How to Measure Your Website ROI

Put simply, to measure your website ROI you must determine the value of a conversion and monitor every call, enquiry and sale through Google Analytics. Then put that against the cost of building and running the site. If you watch your organic traffic and cost per lead over a period of time, you will see if the return is compounding.

Define What Success Looks Like

You cannot measure ROI without first knowing what you want the website to do. For the majority of small businesses this means generating enquiries, closing sales or taking some of the manual work off your plate. Be clear about your objectives and put a figure on them: what does a new lead represent to your bottom line?

Track Conversions

Make sure you have conversion tracking in place on Google Analytics for any action that matters, from a purchase or download to a click on your phone number or contact form. Lacking this, you are flying blind, you may know your visitor numbers but have no idea if they are acting on them.

Calculate Cost Per Lead

Take all your outlays for the site, from design and development to hosting, content and marketing, and divide by the leads or sales you have put in the bank. This provides a cost per lead for comparison with other channels. On a well-constructed site you will typically see this figure drop as organic traffic picks up.

Measure Organic Traffic Growth

In the long run, nothing is more telling for your ROI than organic search traffic. Put in the work on your SEO and the results compound, unlike paid ads, the traffic does not dry up when you stop writing the cheque. Check your figures in Search Console and Google Analytics each month.

Track Revenue Attribution

E-commerce makes this easy. Service firms have to connect the dots between an online enquiry and a closed deal. Make use of UTM parameters to see which campaigns and pages are producing the best leads, and do not forget to ask your new clients where they came from.

The Bigger Picture

There are returns that elude the numbers. A site that makes you look like the obvious choice in your industry brings with it credibility and professionalism, and can free up time otherwise spent fielding the same questions. For those intangible trust factors and more, I have written a guide on the website elements that convert visitors.

Want to understand the ROI of a professional website for your business? Get in touch for a no-obligation conversation, or see our services to learn how we work.