A Day in the Life of a Website

by Cherie' Davidson

Published on this site: August 7th, 2006 - See more articles from this month

Ah, there he is. What did he do, sleep all night ? ! We'll never get any sales if he doesn't do something with me. My navigation is awkward, the page flow...well, it doesn't, and humans keep leaving the site after a few seconds. It's no fun for me, I can tell you! I'm a Website, damn it, and I deserve some respect!

My human - he calls himself a business man...ha! - is trying to make a living from me. But what can he expect when he has no clue what my visitors are thinking ? This just chaps my scripts, I can tell you.

Okay, in all fairness, he did make me look good. Actually, real good. I'm hot...my graphics are sharp and engaging, my design is striking and if I were a photograph, I'd be framed in a fancy gallery! But doesn't he know, looks are only monitor deep? Pleeeez, get a clue! My very survival depends on business, which starts with happy humans. And unfortunately, as pretty as I am, I'm not making anyone happy. Yep, my days are numbered unless he starts paying attention to my needs!

Impatiently waiting for his human to fill his coffee mug, Website sits, wondering what today will hold..

Come on, come on! We're burning pixels here! Yes! Pull out your chair, there you go. Sit... alright! Gotcha! Now we're cooking. Yep, there's the familiar tap...and...woo hoo! He's pulling some of my files. We're finally going to get something done!

Human has been reading about Web analytics.

What is this? He's adding a strange little snippet of code. Hmmm, interesting, it's nonintrusive, but...whoa, baby! I can see who is looking at me! Wow! There's one from Alaska, and Arizona, oh, ya, and that place humans call Florida. This is a rush! Look at those traffic numbers climb! I've got to look at this deal. Ok, ya, reports, good. Easy to read. My human needs to look at these closely. Oh ya!

Wait a second! Only 20% of all these people went to my sales page?! That can't continue. Hey, human! Human! Are you seeing this?!

It seems Human is seeing the numbers, and he is realizing there is a lot he has been missing by not having used traffic reporting before now...

Ok, we need to look at this more closely. I see that 10% are buying once they get there. Hmmm, that could be improved! Oh, geez, look at that product description page - everyone is leaving when they get to it. What's up with that?! Human, you need to get a copywriter on that page, like now!

This is interesting, that press release he sent brought 379 people to the site. And 214 are from Florida. What else, oh...keywords! Aha! I don't see my #1 product anywhere.

The unpleasant screeching sound issuing from the computer echoes Human's feelings about his site. This Web analytics data is shedding light on some serious issues...

Come on, Human! Take your mouse by the horns and make some changes! This is good stuff we're seeing here. Your banner ad on that sweet little site in Canada is getting great response. Do more of that, would ya? I sure wouldn't mind connecting to some other hotties like that one, and we now know that pays off!

Human, you're...making changes! You go!!! Ahhh, I'm already seeing a difference...look at that! Not so many jumpers from the description page; they're starting to move over to sales. Now you've got it. Oh ya, this is doing the trick. You're seeing what needs to be changed, what works and what flops!

No more long, lonely nights, no more feelings of cart abandonment, no more dollars surfing out of my reach! I'm all choked up...Human, you couldn't have made a better move, and you're going to see the difference I can make now! Oh ya! My virtual world is turning around, thanks to one little snippet and human who is paying attention to the reports.

What about your Website? Don't keep it in the dark, bored, doing nothing for you. An unfulfilled Website is a tremendous opportunity lost. By using Web analytics, it can do what it was created to do...bring you business!

Cherie' Davidson -This is a free-reprint article written by freelance writer and Website content developer, http://www.cheriedavidson.com. Cherie' is also copywriter and managing content editor for VisiStat, a Web reporting service http://www.visistat.com, and their informative Analytics Blog http://www.visistat.com/wordpress/. For more information, write her at editor at visistat.com.