There are two kinds of research you need to do in order to effectively write your website – quantitative research and qualitative data. I know this may sound intimidating, but grab a cup of coffee and let me break it down to make it super easy so you can get the most out of your website once you hit launch!

Let’s start with quantitative research

Quantitative research are things you can measure, like the data you collect about your site such as Google Analytics (don’t worry, next week’s post will be ALL about setting up Google analytics for your site). If you plan on setting up quantitative research on your website, following are some helpful tips that will help you get the most accurate data on your Google Analytics:

1. Make sure your 404 page works so when people land on your a page on your site that isn’t there they don’t automatically get frustrated and log off, but are directed to an equally helpful page.
2. Exclude the times when you are accessing the website. You can do this by adding in your IP address and filtering that out so it doesn’t get tracked (because we all know we visit our own site multiple times a week).
3. Set up goals you want to measure on Google analytics, like leadpages, etc.
4. If you have a cart to your website or Shopify website plugin, track how many times people add a product to their cart and then abandon the cart.
5. See where the “leaks” in your funnel are – where do people jump out and leave your site?
6. Start to look at mobile vs. desktop

All of this will help your site be top-notch, and allow you to see where errors in your site may arise.

Helpful tools:

• Subscribe to HubSpot and Yoast’s email marketing newsletter with weekly tips
• Check out Ben Turner SEO or Neil Patel’s YouTube channel for tons of SEO tips
• See if there is a general assembly in your city where they teach SEO courses (local SEO business hosting workshop)

Qualitative Data

I always suggest having qualitative data on your site, because this is where people will connect with you and see that you are reliable. Qualitative data simply means what your clients/ customers are saying about you and what they are doing on your website- their user experience. You can help sway WHAT people say about your site by having testimonials or getting on the phone with past customers and interviewing them!  Some other ways to get qualitative data are by:

• Surveys
• Chat transcripts
• Amazon mining
• Social proof

I hope these tips help get your site up to top-notch performance! Contact me if I can help with your website research!