10 SMART Website Goals to Skyrocket Your Success in 2023

The start of a new year is the perfect time to reflect on your website‘s performance and set actionable goals for improvement. But with so many metrics to track and areas to optimize, it can be difficult to know where to focus your efforts for maximum impact.

The key is to develop SMART website goals – ones that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound. By framing your objectives in this way, you‘ll have a clear roadmap to follow and be able to track your progress along the way.

To help you get started, we‘ve outlined the top 10 SMART website goals to focus on in 2023, complete with tips and examples for each one. Implement these, and you‘ll be well on your way to your most successful year yet!

1. Get Serious About Reducing Bounce Rate

Your website‘s bounce rate is the percentage of visitors who land on a page and leave without interacting further or visiting another page. A high bounce rate (over 70%) can indicate issues with your user experience, content relevance, page load speed, or mobile friendliness.

To reduce bounce rate in 2023:

• Ensure your content delivers on what was promised in the page title/meta description
• Break up long blocks of text with headings, images, and videos
• Improve page load time by compressing images and enabling browser caching
• Make sure your site is responsive and easy to navigate on mobile devices
• Add compelling calls-to-action (CTAs) and internal links to encourage readers to visit other pages

Example SMART goal: Reduce overall website bounce rate from 65% to 50% by the end of Q2 by optimizing the top 10 highest traffic pages for user experience signals.

2. Boost Your Organic Traffic with SEO

Organic search traffic is not only free, but extremely valuable since it comes from users actively searching for topics related to your business. Investing in search engine optimization (SEO) is essential for improving your rankings and visibility in search results.

Some key SEO action items for 2023:

• Conduct keyword research to identify high-volume, low-competition keywords to target
• Optimize on-page elements like page titles, headers, meta descriptions, and image alt text
• Improve site architecture and internal linking to help search engine crawlers discover and index all your pages
• Build high-quality backlinks from reputable websites in your industry
• Create fresh, original content optimized for search regularly

Example SMART goal: Increase organic search traffic by 25% by the end of the year through monthly publication of keyword-optimized blog posts and acquisition of 10 new backlinks per month.

3. Convert More of Your Traffic into Leads and Customers

Getting more traffic to your website is great, but the ultimate goal is to convert those visitors into leads and customers. Conversion rate optimization (CRO) is the practice of improving the percentage of users who complete a desired action.

CRO tips to implement this year:

• Place CTAs in prominent locations above the fold and at the end of blog posts
• Simplify forms by only asking for essential information
• Use contrasting colors for buttons and CTAs to make them stand out
• Add social proof like customer reviews or trust badges
• A/B test different versions of key pages to see what converts best

Example SMART goal: Increase the conversion rate of the free trial sign-up page from 5% to 10% in 6 months by testing new CTA placements and button copy.

4. Make Your Website More Inclusive with Accessibility Improvements

Web accessibility means designing your site to be usable by everyone, including people with disabilities. Not only is this the right thing to do, but it can help you reach a wider audience, improve SEO, and avoid potential legal issues.

Some accessibility best practices to focus on:

• Add alt text to images and transcripts to audio/video content for screen readers
• Ensure sufficient color contrast between text and backgrounds
• Provide clear, consistent navigation and labels for form fields
• Allow users to easily resize text or navigate with a keyboard
• Follow WCAG guidelines and test with online accessibility checkers

Example SMART goal: Achieve Level AA conformance with the latest Web Content Accessibility Guidelines by Q3 and fix all flagged accessibility errors on core website pages.

5. Convince Shoppers to Complete Their Purchases

Shopping cart abandonment is a huge problem for e-commerce sites, with an average of nearly 70% of carts being abandoned before purchase. Reducing this rate can have a big impact on your bottom line.

Tactics to minimize cart abandonment in 2023:

• Offer free shipping or other incentives for completing checkout
• Provide a variety of convenient payment options, including digital wallets
• Display trust symbols and secure checkout badges to build trust
• Allow guest checkout without needing to create an account
• Follow up with abandoned cart emails to entice shoppers to return

Example SMART goal: Lower shopping cart abandonment rate from 65% to 55% by implementing exit-intent pop-ups and abandoned cart email campaigns by the end of the current quarter.

6. Expand Your Reach and Impact with Email Marketing

Email remains one of the most effective channels for building relationships, sharing content, and driving conversions. Growing your email subscriber list should be a top priority this year.

Ways to attract more email sign-ups:

• Offer a valuable lead magnet like an ebook, whitepaper, or discount code
• Run a contest or giveaway where an email address is required to enter
• Add opt-in forms to your highest trafficked pages and blog posts
• Collect emails offline at events or points-of-sale
• Encourage current subscribers to forward or share your emails

Example SMART goal: Reach 10,000 email subscribers by the end of the year by creating a new lead magnet each quarter and promoting sign-ups across all marketing channels.

7. Establish Thought Leadership with a Company Blog

Blogging is a proven way to attract organic traffic, build authority in your industry, and engage potential customers. If you don‘t have a blog for your business website yet, make 2023 the year you start one!

Tips for launching and growing a successful blog:

• Identify topics your target audience is searching for using keyword research
• Develop a content calendar and aim to publish new posts at least weekly
• Include images, infographics, and videos to break up text and add visual interest
• Promote new blog content to your email list and social media followers
• Allow readers to subscribe to your blog or RSS feed

Example SMART goal: Publish at least 2 new keyword-optimized blog posts per week and reach 10,000 monthly blog pageviews by the end of the year.

8. Encourage Deeper Exploration of Your Site

The more pages a user visits and the more time they spend on your site, the more likely they are to convert. Look for ways to keep visitors engaged and moving through your content.

Ideas for increasing pages per session:

• Add relevant internal links within your blog posts and page copy
• Provide "Related Posts" or "You May Also Like" content recommendations
• Include a search bar so users can easily find the content they‘re looking for
• Create topic clusters or content hubs around key themes
• Leverage exit-intent pop-ups suggesting other content when a user goes to leave

Example SMART goal: Increase average pages per session from 1.8 to 2.5 in the next 6 months by adding recommended content widgets to all blog posts.

9. Turn More of Your Website Visitors into Leads

For most websites, the primary goal is to generate leads that can then be nurtured and converted into paying customers. Optimizing your site for lead generation should be a key focus.

Ways to capture more leads from your website traffic:

• Create compelling offers like free trials, demos, consultations, or quotes
• Place lead capture forms or CTAs on the pages that get the most traffic
• Implement live chat to engage visitors and answer questions in real-time
• Use exit-intent pop-ups to make a final CTA before a visitor leaves
• A/B test landing page copy, layout, images, and forms to optimize for conversions

Example SMART goal: Generate 50% more marketing qualified leads this quarter compared to last quarter by placing CTAs on the top 5 blog posts and A/B testing 2 new ebook landing pages.

10. Speed Up Your Site to Boost Engagement

Website visitors today expect pages to load lightning fast. In fact, 40% will abandon a site that takes more than 3 seconds to load! Faster load times also positively impact SEO and conversion rates.

To improve your website‘s page load speed in 2023:

• Upgrade to a faster web hosting service
• Minimize HTTP requests by reducing the number of on-page elements
• Compress and optimize images before uploading
• Minify CSS, JavaScript and HTML
• Use browser caching to store previously loaded resources
• Consider implementing Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP)

Example SMART goal: Achieve sub 2-second page load speeds and improve Google PageSpeed Insights scores for all key pages by the end of Q2.

Make 2023 Your Best Website Year Yet

There you have it – 10 SMART website goals to focus on this year along with specific tactics you can implement to achieve them. Of course, these are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to website optimization. The most important thing is to align your goals with your overall business objectives, put in place a system for regularly tracking your most important metrics, and commit to continuously iterating and improving.

Remember, your website is often the first impression potential customers will have of your brand – and you know what they say, you never get a second chance to make a first impression! So don‘t let your site languish with outdated content and a lackluster user experience. Make 2023 the year you whip your website into the best shape of its life.

Trust us, the effort you put in will pay off in spades when it comes to increased traffic, leads, and sales. So what are you waiting for? Get out there and smash those SMART goals!