So you know what hits mean. Unique hits or user sessions,I mean. And you know what CR means. Right? If so, you're ingreat shape, for many people don't. They think they do. But they've got it wrong.
You see a single hit is invaluable. It may have come fromthe first visit to your site by one who will return to buyrepeatedly. One who shares your name with others who do thesame.
The catch is you can't say which hit matters. Thus you needto assume every single one is crucial. Else you can strike outon the ones that matter most.
So What Is A Hit, Really?
A hit is generated when someone visits your site. You don'treally want off-target hits. If you get mention in a prominentnewspaper, you might draw 10,000 visitors simply because of adelightful comment you made about cats. But where's the gain,if you're selling water skis?
Maybe 1 in that 10,000 might coincidentally have an interestin water skis. The others are not potential customers. Theyonly waste your bandwidth and often even your time withoff-topic questions. And what happens if each is determinedto share their favorite cat story?
You want only targeted hits. And you want these visitors toarrive with their interest front and center. This is why searchengines listings, ads, and such, matter so. You want to drawonly visitors interested in what you offer. A misleading ad isa waste of money, for hits generated are off-target.
CR: Conversion Ratio
CR is tossed about casually with a knowing nod of the head.But many who use the term don't really know what it means. Itmeans different things to different sites, and in differingsituations.
Briefly it is the percentage of visitors who buy, or takesome other action you want them to. In general, a 2% CR isconsidered good. That is, if 2 in 100 visitors buy yourproduct, you may figure this is fine.
But such models are so crude they often mislead when appliedto your site. A CR of 2% may be nifty (or a disaster, if morewas expected). However good it is, it is still only an average.It gives a useful picture only over the long term. It saysnothing about today. Or right now. Or about what your nextvisitor will do.
Turn this the other end to. Given a CR of 2%, how manysales can you count on in your next 100 visitors? 2? No. Isaid, "count on," and the answer is none.
Say you make 20 sales on your first 100 visitors today. Butnot a one off the next 900. Still, 20 sales in 1000 hits is aCR of 2%.
There is no way you can say your next visitor will buy.Or will not. Come up with a way to do so, and you'll be amillionaire right quick.
You simply do not know what your next visitor will do.But you probably hope he or she ...
Buys - Terrific
Returns to buy - Great news
Returns to buy again - The key to success
Tells a friend who visits - Very nice
Your list will differ. And there are other actions youmay want your visitors to take. For example, sign up for freeinformation of interest, delivered by an autoresponder overtime. This often brings people back to buy. And if you canget them to set a bookmark, this may do the same.
The Secret To Improving Your Business
You can not afford to risk losing even a single visitor.Period. The big boys counting sales in the millions and hitsin the billions can safely ignore a bunch. You can not.
Accept the potential value of every single hit as unlimited.Then act in every way to draw them. And never ever turn evenone aside.
Obvious, don't you think? But look about on the Web andyou'll often see visitors not encouraged or even turned away.Then, of course, look to your own site and be certain you arenot making such blunders.
Never, Ever Release Any Of Your Rights To Anyone
One of the grandest scams on the Web, which goes largelyunnoticed, is for a web-based bookseller or publisher to requiresome rights to your work in exchange for the service to beprovided. Many demand the electronic rights, for example.
Customer Personality Types: Does It Matter?
Marketing types are fond of classifying people intocategories. Here are four which I took from "Differentiate OrDie," by Jack Trout with Steve Rivkin. (John Wiley & Sons, NewYork, 2000, p15.) Only the first few words of each are includedhere.
Does Search Engine Traffic Matter?
The short answer is, "Sure." And it likely always will.But the amount of free traffic search engines now deliver tomany small online businesses doesn't amount to much. And whatthere is of it continues to decline in importance. Pay-for-submission models are rapidly eliminating free options.
