by Linda Pophal
For me, the summer months represent a relatively quiet time to catch up on some professional development activities that tend to be at the bottom of my list during busier times of the year. This summer, I’ve signed up for a few Coursera courses, including one called “Digital Analytics for Marketing Professionals.” One of the reading assignments led me, as is often the case, down a rabbit hole to more and more intriguing topics until I found myself looking at a post by Avinash Kaushik on his blog, Occam’s Razor.
In the post, he made a very logical and insightful point: individuals and organizations that have websites have lost control of what their homepages are. Those who own the websites think of their homepages as the main entry point for their websites. But step back from that a bit to consider how people really engage with websites.
You don’t even have to think about it; you can use your analytics to tell you. As Kaushik points out, every analytics package will have some report that tells you how (and where) people are entering your site. And, while what you consider to be your homepage may be the main point of entry, there are also likely to be several other points of entry.
For our website, for instance, I find that many visitors enter through links from various social media posts or other online communications that may be generated by us, or by organizations that have referral links to our site on their sites.
Our homepage isn’t necessarily our homepage! And, chances are, neither is yours.
Why is that important? Because if visitors aren’t entering where we think they’re entering, we need to make sure that wherever they engage with us, we’re telling our story completely—or offering a quick and convenient way for them to access our story. Keep in mind that the way you envision how someone might navigate your site may or may not be a reflection of reality.
That can be concerning. It can also be extremely useful information, and it’s likely right at your fingertips. Armed with this knowledge, you can then make adjustments to your website’s content to help drive the results you’re looking for. Don’t think like you; think like them. A better understanding of how your audience is engaging with you can help you better deliver content that is relevant and compelling!
Recommended Reading
The Everything Guide to Customer Engagement
Tags: analytics, analyzing web traffic, blogging, Google Analytics, home page, homepage, web site analysis, web site navigation