5 Goals Every Site Should Have
This post was written by Katrina.
Experts insist that your goals must be measurable, timed, and controllable. But what does that mean? Measurable means knowing that you’ve met the goal or how close you are to reaching it. Timed has a realistic deadline. Controllable goals are actions taken. Other experts add to these, and even though those are the tools, the plans are not laid out for you until now.
Whether you run a forum, blog, or even a YouTube channel, there are five goals that every site should have, and here is the countdown:
1. Lessen Your Bounce Rate
If they leave as soon as they arrive, something needs to improve on the site. What is causing viewers to leave immediately? Is it the design, the speed, the topics, too much advertising, poor quality photos, confusion, etc.? Be the detective and work on those flaws causing your audience to fly right out of there?
2. Improve the Quality of your Content (which will help goals 3, 2, and 1)
Are your topics essential? Do they lure people in, or are they repeat the same things you find on other sites? How can you make your topics interesting? It might not be the topics themselves, but how they are presented could be improved. Never plagiarize, but look at your competitors and note how they offer their content. If it’s in writing, is the spelling and grammar accurate, or if my voice, does it sound articulate, or is it indecisive and jumbled?
3. Be Appealing
Take an objective look at your site, and if you cannot be accurate, then ask someone who can give you input. Is your site easy to navigate, fast to load, laid out in an organized manner? If it’s YouTube, is your sound fuzzy, poor quality camera work, etc.? If anything about your site frustrates you, it will hinder your audience.
4. The gain in Popularity (go big or go home)
Work on SEO for better Google ranking. Build up backlinks. Get the name out there through word of mouth, advertising, whatever it takes to become memorable. Design a brand that fits the scope of your project and maintain it, whether it’s a banner, affiliate link, business card, or even your signature line.
5. Increase Traffic (even if it’s only a few more hits a month)
Unless you want your site to be a private place for you and a couple of friends, you’ll want to drive more traffic to it and get more readers, members, and comments. More traffic will allow you to pick up sponsors or advertisers so that they can grow their businesses through your success. This will enable you to pay for your site or possibly turn a profit.
How to increase traffic? If you start building on goals 2 through 4, you’ll eventually reap the rewards of goal #1. It might not happen in the time frame you expect, and that’s where you permit yourself to extend the deadline. Baby steps are okay. Revising how you achieve the goals is okay. Scrap a terrible idea, then become creative and enjoy working on your site again. Don’t become complacent. Keep to the goals and seek your success.
