Colorful Boxes

A while back (in another therad), Brent asked if I had any constructive tips or advice for our users. I don’t have much to offer for the other users, but since I’m heavily involved in web development on the editorial side, I can at least offer some advice to CBG’s editorial staff in the way of some questions that would go a long way to helping you identify the strengths and weaknesses of this website.* How much revenue is being generated from your website (banner ads, etc.)? Are you monetizing other areas of your online areas (e.g., e-newsletters, podcasts, videos)?* Do you sell products from your website? If so, are revenues up or down compared to previous months/years?* Are you getting regular online reports from your web team (e.g., Omniture reports)? If not, why not?* Why do visitors come to your site? Why does your site exist, and what do you offer on your website that your visitors cannot receive from the print magazine, or from other websites?* How much traffic (page views, unique visitors, total visits) are you getting on a monthly basis? * How is this traffic trending compared to last month? How is it trending compared to last year?* What is the average amount of time a visitor spends with your website? Is this amount increasing or decreasing month over month/year over year?* What was your best month in the past year/two years?* What are your most popular pages for the past month/past year? How does this compare to previous months/years?* Who are your most popular writers/columnists/contributors to the website? How often are they posting new content? Do you have a budget or payment plan that encourages/incentivizes your top contributors to write frequently? Are you actively soliciting content from new writers as well?* Do you have areas of your website that have not been updated in many months? If so, either update them or consider phasing them out. If your print columnists are not contributing to the website, offer them incentives to do so or else shut down those online areas.* Where are your visitors coming from? Are they mostly U.S. based? What percentage of your traffic comes from overseas? Do you have a strategy to attract more traffic from overseas?* Are you familiar with other websites and what features those other sites have? Do you regularly contact other editors to learn best practices, as well as strategies on how to ensure CBGxtra’s web development is made a priority within the corporate hierarchy? * What do you do better on your website than your competitors do, and vice versa?* What are your top three priorities for the website? What would you like the website to look like six months from now? Do you have sufficient resources and staffing to make those priorities a reality?