficult times, you really can’t live with anything less. Your Web marketing consultants can evaluate your site for currency, attractiveness, branding support, clarity, relevance (as seen by the search engines), visitor engagement, conversion efficiency …in short, everything involved in the path from casual visit to converted lead. (eMagine’s website evaluation, for instance, costs you nothing and gives you a 35-page report detailing those areas where we believe improvements can increase your e-ROI.)

OK, we know you’re thinking that Web consultancies only want to sell you a full site makeover. In many cases, that will be the best solution …and for the majority of those, it won’t come as a huge surprise to the website’s owner. But in many other cases, a few fairly painless tweaks – e.g., to offers, or SEO, or website/CRM integration – are all that’s really needed to make significant strides in effectiveness; and your provider should be flexible enough to let you take only as much assistance as you actually need.

So, if you’re being aggressive with your online ad spend – a terrific strategy for challenging times – take that one extra step and make sure you leak-proof your site!