Whether or not you believe in the notion that a bad Web site is worse than none at all, it's hard to argue the merits of a well developed site and its resulting effects in lead generation, sales conversions, or improvements in overall customer experience. In fact, my guest today feels that when done right, even subtle changes can produce double-digit increases in online conversion rates and revenue growth.

Today's show was all about the content on your site and discussing strategies with me was Mark Wachen, managing director of Optimost at Interwoven. Interwoven provides a services platform that helps companies manage their Web content (I am sure I am doing them an injustice in that short description, so you can go to their Web site for more info).

I asked Mark what he felt were the first steps a marketer should take to begin a content-based optimization process. He offered a few ideas:

1. Set up key goals for your site and Web activity.
2. Identify what the value of a conversion is for your company.
3. Use the right tools and methodology to guide your optimization.

Seems pretty simple, right? Actually, in my experience the top two are going to be the hardest. Talking with marketers from all over the country I continually find that many do not have goals for their sites. They simple toss pages onto the Web and hope for the best. It still baffles me in a Web 2.0 world how many companies make their ABOUT US page the most important (e.g. first nav link) on their site.

Anyway, this was a great show to get you started on your journey to optimizing your site -- not in the keyword or search engine marketing sense, but in the ability of your pages to create customer experiences that drive results for your company.

-- David Kinard