I’ve been asked this question so many times.
“What does it mean to optimize a website?”
To start with, “optimize” means to make something better or more effective.
In marketing: Get in front of more people, get more clients, or close more sales.
In web development: Cleaner code, faster loading site, easier maintenance.
Generally speaking, optimizations include technical and non-technical aspects to make your website easier to find and provide a better experience.
To illustrate better how optimizing really works here are some scenarios:
1. Driving people to your website:
Let’s say you specialize in home remodeling or own a luxury furniture online store.
Type the name of the service you provide or the name of your industry on any search engine (google, bing, yahoo) and now look for your website.
If you’re not at least on the first page of results you’re missing out on 85%-90% of people who look for a product or service you offer.
What’s important to remember here is that if you type your business’ name, you’re probably going to find it.
But when people need something, they usually don’t look directly for a business name, they look for the product or service you offer.
Chances are, you have used search engines that way.
2. Getting people to stay on your site:
Here is where it becomes much more complex. You not only want people to find your website but you also want them to stay in it and see you as their solution.
- 50% of people abandon websites that take more than 4 seconds to load.
- 85% of people abandon websites with poor design.
- Web content and Copy can increase sales by more than 20%.
Gettig more sales:
Whatever industry you’re in, your website should help you generate income. If your website is easy to navigate and easily understandable you’ve got some points in your favor. But, optimizations can be far more complex. To give you an idea:
- Button position can increase *conversion rate by more than 970%.
- Even the color of a button can increase conversions by more than 47%.
- Conversion rate is the desired action made by the user, whether make people click a button, complete a purchase, or contact you.
What Is The Ultimate Goal Of Optimization?
The ultimate goal of owning a website is to generate income directly or indirectly. Whether by getting you leads or by selling while you focus on other aspects of a business. Having said that, NOT all businesses will see the same benefits from having a website.
The entire point of optimization is to make websites more responsive, faster, easier to navigate, and more persuasive for users. So, have you optimized your site?
