Managing expectations
I got an email from a client last week.
Three months ago, we launched a web site for her brand new business. Her web site wasn’t meeting her expectations. She needed to make changes and she needed to make them NOW!
Her immediate reaction was to change the copy on the opening page. BOY did she want to change the copy on her opening page. She’d discussed it with her success coach and even he agreed that she needed to change the copy on her opening page.
So, she contacted me wanting to change the copy on her web site.
However, because I’m more than just a web developer, instead of jumping into action, I chose instead to run an analysis of her web site traffic. The results were stunning…
She had only had 147 visitors to her web site in the past three months. Of those 147 visitors, 100 had signed up for her newsletter. Keep in mind that “normal” conversion rates for inline web forms run in the 13-15% range. My client’s conversion rate was in the 70% range.
In addition, she was converting 5% of her visitors into customers. Keep in mind hers is not a $19.95 e-book sale but rather a $150 solution.
I followed the Brad and Andy circus as they touted their StomperNet program. In their online “going natural” tutorials, they were THRILLED when they converted 3.5% of their customers for Minor Sale party favors!!! Selling a higher dollar, higher “risk” product should mean lower conversion percentages, not vice versa.
My client was pleased with the reports. Now, she has a good idea of how her web site is performing. She knows what keywords visitors are using to arrive at her site. Most importantly, she knows what success looks like. Before the reports and our discussion, she thought web site success was measured in product sales. I’m confident that as her site gets some “age” on it, that even those high expectations will be met.
We narrowly avoided disaster however Had I not run the reports, had I jumped in and started “fiddling” with her content, then we might have torn down the solid foundation which we had carefully constructed.
My client has high expectations and I’m thrilled to provide her the guidance to reach her goals. I’m also flattered that someone of her caliber values my input so highly.
In the end, we decided to leave the current copy just as it is and 2007 will be the year we look for ways for her to increase the number of visitors to her web site.
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