The website is the hub of digital marketing efforts. Pay-per-click (PPC) ads send visitors to the site, typically to a dedicated landing page. Search engine optimization (SEO) efforts are undertaken to increase organic traffic to the website, and even most mobile marketing drives visits to a website, sometimes a mobile-optimize landing page.

A key takeaway of digital marketing is the website is where conversion happens. Converting a visitor to a lead through a registration form, converting a lead to an opportunity based on tracked and scored website activities, and even converting an opportunity to a closed deal on an e-commerce website.

With all that in mind, optimizing the website is one tactic that can boost the performance of all digital marketing activities and campaigns. And, according to recent MECLABS (the parent company of MarketingSherpa) research, marketers who track ROI on optimization achieve favorable results: 38% report a positive ROI, while only 3% report a negative ROI.

This research is part of the most recent publication from MECLABS, the 2012 Website Optimization Benchmark Report.

For today’s newsletter, we are providing a complimentary download of an excerpt from this report that features three key findings from the research: the struggle to calculate website optimization ROI, which marketers prioritize website optimization, and how marketers view the website.

On that last finding, of 1,705 surveyed marketers, 59% reported thinking of the website as a separate marketing channel, and 40% view the website as an informational resource.



Here is a more granular look into the data used to create this chart:

• Of CMOs surveyed, 44% consider using the website for customer research as part of their online plans, and only 37% consider the site an informational resource.


• Breaking the data into size of company surveyed, 31% of large companies continue to focus on the website as a source of information, and were twice as likely to consider the website a brand research lab. Small companies reported 6% seeing the website as an information source, and only 3% think of the website as a brand research resource.

Download your free excerpt -- You will not be asked to fill out a form. This is a direct download.

Related Resources

Optimization Summit 2012 Event Recap: 5 takeaways about test planning, executive buy-in and optimizing nonprofit marketing

Website Optimization: Simple A/B test adds 'thousands and thousands of dollars' to Cars.com’s bottom line

Event Recap: Notes from the Optimization Summit 2012 roundtable sessions

A/B Testing: Why don’t companies track ROI of testing and optimization programs?

Website Optimization: How your peers improve conversion rate

Website Optimization: 1,915 marketers rank the top optimization goals