Using testing and research are you doing enough?

Compare and contrast - sites that measure and most importantly base business decisions on metrics compared to those that don't:

“They dug into their Web site traffic data and came to the following conclusions: Nearly one-third of their PDF reports had never been downloaded, not even once. Another 40 percent of their reports had been downloaded fewer than 100 times. Only 13 percent had seen more than 250 downloads in their lifetimes. Since most World Bank reports have a stated objective of informing public debate or government policy, this seems like a pretty lousy track record.”

Source: The solutions to all our problems may be buried in pdfs that nobody reads – Wonk Blog | Washington Post (2014)

See also: Dear Think Tanks: No One is Reading Your PDF Report | Forum One (2014)

[After changes prompted by user testing and research to the service]...We’ve seen a significant increase in traffic to the service and a 22% increase in applications made online.”>

Source: Improving the Carer’s Allowance guide | Gov.UK Blog

Web content that isn't being assessed in a qualitative or quantative (or both as I would recommend) sense could be costing you a bunch of money. Isn't it worth doing a little bit of thinking about what your pages cost to create and maintain vs. the number of visits or downloands they receive. Better yet if you know who your audience and users are go and talk to them, observe them and find out if what you have spent many hours creating is actually what they want and need.

Bruce Klopsteins

UX maven, content strategist, communicator, information obssessive, exploratory completionist, and fan of witty banter. When not quoting other people's brilliance, thoughts are my own.