An audit will provide an action plan and cost estimates to action whatever recommendations may result from the audit process. Invariably our audits start with the influence all your online (and often also off-line) elements have on the revenues you expect to generate.

The audit will also make sure all stakeholders are current on why the project is initiated, how it will be implemented and what their specific roles and resulting benefits will be.

This will make sure you and your organisations have a clear view on where you are now, where you should and could be and a measurable plan on how to get there. Results are classified based on their projected ROI which in general will more than cover your investments

The audit process consists of:

• Working session
  

  A working session with the management and communications team kicks off the audit and is designed to determine your organisational objectives and priorities. This includes gaining consensus on your expectations, previous initiatives and answering questions around what your organisation and its business units hope to achieve/improve with the Online Performance Optimisation audit.

  At this stage we would also need access to the website analytical data to start measuring current processes and behaviours of visitors to the site and review the paths they currently follow to get there and convert. Wikipedia defines the conversion rate as "the percentage of unique visitors who take a desired action upon visiting the website. The desired action may be submitting a sales lead, making a purchase, viewing a key page of the site, downloading a whitepaper, or some other measurable action."

  Conversions do not necessarily need to be linked to a website or even happen on a website. For example, in e-commerce we measure the conversion for multiple interactive elements, such as conversion per e-mail open-rate, conversion per ad impression or even conversion from e-mail sent to telephone contact.

  By applying a broader meaning to the term conversion rate you are able to apply the conversion rate methodology to a larger number of key interactive elements you wish to measure and improve.

  This first workshop lays the foundations for all subsequent stages by getting everyone on the same page. We look for knowledge transfer amongst the core team members creating awareness and understanding of our shared business goals.

  During this phase we will also look to identify each of the key players / business roles that would be involved in the extended group if the decision to implement recommendations would be positive. One of the toughest lessons for the core team is that not everyone is as excited about Online Marketing/Optimisation as we are and that it may take some evangelizing to get all the relevant players onboard.

• Audit report and presentation of findings
  

  In phase 2 we will conduct and present a report based on the following elements:

  • What are best-of-breed solutions for online properties like yours and what is the current state of the market?
  • Where are you now – the pro’s and con’s?
  • Who are the current users and what are they doing on the site
  • how can we improve the user experience and brand exposure in a non-intrusive and natural click flow?
  • How do people find and explore the site, what are the pathways, how can we make sure potential visitors can find you in search engines and find the information they were looking for?
  • Proposed areas of business activity over the next 12 months. How can we best support these efforts?
  • Where should your online properties be, what are the feasible steps, what is the framework?

  In general the will conclude with a set of recommendations (including costs) to be discussed with you. An audit is invariably money well invested as it provides a clearly defined scope for any resultant project.