Measure stuff!

The importance of statistics on your web site - a resort example

We all know how important it is to measure the key performance indicators for our businesses. It's critical stuff. Only when we have the right information can we make the right decisions.

I had a case last week where a client showed me the perfect example.

We'd recently (4 months ago) revamped his resort web site from where he takes online bookings. During the revamp we'd configured a good quality statistics program into his web site. The stats program provided a huge range of information, including where visitors were originating from.

Each month we'd run a report for the client to ensure that the startegies we were using we actually being effective. After all, if what we do doesn't work we don't want to be repeating the same old mistakes.

Ross rang last Friday - an accommodation guide wanted him to renew his $400 pa advertising

Ross has just received the renewal for some advertising the resort has had going for the past couple of years. For $400 a year, Ross' resort received a couple of paragraphs, a small photo and a link to his own web site on the web site on an accommodation guide.

Ross called to ask my advice on whether he should renew or not.

The answer was easy enough. No. Definitely not!

A quick check was all it took

A quick check soon told us that the accommodation guide web site requesting the advertising renewal for another year for $400 had not provided a visitor to Ross' web site in 4 months.

Not 1 visitor.

Which is a pretty fair indication that the $400
would be a wasted investment.

Measuring the key performance indicators of your business, whatever they may be, gives you the information to make decisions. The right decisions.

In Ross' case a simple one-off $50 investment in the statistics program saved him $400 per year.

Here on the Gold Coast, more and more of these accommodation web guides are springing up. Without a good quality stats package on your web site, it's almost impossible to ascertain whether they represent good value for money.

For $50 you can buy yourself a great stats program (budget for another $50 to have it configured and placed on your site). And with that you'll be in a terrific position to closely monitor your marketing efforts.

Brendon Sinclair