Are you flying blind?

While we all accept that the Internet is now a core business platform, we still don't subject our websites to the same measurements and accountability we do for other channels. The medium may have changed, but fundamentals business principles still apply.

A recent Forrester report shows that 90% of website managers believe measuring the business goals of their website is "extremely or very important." So why are so few organizations actually doing it?

Traditionally this data has been the domain of the IT department, when arguably the people who need it most are the marketers. But the marketing department is not technically minded and has no understanding of how websites, log files and IP addresses work.

Most managers lack the technical expertise to get the data and performance indicators from their website. And once they do get their hands on it, there is so much data that deciphering it to direct design and content decisions has been all but impossible - the wood for the trees syndrome.

On the other hand the IT department hasn't a clue about marketing. So we now have an Internet littered with millions of websites that are technically perfect, but confuse and annoy the users. Not much ROI there.

The current solution for those managers making an effort to get control of their website is to use data that's readily available in standard reports - hits, unique visitors and page views. The Forrester report found that 98% of site owners are using these indicators to gauge performance. The problem is, these indicators are pretty useless. They don't answer the questions most marketers want to know - which visitors are actually buying and which are the most profitable.

Being able to tag visitors and follow their click path through the site tells you where the problem areas are and which content is getting results. Of course the metrics you use will depend on your website, your business goals and the goals of your customer.

Once you have put your metrics in place and found the potential areas of difficulty on the site, you can set up usability testing to find out exactly where the navigation is confusing or what content is pushing your visitors out of the site.

No other medium gives the user so much control - he who has the mouse has the upper hand! Decision is with the user and if your homepage does not immediately grab his attention, solve his problem and give him some vital reason to click further into your site - he will be gone in an instant. Research shows that most websites lose 60% of their prospects right on the home page.

It is no longer enough to pay lip service to customer service - Making the site easy to use and providing content users want, gives you the results you want. When they can't buy - they won't buy. Complicated sites lose visitors and sales when customers can't find information they are looking for. One of the main reasons for abandoned shopping carts is a difficult checkout procedure.

Putting together an Internet strategy based on metrics, analysis and usability will: