Web Strategy and Coffee

I’m learning something.  A good blog post generally starts or ends with a good cup of coffee.

One year ago I didn’t drink coffee.  It was almost a matter of principle, I was even prideful in my coffee aversion.  Then something changed.  My wife and I had our first child and I came face to face for the first time with true exhaustion.  Now, nearly one year after our child’s birth, I can’t get enough of it.  Its bold hot goodness gets me up in the morning and gets the wheels turning.

I’m only 12 months into my relationship with the dark drug, but I’m starting to realize that there’s a lot of detail to enjoying everything there is to enjoy with each cup.  (Bear with me, here comes an analogy to web strategy.)

If you’ve ever brewed coffee using a french press, you know there’s some very specific steps one needs to follow to make sure an optimal cup is brewed.  So just like with coffee, there are some basics that need to be addressed when you’re putting together any type of strategic web initiative.

• Preparation – For a french press this means choosing a good coarse grind for your beans and good quality water.  For a web strategist this means selecting the right “parts” for your new media brew.  What web sites will you be using, and how will you be driving traffic to them?  Answering this question is an all important one.  Don’t think that simply because you have a web site that people will visit it.  Find your the audience you want to target and then setup your outposts where your target will find it.
• Brewing – After you’ve boiled your water and poured it over your grounds in the french press you need to let it brew for about 4 minutes.  In the world of web strategy I see this as setting the site on your trap.  Do you have a clear conversion on your site so that when people land on your online postage stamp that they have enough to do engage with that they can get all the info they need and still remain close to the conversion.
• Press – Everyone knows… don’t rush the press.  Slowly push the stopper down on your french press to push the coffee grinds down to the bottom of the carafe.  Likewise don’t rush your conversion on your site.  I may come to your site 3-5 times before I’m ready to convert, don’t try to force me to convert each time I visit.  Force me and I may bounce from your site, just like coffee can eject from the top of the spout of your french press if you slam the plunger down too fast.
• Pour and Taste – And lastly the entire brewing process would be a waste of time if we didn’t then drink the coffee.  Likewise, be sure to measure your results from your web initiative.  Installing Google Analytics is a great start to measuring and analyzing your efforts, but be sure to look beyond the dashboard data.   How many people converted?  When did they convert?  If they abandoned, when did they leave and why?  Play the detective and have fun.