What Is Website Optimization

Website Optimization is simply the process of improving the desired user outcome for a particular website or webpage. Though simple in definition, it can take a combination of art and science to achieve the goal.

Even if you have a brand new site, with little to no traffic, there is still much to do. We had a client in this same scenario. In the first 30 days, month one, these are key stats:

Users up 40%
Average Revenue Per User is up 52%
Revenue Up 114%
Average Order Value up 20%
Number of Transactions up 77%
Conversion Rate up 20%

These numbers occurred without generating more traffic.  We did not implement SEO, pay per click, social or other means to bring in visitors.  This is just focused on the website itself. This was done on purpose to get the website performing at it's best so that when traffic comes, we are as efficient and convert as many as possible.

These are the steps we did to focus attention on website performance.

1. Tracking - Day one we installed Google Analytics. We pushed all the buttons,  (See Complete Guide to Digital Marketing) and implemented e-commerce tracking right away. With no history, we had to create some as soon as possible.
2. User Experience Improvements - The website was functional, but not laid out as well as it could be. By directing our users through the website we were able to create a true funnel that we could track and measure.
3. Visual Improvements - All images, fonts, and layouts were updated to look their best.
4. Updates - Updating the website platform, WordPress, the theme and the plugins, gave us a modern site that ensured compatibility and stability throughout.
5. Speed - Following the previous steps, the next phase was to run benchmark tests. After that, the images were resized, compressed files, reduce javascript, leverage browser caching, improve server response time, and other such endeavors. Each one does not make a big difference, but all together they do make a huge difference. 
6. Copy and Meta - The next area for improvement was site copy and metadata. We improved the readability and grammar across all pages. Then going through the pages again, we added meta descriptions on the page, the images, etc.

The combination of multiple, ongoing, optimization enhancements, let to the website performing incredibly well. An increase in conversions is always welcomed, but it also shows where the next areas of need are. If traffic generation had run from day one, it may have just been a waste of money on learning. Optimization is always an eternal task, and staying with it produces great results.