The 7 Habits of a Highly Effective Web Marketer There are as many strategies to improving website performance as there are best practices for doing so -- just ask the Good Idea Fairy.
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Building a business before it actually "takes off" means filling many different roles: founder, accountant, storekeeper, salesperson, product developer, marketer.
One thing I've learned after going into business for myself as an adaptability coach is the value of web marketing and just how many efforts it takes to succeed, with success being conversion. There are as many strategies to improving website performance as there are best practices for doing so -- just ask the Good Idea Fairy.
Contrary to public opinion, blogging and content marketing are still advantageous for three reasons: they educate visitors, prospect potential clients and advertise content. Whether you're a blogger or full-time web marketer, there are plenty of opportunities to get distracted, cede away precious time and lose sight of the big picture.
Related: 17 Ways To Immediately Improve Your Website Traffic
Here are seven highly effective web-marketing habits:
1. Establish milestones and conversion goals.
This is an important habit in any profession. By creating short- and long-term goals, you develop a clear vision of success such that when you need to adapt and overcome the unexpected, you do so effectively. Conversion goals are what marketers use to measure the success of their campaigns that lead the way to their milestones (think of a bread-crumb trail). Any action that leads a user down the conversion trail is a goal worth tracking.
2. Analyze behaviors and achievements.
Behaviors are the actions visitors take once they land on your webpage. Achievements are made when users behave based on the goal you dangled in front of them and enticed them to pursue.
Any time you improve your website's ranking, traffic, click-through rate or impressions, you identify a new, measurable behavior that indicates the probability for conversion. A recent Kissmetrics article highlights the process of analyzing these behaviors as a means to predict success. As you aim toward conversions, keep analyzing and reviewing your visitors' behaviors to ensure they're on the right path.
3. Track your tasks.
I don't know about you, but if I don't write down an idea or task it'll disappear forever and I'll be accused of having a selective memory -- again.
There are so many tasks to prioritize and accomplish throughout the day that if you don't write them down you'll surely fall behind. If you manage a team, it's even more important to track your tasks because now others are relying on you. Don't let task management fall to the wayside. There are some great project and task-management tools out there, such as:
- Ignitur: Project/task management for web marketers
- Asana: Task management for everyone
- Liquid Planner: Schedule management for meeting deadlines
Related: The 13 Tools You Need to Build a Content-Marketing Machine
4. Test and improve your processes.
With any web marketing, don't expect your first attempt to be a home run. Every niche is different, and web marketers that test new strategies are continually shifting and expanding their understanding of how to maximize their content for conversion.
A/B testing (Optimizely), heat mapping (CrazyEgg) and feedback for your website (Five Second Test) affords valuable insights on how to optimize the user experience.
5. Delegate and collaborate.
The most efficient web marketers delegate tasks because they know time is of the essence. If, for instance, you're tasked with creating a website in addition to building its content, keep a repertoire of the best website builders so you can easily delegate.
6. Get in the cloud.
Working with cloud storage is a lifesaver for web marketers. Not only does it allow for collaboration across multiple locations, but it also saves space. Yes, this may seem obvious, but there are people out there who store data on their hard drives and share files through email. C'mon people, it's time to update.
7. Report, monitor and tweak.
Web marketers need to prove their worth. Show proof of success through measurable, reportable results. Reporting forces you to take a detailed look at the data and adapt as necessary.
There you have it: seven habits to put you on the map for web-marketing success. What habits have you found to be successful?
Related: 25 Digital-Marketing and Social-Media Experts to Follow on Twitter
