Targeting Your Audience With Analytics

In the very first flush of Internet wonder, when the World Wide Web's handsome graphical (inter)face turned the text-only information cul-de-sac into a highway, it seemed that you could slap up any old Web site and get an audience. As hard as it is to believe for those of us who work in the field, there are still people who harbor this quaintly naive attitude. Their wake-up call can be delivered in the old "bad news, good news" one-two punch. The bad news is that you can't throw any old page up on the Web and draw fans and customers, but the good news is that you can succeed by targeting your audience with analytics.

There is, quite literally, a wide world of competition out there today for anyone taking business online. No matter your product, industry, offering or service, there are more people than you can imagine doing the same (or a very similar) thing. Your challenge is not merely to distinguish and differentiate yourself, but to do it in such a way that prompts people to do business with you. In addition to all the sales and marketing challenges from the real world, there are now some new wrinkles coming your way from the virtual one.

Focus is key
Although you certainly need to consider your target customers and potential site visitors at every step, including initial Web site creation and your marketing plan, the true measure of your customers -and of your plan -will be reflected in the "Web analytics" you gather and study. You can see trends taking shape before your eyes, too, as you observe the length of visits, how visitors arrived to your site, the pages they looked at and where they went. All of it matters in your final strategy.

Perhaps the most important information is where your actual users come from, as this will tell you where to go to begin spreading your message in a more targeted manner. Visitors to your site may have arrived there following a Yahoo or Google search, after finding a business directory listing with your link in it or by numerous other routes. Knowing how most of your customers and visitors arrive to your site will lead to more focused efforts, specially tailored messages and increased "Web presence" at the sites that have been driving business to you (and sites similar to them, too).

Keywords are key, too
Analytics will also tell you what keywords on your Web site are drawing people, and which are not. Many of the common analytics programs -Google's aren't the only ones, although they are good -will divulge "the magic words" that worked to bring a particular visitor your way. As you work on your site content and try different words and combinations, you will find the ones that work best. Using these in an assertive but nuanced manner will help your site perform better with search engines and appear "organically" among the other top listings.

The statistics you develop with analytics results plus your ongoing research will eventually paint a picture of your ideal approach. You needn't reinvent the wheel, of course, and you should always keep tabs on what is working, and what is not, for your competitors. Check out what the high-ranking, successful firms are doing, but also dig back toward page 10 or 11 of the Google results and see what those firms are doing, too. You want to discover what names, keywords and approaches created additional traffic, why and how people left their sites, what links were clicked, what other actions were taken and how many people became buyers, you are well on your way.

Follow the numbers
When you "do" your analytics well, you will discover the keywords and phrases that work well in your industry and with your business type. You can now put those words and phrases to work, not only on your site, but also in blogs, chats, e-mail marketing and any other vehicle that can reach people and direct them to you. Use the keywords that have a track record rather than one or two big, new spikes of interest. You will, in short order, develop your own custom list of "power keywords" that will remain in a state of constant refinement as you move forward.

Audience analytics and statistics are simply numerical abbreviations of what Web users do, how they do it, plus when, where and even why. Getting a handle on all of it isn't easy, but will allow you to create the best possible site for the people who are most likely to be fans, supporters, clients and customers. Once you understand what motivates them, and what works to add others to their ranks, you can make real headway with your business, in any economic environment.