July is such a fun, nerdy month over here at SmartCause Digital. It’s one of the months when I get together with all my Quarterly Website Strategy Session clients and dig deep into their analytics. By the end, I have exciting new insight into trends and opportunities affecting nonprofit websites.
This round of meetings was an interesting combination of exciting new strategies and a reminder to get the basics right.
Let’s talk about what the analytics are saying about the most basic of web pages: your homepage.
There’s a good chance it’s the most popular page on your site.
For the majority of my clients, the homepage is far and away the most visited page on their site. Every so often, the homepage will be overtaken by the careers page or a popular blog post, but, for you dear reader, it’s a safe bet to say the homepage is your most popular page.
ACTION ITEM
Use the homepage to welcome and orient your new visitors.
The homepage tends to be more popular with new visitors, who are visiting your website for the first time.
Review your site with fresh eyes and make sure it helps visitors understand:
- What your organization does
- How your visitor can get involved
You have between 30 seconds and 60 seconds to guide your visitor.
The normal range for “time on page” for my clients’ homepages is between 30 seconds and 60 seconds.
(Yes, there are outliers at both ends of that range, but the majority fall within this range.)
ACTION ITEM
Give your returning visitors quick links to get where they need to go, such as Donate or Login or a search field.
New visitors are in research mode. They browse your homepage to understand what you do and how they can help.
Returning visitors are in action mode. They want to wrap up their task, whether to donate or register for an event or login.
Note: Trust that your visitors will take some of those 30 to 60 seconds to scroll down your homepage., But help them understand your priorities by placing the most important content at the top of the page.
Remember, 50% to 90% of your visitors don’t enter your website through the homepage.
Among my clients, most visitors don’t enter the website through the homepage. The averages vary depending on how much content is available on the site.
For smaller sites with less content the average is just above 55% and for larger sites with lots of original posts/resources the average is closer to 90%.
ACTION ITEM
Review the list of your top landing pages and ensure that all of them serve as visitor-friendly entry points.
If you’re ready to use Google Analytics for your own website…
Start with my free Google Analytics mini-course. You’ll get everything you need to get started, from the basic terms to monitor to a customizable dashboard to tips on how to correctly install Google Analytics.
If you could use a Quarterly Website Strategy Session…
Check out the details about everything you get and how to work with me!
