Sales Funnel Optimisation Phase 1: Internal Orientation

This is the first instalment of a four-part series on Sales Funnel Optimisation.  [See yesterday's introduction here].

Phase 1: Internal Orientation

Internal orientation is where people within your business (typically the business owners in the case of SMEs) decide what your website should look like and how it should be optimised on an ongoing basis.

Internal stakeholders often have definite views on “what a good website should look like” and how it should be managed. For example:

• “We need a website that looks really dynamic and interactive”
• “Plenty of pictures and graphics is the way to go – visitors won’t read heaps of text”
• “Our home page should tell visitors all about our company”
• “We need to update our homepage regularly to keep people coming back”
• “My sales letter isn’t working… I know, it must be too short! Let’s add more information!”
• “Let’s put a “news ticker” on our home page to keep people informed about new developments at our company”

Whether or not these statements bear out in the real world is not the point.

The point is that many (almost all) online marketing decisions are made on the basis of personal opinion, instead of in the context of  maximising a result desired result. “Generating as many quality sales leads as possible for $100 or less per lead” is a focused, measurable business goal.  A news ticker in pretty colours is not.

One advantage of internal input is that people who are intimately involved in a business often have valuable insights and experience that can inform the web design or website optimisation process.

But the disadvantage of this internal orientation is that it tends to be “blinkered”, focusing more on the company’s needs and priorities ahead of the website visitor or customer’s.

The internally-oriented approach in isolation invariably leads to sub-optimal results because the appropriate feedback mechanisms aren’t in place, but it is a starting point in the process of website sales funnel optimisation.

To find out whether or not what you’re doing is actually working, tomorrow we’ll evolve to the next level – Phase 2: Objective measurement.