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KPI guides
KPIs can be defined as financial or non-financial targets, examples of typical KPIs for web projects are as follows:
- Increase the amount of leads via the website by 10%
- Increase online conversions by 5%
- Reduce the time Customer Services team spend dealing with telephone queries
- Increase newsletter subscriptions
- Generate 10% more traffic
- Get higher competitive key phrase search engine rankings
- Increase brand awareness
- Improve usability
- Increase time spent on the website
The key ingredients to a KPI are the ‘before and after’ metrics that allow for an equal comparison of numbers to determine success levels.
But wait, so if I define some KPIs with the client it means at the end it could be proven the project wasn’t a fantastic success? Correct, but KPIs are good for both client and web agency.
Why
KPIs are good for web agencies
Aside from the obvious client benefits of being able to set, and hopefully
achieve, their desired business aims with the web project, KPIs also keep web
agencies focussed on what they’re really being hired to do – add value to the
client’s business. After all, if a web agency delivers a website or web
application that looks beautiful, is coded beautifully and accessible to all
but fails to satisfy the aims of the client’s business and facilitate growth,
quite simply, the web agency has not done their job.Not only will the web agency have not done their job, but the client will inevitably be unhappy with the results and this damages the chance of possible repeat business, testimonials, case studies and referrals, and as a web agency, sales as a result of these are the true keys to stability and expansion.
But sales aside, KPIs are good for web agencies because they ensure all teams remain focussed on the business problems that need solving as opposed to the latest techniques or technologies. Yes a web agency must keep up to date with all of the latest trends to remain competitive, but cultivating an entire team to become primarily business focussed is by far more valuable to an agency in the long-run than any use of cutting edge technologies as that team will consistently be delivering business value to clients and this only ever increases agency team morale.
KPIs can also serve as a boundary to client requests for features that are out of scope. In this instance, with KPIs defined, a web project manager can, with all sincerity, ask which KPI this relates too. More often than not, the answer will be none and in one swift move you have not only protected the project’s scope but kept the client focussed on their business’s primary aims and saved them money.
When
failing is valuable
Even failing to deliver on one or all KPIs is extremely valuable to a web
agency because it allows the team to fully analyse why this was the case and
take the appropriate steps to improve on the next project. In some instances,
by being completely transparent with a client about the KPIs and failure to
reach them results in a relationship based on respect and trust and this puts
an agency in a great position to propose further work in order to turn the
failure into success based on statistics captured post-launch – if you can
identify what the project failed to achieve but also why, you can fix it
rapidly.
Who
should define KPIs
It is important to specify who should create the web project’s KPIs? Usually
the client will give you the KPIs but it is the web agency’s role to analyse
and challenge these where necessary to ensure they are realistic, measurable
and placed in the correct context e.g. if a KPI is given to as “appear on page
one of Google” without the context of which keywords to appear on page one for,
the KPI could be achieved by getting the client to number one for their domain
name, brilliant.Obviously this is not brilliant, but illustrates the importance of defining the right kind of KPIs.
Factors
to consider when capturing and measuring KPIs
Another factor to take into consideration when defining and capturing KPIs
is what the client’s business activity is that time that could impact any of
the metrics collected both before and after launch.For example, if a KPI was to increase traffic by 5%, a ‘before’ figure would be collected that gave the current traffic over a defined period, let’s say three months. Post-launch, the ‘after’ figure would be collected for the same time duration and the comparison made. But using just this one example could possibly result in skewed results if any of the following are true:
- When the ‘before’ metric was taken the client had just implemented a print marketing campaign
- PPC/SEM was being conducted and now is not
- The ‘after’ metric is taken over a period of time when several national holidays occur
- A new competitor arises on the scene before project completion
Staying
focussed on KPIs
Once defined with the client at the start of the project, the KPIs should be
documented and circulated amongst all parties that will be involved throughout
the project’s lifecycle. In doing so you are immediately focussing everyone on
the aims of the project. Too often in web projects the aims of the project are
specified in finite detail by the client in the tender document, backed up by
agency proposals and then swiftly forgotten by both sides. While this seems a
little crazy, in reality, the pace and complexity of most projects, both large
and small, make it difficult to focus on anything other than completion – it’s
the job of the web project manager to ensure these aims are at the forefront of
everyone’s mind at all times.The most effective ways to keep KPI focus throughout a project are to:
- Document them at the start of the project
- Present back to the client, and any stakeholders, in a face to face meeting
- Present to your team at the kick-off meeting
- Include them at the top of all project documentation e.g. sitemaps, functional specifications and creative briefs
- Re-iterate them verbally at the start of any new project phase e.g. site IA, development and design
- Remind everyone of the KPIs when reviewing any revisions of work and citing them as reasons for your feedback and suggestions
How to Develop Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
