However, despite the vast amount of detailed information that is available what is missing is anything to tell the webmaster what the visitor was thinking. Did they dislike the site? Was the layout easy to understand or confusing? Did they find it easy to navigate and maybe the most important thing, did they find the information they wanted?

A website may be generating sales but why are some people that visit the website not buying anything? Was it because they didn’t like what the product or service were or was it that they couldn’t find what it was that they wanted?

Web based surveys provide webmasters with an accurate method of answering these types of questions. Direct feedback from the website visitors hears it straight from the horse’s mouth, no need to guess, just ask the visitors directly on how they found the web site and if they found what they were looking for.

With an online survey webmasters can find out:-

• How often do people visit the website?
• How did they find the website?
• Are they interested in the website for business or pleasure?
• Were they able to find the information they were looking for?
• How easy did they find navigating the website?
• Would they recommend the website?

A good website survey will be short and to the point and gather good intelligence that once analysed will help improve the website.

Another alternative to a traditional survey is to embed one or two survey questions within the website after specific procedures. For example, ask visitors at the end of the registration process if they found the procedure quick and easy; or after ordering an item ask if they found the ordering procedure and payment methods straightforward. To make sure that the questions do not become repetitive to regular visitors the website can be programmed so that the questions are only asked once per registered user.

Website surveys take the mystery out of working out what visitors think of a website and using Online Survey Software they are quick and easy to design and once implemented will really become the webmaster’s assistant.

To see a sample website survey please follow the link: Sample Website Survey

• Market research will help you better communicate – Your current customers experiences are a valuable information source, not only will they allow you to gauge how well you currently meet their expectations they can also tell you where you are getting things right and more importantly where you are getting things wrong. By asking your customers you no longer need to guess what your customers are thinking and you demonstrate to them that you are proactive when it comes to customer services and value their opinion.
• Market research helps you identify opportunities – If you are planning to operate a new service and want to know the preconceived attitudes people have then market research can help, not only in evaluating the potential for a new idea, but also by identify the areas where a marketing message needs to be honed.
• Market research will minimise risk – Market research can help shape a new product or service, identifying what is needed and ensure that the development of a product is highly focused towards demand.
• Market research creates benchmarks and helps you measure your progress – By establishing a benchmark you then have a useful reference to allow you to measure your progress – If you do not measure you will not be able to properly gauge how well your business is performing. Preliminary research may be able to identify problems in the service you intend to offer or in your product, regular market research will show if progress is being made and, if positive, will help motivate a team.

Considering the benefits that market research will bring to any organization it is perhaps surprising how few businesses invest sufficient resources to gather good intelligence that will help them improve business. Many may think that market research takes too much time and effort but that is just not the case anymore as through the power of the Internet online survey software is readily available and vital market research data can now be gathered in a quick, simple and cost effective manner.

Market research is the first step in the system.

First, you should research markets you have an interest in.  This is your most crucial starting point, and you can do this by finding out what your possible customers are on the lookout for.  This is the essence of keyword research finding the particular words or phrases people type into search engines to get answers to their issues, and you may be certain that if you don’t do your analysis, you will regret it later.

By finding and using keywords that purchasers are actively entering into the search engines, you’ll be able to help your websites and landing pages rank higher, generating a nonstop flood of organic, targeted traffic.

Keyword research doesn’t have to be a difficult job, however.  Begin with the free Google Keyword Tool, which can be found by hunting for Google keyword tool external, and enter in a keyword or phrase that identifies the product or niche that you have an interest in promoting as an affiliate.

Click on get keyword ideas to generate a list of keywords and gauge the competitiveness of the the market by taking a look at the quantity of times people are looking for your principal keywords a month.

What you need to do is find a market with existing demand that also has existing competition and products readily available, but not so competitive that ranking well is pretty much impossible.

What’s important here is that you remember there should be an audience for whatever you opt to market.  Since you are an affiliate, your costs for entering a market aren’t extremely high, but it is’s still an excellent idea to take the time to do niche research to elude wasting your time.

For more information on market research and keyword research in internet marketing, particularly as it is applicable to CPA, take a look at the newly-released Zero Friction Marketing course.

Know your customers – Market research will help you better understand your customers in a number of ways including demographic information such as their age, gender and geographic spread. The better you know your customer the easier it is to fine tune your product or service towards the target market.

Know your target market – Who exactly are your existing customers and where do they live? What age group does your service or product appeal to? Do you know who your potential customers are and where they live?

Know your competition – Market Research will help you measure your service compared to others. What are the strengths and weaknesses of your organization and are you improving in the right areas?

Products and services – Do you have the products or services that people want? Is what you offer value for money? How do your company’s services and products compare to those of your competitors? Can you, do you, should you deliver directly to your customer?

Ease of doing business – Do your customers find it easy to deal with you and when they visit your store and/or website do they find what they want? Is there adequate advice and assistance on hand? Do people find it easy to buy from you? Are all your employees properly trained, helpful, knowledgeable and available?

Marketing – Is your marketing reaching the right people and is the marketing message clear and effective. Which are the least effective marketing channels?

Is your marketing message understood? Does the marketing material properly represent your brand? Do you advertise through the right channels? Are you reaching the right people?

With the power of the Internet it is now very easy to conduct market research using one of the many online survey software sites that make conducting surveys and collating good market research intelligence quick, easy and extremely cost effective.

1. It’s cheap as chips
Select the right survey website and creating surveys can be free of any charge and the cost to publish is minimal.
Useful information derived from survey analysis can be reused and repackaged in other marketing and PR for use in press outlets making it a very efficient form of information gathering.

2. It’s extremely easy
Anyone can create and design an online survey. Using an online survey website only basic browser skills is required to create professional looking surveys that when published ate simple to comcomplete.

3. Multiple deployment options
Once the survey is online it is a simple step to promote it the most popular methods being either through email (with a link enclosed) or via a link from a website. Anyone who has the link can be connected instantly to the survey, at a time that’s convenient to them, 24×7.

4. We have an opinion – and we like to give it
The majority of customers do not view surveys as spam and will in fact welcome the opportunity to voice their opinion and have the chance to make an impact on a brand. They can be particularly good for broaching sensitive subjects with concerned employees; a survey asking a workforce on their opinion of change allows the key issues to be raised in a positive manner and encourages employee participation. Deliver a message to individuals and then have the feedback collated in a manageable form.

5. Get inside their heads
You can lead a customer to an advertisement but you can’t make them read it. Surveys actively engage the respondent, who read and then think about the question before giving their response.

6. Build a relationship
It needn’t all end at the end of the survey – while you have the respondent’s attention and they are in the mood you can ask if they want to sign up for more information or a regular newsletter – making the most of the window of opportunity where you have their interest.

7. Have you also seen….
Take the opportunity to maximise the interest of those responding to your survey by referencing related information. By embedding links within the survey to other websites that offer more detailed information you are able to reinforce the marketing message.

8. Subtly rules
Surveys can help associate, in the mind of the respondents, a product with a number of positive attributes. By listing the many features of a product and then asking the respondent to say how important the features are to them, regardless of their response, the respondent will associate the product with the features.

9. Not just selling
A survey is an effective, easy and quick method to promote and gain acceptance for a difficult proposal; for example a public body trying to gain acceptance and support for a particular scheme.
For example take a city trying to gain support from the general public for their bid to host a future Olympic Games. Being able to explain each benefit will put a respondent in a much better position to appreciate your argument and that may be enough to combat any negative aspects. Using the feedback that is received the overall marketing strategy can be fine tuned.

10. Engage your target group
Thinking laterally a lively and imaginative approach to surveys can provide the ‘hook’ to engage respondents. The survey subject can be targeted at a particular group on a subject close to theirs hearts. The survey’s marketing message can take the form of a simple brand awareness message by stating that ‘this survey was sponsored by brand name’, or by finding a link from the subject matter to the product – something that is surprisingly easy and highly effective.

Attract traffic by providing a Public Survey section as many people who enjoy completing crosswords and doing word puzzles enjoy completing questionnaires. Low cost and automated, having a public survey notice board as part of a website will help increase traffic and establish a loyal and returning following. No need for moderators as unlike discussion boards there is no opportunity for people to disrupt the site by inappropriate remarks as the survey results can be displayed in summary form.

The majority of customers do not view surveys as spam and will welcome the opportunity to voice their opinion and have the chance to make an impact on a brand.

Many of the techniques and a few more are contained in the following Sample Marketing Survey.