But making the case that there will be a return on Web investments is not always easy. The primary measure of success for most federal Web sites is the number of hits or visitors they get each month. Though traffic numbers indicate the popularity of documents, they offer no additional information that could bolster the business case for sites. Jim Knotts, webmaster for DefenseLink, the Pentagon's Web site. As we formalize our planning process for Web sites, we need to build in measures at the beginning so in mid-stream and toward some end, we can measure our success and then modify our efforts accordingly.
Customer surveys are one way to measure the return on investment of Web efforts.
Surveys often show a high degree of customer satisfaction with the speed of service the Web provides. At the Mint, online orders take a couple of days to deliver, compared to up to two weeks for orders that require manual processing. Users of NASA's Web site clearly crave the real-time updates of information the agency provides. In July 1994, for example, when the comet Shoemaker-Levy collided with Jupiter, thousands of space enthusiasts flocked to the NASA site in the middle of the night to download photos of the event. Back-end cost reductions can also bolster a Web site business plan.