value of website traffic, Placing Value on Your Website TrafficWhy do we have a website? Because we want to generate leads, we want to sell stuff. You are either providing a service or selling a product, and you want to do more of it. Before you spend any more money promoting your website, you need to determine the value of a visitor to your site.

Let's start at the end and work back.

What is the lifetime value of a customer to you? If you're providing a service, how much money will a client spend with you over the time that they remain a client? How often will you get called back to perform a service if you're a plumber? How long does a client typically stay with you if you provide a monthly service? If you're selling a product, is it a one and done or does the client return to make additional purchases? Come up with a number. I know it won't be exact, but you need a number before proceeding.

How many contacts with prospects did it take to get that client? What is your closing ratio? Determine your contact to contract ratio. A contract is a prospect/contact that has converted into a client/customer.

Okay, we're getting closer. How many leads does it take to generate a contact? Website visitors may leave their contact information, but you may never be able to get in touch with them. If a website visitor calls you and you speak with them, they count as a contact, not a lead. If you're selling a product, visitors may view your product but not buy it. We're looking for how many leads it takes to generate an opportunity to contact a prospect and make an effort to convert them from a contact to a client.

We have arrived at the front of the process. How many website visitors does it take to generate a lead? Without this information, it's tough to determine whether your website is doing its job. Without this information, spending money to generate more traffic might just be pouring your money down the drain.

Here's an arbitrary set of numbers to help you visualize my process.

One hundred website visitors generate 20 leads which generate five contacts which generate one sale/client. So in this example, if your lifetime value of a client is $1,000, each visitor to your website is worth $10. Apply your numbers and come up with a website visitor value for yourself.

You can now determine how much you can afford to generate a lead with this number. Whether using paid advertising or boosting your traffic with SEO Services now, you can calculate your return on your investment.

So how do you keep track of this?

It depends.

If your website is selling a product and the entire process takes place on your website, all of this information could be tracked in Google Analytics. If you're using your website to generate leads, it's the same answer, Google Analytics, but…

If you have a lead generation website, you will need to have an additional way of tracking the lead to contract process.

It's unfortunate, but much of Google Analytics is under-utilized, and Goals are near the top of the list.

You need to track the completion of each step in the process. So starting at the beginning, How many users does it take to generate a lead?

The metric you should be tracking is users, not sessions. If a user comes back to your site multiple times, it will be tracked as multiple sessions but … only as one user. This metric allows you to measure how many unique visitors it takes to generate a lead.

This is done by setting up a goal in Google Analytics to determine how many users get to your contact us page or sales page and complete the process … end up on your thank you page.

Each step in the process needs its own goal. With this setup, you'll no longer be flushing your money down the drain. Get clear on the value of your website traffic, and you'll be able to determine your return on your investment.

Here are some additional articles that will help with this process.


value of website traffic, Placing Value on Your Website TrafficWhat is a Website Visitor Worth?

What is the Value of a Website Lead Learn how to calculate critical metrics like this, plus Customer LTV, Visitor to Lead Conversion rates, and more.


Setting-Up and Calculating Your Website Conversion Rate

Whether collecting leads or selling items online, this overview with formulas will help you calculate your website conversion rate.


value of website traffic, Placing Value on Your Website TrafficIs SEO worth it in 2021?

Some have speculated that SEO was dead in 2018. The only thing is, those same people have said that since 2012 SEO is more prevalent in 2018 than it has ever been! But that still leaves the argument, is SEO worth it? Is SEO worth the time and monetary investment required to move the needle? We think so, and here s why.


Need more local marketing tips? Check out our entire Guide to Local Marketing for Real Estate Professionals

value of website traffic, Placing Value on Your Website Traffic