Start with setting a GOAL for your website

Let\’s ask the tough question before we get started:nnIf you don\’t have a defined goal for your website, then what\’s the point of having one? So, let\’s help you think about how you can begin to define the goal….nnA website must serve a purpose; it must serve YOU.nnThis is why it\’s important that YOU spend a little bit of time understanding how this website you are about to invest in can be an asset to you. Ask the question \”How does this serve me/my goal/my purpose?\”. Trust me, you will quickly begin to see how a simple website can become a Digital Asset for you.nnnnnnGoal-setting for your website keeps you on the right path, and it’s one of the proven ways to grow a business online.nnnnnnThe reality, however unfortunate, is that just like in the real-world, online success doesn’t happen overnight. And just as it is in the real-world, success is subjective, but you can remove the emotion from success associated with your website by defining what a successful website or business would do for YOU.nnSuccessful business and website owners work tirelessly and in SMART ways behind the scenes; they invest time and resource, sometime working for months before they reach that success goal online.nnThe winning formula seems to be common in most is that they set clear step-by-step website goals to make sure they reach the next level.nnnnn

Okay! Let\’s get into the quick hack.

nIn this article I simply want to share a method you can use to set website goals. It is important to do this before get dive into the specific goals (such as bounce rates, purchases, subscribers, new visitors, conversion rates, etc.) to talk, briefly about how to structure our goals.nnn

Set S.M.A.R.T. Website Goals

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nnnWebsite Goals only work in your favour if you stick to the S.M.A.R.T. rules:nnnnnn nn1. Specific – Take a look at these two goals: “I want income from my website” OR “I want to make R200,000 through selling products on my website by May 2022 ”. Which do you think is the best?nn2. Measurable – You need goals you can test, define, and measure. Website visitors, social media numbers are all measurable things. ‘Increase awareness’, for example, isn’t so easy.nn3. Actionable – What can you actually (specifically) do to make your goal happen? e.g. Share your website address with 50 friends and ask them to post it on their WhatsApp status.nn4. Realistic – ‘Overtake Takealot as top online retailer by May 2022’ is about as realistic as ‘build a fast car powered by chocolates’ (And good luck to you!). But don’t make your goals too easy either. Push yourself. Find that sweet spot between realistic and ambitious. One of the ways you can determine what is realistic is e.g. let\’s take the R200k target in point 1 above. R200K is close to R17k per month in sales. If your product is R1k each, it means you assume that you need to get 17 customers if each buys 1 item. From here you can ask yourself the question: Can I get 17 customers in a month? If this sounds realistic to you, then your goal is realistic.nn5. Timely – There must be a start and an end date. Today, we’re setting all our end dates for 1st June 2021.nnnnnnThat’s the SMART goal-setting fundamentals. But there’s more.nnn

Breaking It Down Into Small Chunks

nYou need to break your goals down into small, manageable parts. For example, your website goals might be mid-term goals. e.g. 6 – 7 months. That’s a long time ahead, and it’s easy to get distracted or lose track of progress, so using the goal breakdown triangle might just be what you need. It works like this:nnnnnnnn1. The annual goal – eg. Make R200K in a yearnnnnnn2. Break it down into monthly goals – Aim for minimum 17 sales a month. Or you could go for 20 sales a month while you use the 1st 2 months to plan. etc. If you are a 1st time website owner wanting to sell online, I would suggest that you stay focused on conversions (how many people are actually buying) than anything else. Other factors are important e.g. SEO, page speed, number of visitors, traffic sources, subscriptions, etc. but you MINDSET needs to be one that says that you are doing everything else to reach that 1 specific goal.nnnnnn3. Weekly objectives – What do you need to do every week to hit that monthly goal? Is it publish more content? Could you run some Facebook ads or send a newsletter more often? Could you schedule radio interviews and ask people to visit your website? Could you ask your friends to post for you? Could you reach out to influencers?nnnnnn4. Daily objectives – What can you do every single day to reach those weekly objectives. Start writing a blog post? Optimize your advert copy? Tweak your newsletter for higher open rates?nnnnWe started this articleasking what the point of having a websites?nnThe answer is simply this:nIT DEPENDS ON YOUR GOAL.nnSo, Be S.M.A.R.T. in your goal setting and you\’ll be well on your way to creating a Digital Asset that can bring value to you!