Which of the following goals helps plan a better Web site?

• Increase sales conversions from 2 to 4 percent, a 100 percent increase.
• Ensure 100 percent of visitors take the action planned for them to take.

Most managers would be thrilled with a 100 percent sales increase. They’d celebrate a 4 percent conversion rate. Yet that 4 percent conversion rate doesn’t tell the whole story. Let’s explore what, exactly, is left on the table.

Deal With Only Four Types of Traffic

There are four types of visitors:

• Those who land on the wrong site.
• Those who know exactly what they want to purchase.
• Those who know approximately what they want to purchase.
• Those who aren’t overtly in buying mode but might buy if they came across the right thing.

Are conversion goals identical for all four types of traffic? Of course not!

Continue reading my column at ClickZ…