Chapter5.Identify Your Web Site s Goals

Chapter 5. Identify Your Web Site's Goals

So why are you trying to attract search traffic anyway? Every reader of this book will have a slightly different answer to that question, because each Web site has an intrinsic purpose, one that your search marketing efforts must support. In Chapter 4, "How Searchers Work," we examined the motivation of searchers, but in this chapter we are examining your motivations as a search marketer. Every Web site needs to drive traffic, but there are many different reasons for doing so. Your site might be selling online, or gathering contact information for offline follow-up, or maybe just generating market awareness. Your organization's site could also be focused on something else entirely.

No matter your goals, attracting traffic from search engines requires an understanding of search from the inside. Most of this book contains tips that do not vary much based on your specific goals for your site. However, your precise goals can sometimes be important, because your goals determine how you measure your search marketing success. In Chapter 6, "Measure Your Web Site's Success," we show how to measure success based on your goals, and in the rest of the book we ensure you know which search marketing strategies help achieve those goals. So, let's dig in and identify your goals for your site.

For some of you, this will be a simple exercise, because you think about the goals of your Web site every day. But maybe you are like the trout, who when asked, "How's the water?" replied, "What water?" Maybe sometimes you get so mired in the day-to-day details that you have trouble remembering what your overall goals are.

Regardless of who you are, your Web site probably has one or more of the following goals:

• Web sales. Ring the digital cash register! Your customer buys your product on the Web.

• Offline sales. Ring that other cash register! Your customer uses the Web to research your product, but buys it in a brick-and-mortar store or over the phone.

• Leads. Find a new customer! Your customer uses the Web to research a problem and leaves contact information.

• Market awareness. Tell your story! Your customer learns about what you do or engages in an activity (sponsored by your brand).

• Information and entertainment. Inform people! Your visitor wants to learn something or have fun killing time.

• Persuasion. Change someone's mind! Your organization might be trying to help people with a problem or medical condition, or you might be trying to influence public opinion.

No matter how many of these goals are your Web site's goals, you want to draw traffic from search engines. Understanding each goal will help you better focus your search efforts.