How do you start an effective website? A common question among webmasters. I have faced this question may times and have found varying answers. The problem is defining the word ‘effective’. Each website has a different criteria for being effective. This boils down to the purpose and goal of starting the website in the first place. If the website is able to achieve its goal or purpose then you can call it effective.

This means setting the goal and purpose of building a website must be the most important step in the overall effectiveness of the website. The goal must be very clear as it would affect every aspect of the website. A good guide would be to use ‘SMART’ goals or targets

S - Specific

M – Measurable

A – Achieveable

R – Realistic

T – Time reference

The second most important thing in building an effective website is ‘TESTING‘ You will have noticed that I have made many changes to this website since I started it. I continuously test to improve the effectiveness of my website in getting more traffic and improve my conversion rate to achieve my goal. It is important that testing becomes a necessary part of running a website. Keep making changes to the website and try out new plugins, features etc and track the effect these changes have on the overall effectiveness of the website in achieving your goals.

I hope this short post will make you aware of the importance of TESTING in running an effective website.

Best wishes.

Gopala