Your content needs to be original and interesting and have the most effective keywords. Fresh graphics and videos add interest and should be relevant. Page names and meta descriptions need to be crafted so that they reflect what your website is about so that search engines will find you and index your site. All of these elements need to be in place for your Flash website to draw the most traffic and keep people coming back. So, how can you do this? There are several ways to know how good your website is.
Site Analytics
Website analytics are powerful tools to use in order to know how good your website is. Google Analytics, WordStream and Omniture all have analytic tools that will tell you how your Flash website is performing and if you need to make any improvements. You will know where your visitors come from and if they are staying on your site and converting. Are they coming from other websites, via searches, or using a mobile device? A quality website statistic report will tell you this. Your reports will also tell you if any of your links are broken or lead nowhere. Site analytics can also tell you if your bounce rate (the number of people who come to your site and then just move on) is high.
Google Analytics are useful to track your traffic while WordStream is geared more toward keywords and can help you develop an effective ad campaign. Omniture is a good all-around analytic tool that can help you to understand how your website is working. You may even want to submit your website to Alexa. The Alexa site audit is a very comprehensive report that analyzes your statistics and gives you specific recommendations. It is wise to use more than one site analytic tool to get a complete understanding of your website and recommendations that you can implement to bring your website up to speed.
Search Engines Results Pages (SERPs)
In order to see how well your website is doing, do a search for it in the different search engines. Note where your site appears and then use your website statistics to find out how you can help it appear close to or at the top of search results. Monitor the SERPs for your chosen keywords as they are a barometer of the health of your website. The higher your website places in the SERPs, the more visitors you will get since most people only browse the first three pages of a search. When used with your site statistics, your SERP placement can give you a good idea of how your website is performing.
Check Out Your Competitors
One of the easiest ways to know how good your website is, is to check out your competitors’ websites. Look at the design and tools they have and compare them to your website. Is their website easy to use and easy to understand? Do all of their links work and can you find what you want? Use the experience and compare it to how your website looks and works. Look at your website through your users’ eyes. It is easy to lose sight of how your visitors use your site since you made it, but step back and take a look at it with fresh eyes. Imagine you are your competitor using your site.
Use a Feedback Form
A feedback form gives your visitors a chance to tell you what they liked or disliked about your Flash website. Feedback can be in the form of an actual form or a survey. Both will give you valuable insights about user experience. Feedback forms and surveys also give you a chance to collect contact information that you can use later for e-mail campaigns, targeted ads, and newsletters.
Is Your Website Complete?
Do you have all of the elements of a great website? Of course, you need a home page as well as about us, contact, and product pages, but to give your visitors a complete experience and help to build traffic, there are some other elements you should consider including in your design. Blogs that offer interesting information that people can use keep them coming back. Articles that are related to your business are also tools to use to build a visitor base. Comment forms on blogs, articles, and product pages give visitors a chance to connect with you and you a chance to build a community. Facebook and Twitter connections further increase your community and give you another chance to connect with visitors.
You can gauge how good your website is and how well it is working by studying your site statistics, visiting competitor’s websites, and having a complete and well-crafted site that you build with the website builder.
