Website Goals – A Definitive Guide

Welcome to this comprehensive guide on website goals and objectives!

Whether you’re launching a brand-new website or looking to improve an existing one, it’s crucial to have a clear understanding of what you hope to achieve.

In this post, we’ll explore the following topics:

• What exactly are website goals, and why are they important
• The importance of setting SMART goals
• General goals that every website should consider
• Specific goals for different types of websites
• Effective strategies for achieving your website goals.

By the end of this guide, you’ll have a solid understanding of how to set achievable goals for your website and how to reach them effectively.

So, let’s dive in and start making the most of your online presence!

Define website goals 

Before embarking on the design and development of your website, it is imperative to establish its purpose and objectives. 

Defining your website goals is crucial in ensuring that the end result aligns with your vision and business needs. Website goals can be thought of as a roadmap, guiding you towards your desired outcomes.

The common website goals include: 

• Online business card (Brochure website) 
• Customer service 
• Online brand visibility 
• Leads
• A complete online business solution 

Having a clear understanding of your purpose and set of goals will act as a benchmark throughout the entire website development process. It will make the decision-making process easier, as you will have a clear direction to follow.

With well-defined website goals, you’ll be well on your way to creating a website that meets your business needs and drives success.

What are SMART goals?

Setting attainable website goals are equally important as having life or business goals. Goals help you stay focused towards the purpose of your website. 

SMART goals mean: 

Specific: The more specific your purpose and goals are, the better the results will be. Also, you’ll be able to measure the results and plan your website accordingly.

Measurable: Setting your goals is the first step, but if they’re not measurable, there won’t be any accountability and no prominent results. 

Attainable: Setting attainable goals will set you up for success. 

Realistic: Your website goals must be realistic. 

Timely: Your goals must be time-bound. If there’s no definite deadline to achieve a goal, it is unlikely to accomplish it. 

For example, your website goal is to achieve 1k organic traffic in 3 months. 

• It is specific; you know you want to achieve 1k organic traffic 
• It is measurable; you can monitor the number of visitors every month
• 1k organic traffic is also attainable once you are focused 
• It is quite realistic as well. 
• And it’s time-bound; you want to achieve 1k organic traffic in 3 months’ time. 

SMART website goals are the key to your online success. If any of the above elements are missing, achieving your desired goals can become challenging. 

Most common website goals 

Website goals are also niche specific. Every business has different needs and purposes and, therefore, different website goals. 

However, a few basic website goals are common to all websites irrespective of the niche or the type of website.

1. Brand Building 

The website is your online business card. It reflects your business and helps you build authority, credibility, and trust among your customers. The following are the must-dos to achieve this goal. 

• Add testimonials
• Case studies and reviews 

You can measure this goal following the below KPIs: 

• Page views 
• Time spent on your website 
• Video views 
• Comments

If all of the above are moving towards an upward trajectory, it reflects you are getting closer to your goal every day. 

2. Customer Service

Your website should also focus on improving your customer service and increasing customer interaction.

The following points will help you achieve your goal: 

• Creating FAQs 
• Service pages/landing pages visits
• Inquiries by submissions 
• PDF/resource downloads 
• Traffic to articles and blogs 

3. Sales

Your website should generate a regular flow of quality leads or sales. Your sales goal can be monitored following the given KPIs: 

• Direct online purchases 
• Contact form submissions 
• Appointment/call requests
• Emails collected via lead generators 
• Live chat requests 

Direct sales are not always easy; therefore, if you’re getting reasonable leads following the above KPIs, you are on track to achieve your sales goal. 

Basic brochure website goals

A brochure website is a most commonly used website these days. The main goal of a brochure website is similar to a business card. It reflects who you are and what you do. 

The main goal is not lead generation but business growth; having a website increases your chances of business growth by more than 50%. 

Although online presence is the main goal of a basic brochure website. Here’s how we can sum it up in a few points: 

• Brand awareness
• Building authority and credibility
• Improve sales conversion rate
• Showcasing your portfolio and services

Here’s an example of a brochure website:

Lead generation website goals

A lead generation website is more complex than a simple brochure website. The website’s main goal is to generate leads and ultimately convert them into sales. 

Following are some of the key essential elements of a lead generation website: 

• Build and increase brand awareness
• Generate more qualified leads
• Improve conversion rate
• Customer satisfaction
• Increase organic website traffic
• Rank for more keywords
• Increase the email subscribers list
  

The main goal of a lead generation website is to educate the users about their products and services, which helps to build credibility in the industry. 

Blogs and articles are often found on a lead generation website for the same purpose. 

Coaching website goals 

A full-fledged or coaching website has combined goals of a lead generation website, a brochure website, and a few more. 

All in all, the main goal of a coaching website is to generate sales, whether it’s a course, book, or training program. 

Following are a few essential features of a coaching website: 

• More sales 
• Increased number of registrations or signups 
• Build and increase brand awareness
• Generating quality leads
• Increase website traffic
• Increase the email subscribers list

Such websites contain all the information that a user might need. From contact to resources, videos, about, services, training and courses, 

Usually, they also have a sign-in dashboard for their users. 

E-commerce website goals

An E-commerce website has one clear goal, to sell products and services. Other factors also play an important role, such as below, but the prime goal is to generate sales: 

• Building brand authority 
• Having an email list 
• Excellent customer service

Effective ways to achieve these website goals

Following are a few tried and tested methods to help you achieve your website goals. 

1. Create quality content: Your website content will not only help you rank well in search engines to improve visibility but also attract your target audience. The following should be given importance while creating content:

• Mention the stakes 
• Elaborate the problem 
• Explain your solutions in easy steps 
• Incorporate appropriate CTAs

2. User-friendly: Your website design should be not only visually appealing but also user-friendly. Your website should be 

• Easy to navigate
• Responsive 
• Minimum load time 
• Easy to scan 
• ADA compliant 

3. SEO: The goal of most websites is to drive traffic and generate leads. SEO can help greatly in helping you achieve your goal. 

• Keyword research 
• Proper heading tags
• Meta description
• Quality backlinks 
• On-page SEO 

4. Regular content: Publishing and updating regular quality content will help to increase website traffic. As soon as you start creating helpful content, people start trusting you and your brand. Continuously updating your content with new, updated, and useful content can also do wonders. 

5. Increase email subscribers: Your email list is your most valuable asset on the internet. These are the people who are genuinely interested in your products/services. Once you have an email list, you can utilise it in the following ways: 

• New product launch 
• Discount codes
• Special offers
• Exclusive newsletters 

Conclusions 

Measuring your website goals regularly is crucial in achieving your desired outcomes.

Utilizing various tools can help you track your progress and analyze your results on a monthly basis. By setting specific, relevant goals that align with your business needs, you can effectively enhance your online presence and reach your target audience.

Now I’d love to hear from you.

What is the most crucial website goal for you and your business?

Share your thoughts with us by leaving a comment below. We look forward to hearing from you!