Effective Offline Promotion 391

• Envelopes
• Checks
• Fax coversheets
• Report covers
• Flyers
• Advertisements
• Direct mail pieces
• Newsletters
• Press releases
• Media kits.
URL Exposure through Promotional Items
If your company uses promotional items as giveaways at trade shows
and events, it is a good idea to incorporate your Web site marketing
with these items. Figures 26.1 and 26.2 offer examples of the different
promotional products that you can order on the Internet for your business.
Promotional items that are used in and around computer workstations
are ideal because your URL is visible when people are in a position
to actually visit your site. Some examples are:
• Mouse pads
• CD holders
• Screen cleaning kits
• Software
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392 101 Ways To Promote Your Web Site
Figure 26.1. Mousepads.com is a site where you can order personalized
mouse pads.
Figure 26.2. At epromos.com you can put your Web address on a multitude
of different products.
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Effective Offline Promotion 393
• Screen savers
• Pens and pencils
• Scratch pads
• Coffee mugs
• Coasters
• Letter openers
• Stress balls
• Calendars
• Sticky notes.
URL Exposure through Clothing
Articles of clothing are another great promotional item. When people
wear an article of clothing with your URL on it, they become a walking
billboard for your site. I personally have a jacket that was provided by
Webjacket.com (see Figure 26.3), and the quality is great. Your corporate
jacket provides exposure for your company and your Web site. If
you have a corporate uniform, your URL should be displayed. Put your
URL and a catchy phrase or tag line on items such as:
• Golf shirts
• T-shirts
• Sweatshirts
• Hats
• Aprons
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394 101 Ways To Promote Your Web Site
• Jackets.
URL Exposure on Novelty Items
Novelty items can be an effective place to print your URL. If your target
market is a younger audience, then put your URL on items that appeal
to them, such as:
• Frisbees
• Balls
• Beach towels
• Sunglasses
• Key chains
• Magnets
• Chocolate bars
Figure 26.3. eZINESearch.com provides a searchable directory of e-zines.
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Effective Offline Promotion 395
• Bumper stickers.
Promotion with a Touch of Creativity
Be creative and come up with catchy slogans that have a connection
with the promotional item. For example:
• Clocks: “Take some time to visit our Web site at …”
• Rulers: “For a measurable difference, visit us at …”
• Coffee mugs: “Take a break and visit our Web site at …”
• Tape measures: “Visit our Web site at http://www.YourURL.com
and see how our site measures up.”
• Magnifying glasses: “You don’t need one of these to see that our
site is the best. Come visit us online at …”
• Watches: “Isn’t it about time you visited us at … ?”
• Bookmarks: “Take a break from reading and visit our Web
site at …”
URL Exposure on Your Products
If possible, put your URL on your products themselves. This is an innovative
idea that Joe Boxer has used. They stitch their URL into the waistband
of their underwear.
Internet Resources for Chapter 26
I have included a few resources for you to check out about offline promotion.
For additional resources on a variety of topics, visit the Re-
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396 101 Ways To Promote Your Web Site
sources section of my Web site at http://www.susansweeney.com/
resources.html. There you can find additional tips, tools, techniques,
and resources.
Advertising Concepts
http://www.bumperstickers.com/ad.htm
“Why Use Promotional Products?” This site gives you good promotional
ideas and explains what these promotional products can do for you.
Digital-Women.com
http://www.digital-women.com/unique.htm
This includes unique ideas for online and offline promotion.
e-Promos.com
http://www.epromos.com
This site has a huge offering of items appropriate to display your logo.
Mousepads.com
http://www.mousepads.com
Mousepads.com allows you to choose from many styles or will develop
a custom one just for you. They also allow you to sign up for their
e-specials on their site.
PC Mojo
http://www.pcmojo.com/content/techsuppwebpromoteoffline.htm
Information on why you need to promote your site off the Internet.
Promotional Webstickers
http://www.websticker.com/products.htm
Simple ideas to effectively promote your Web site offline.
Webjacket.com
http://www.webjacket.com
Webjacket.com provides a great quality jacket with your corporate logo
and Web address. You design your own right on the site. I have one!
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27
Web Traffic Analysis
Today, technology not only allows us to generate interactive Web sites
for our viewers, it allows us to learn about our viewers as well. Many
Web sites are now using Web traffic analysis software that enables them
to analyze not only what page of the Web site their visitors came to
first, but also where they came from, how long they were there, and
what they did while they stayed. Once you have this information, you
can do some calculations to see what is working for you and what is
not. In this chapter, you will learn:
• What your Web server’s log files can tell you
• How analyzing log files with Web traffic analysis software can
benefit your Web site
• How to develop a profile of your visitors
• How to optimize your Web site to accommodate your visitors
• How to get the most for your marketing dollar
• How to generate leads for your business
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398 101 Ways To Promote Your Web Site
• How analysis software can help you to manage your online advertising
business
• How you can get Web traffic analysis software for your Web site
• The popular brands of Web traffic analysis software.
Do You Know Who Is Visiting Your Web Site?
Retailers have always spent endless hours trying to analyze the shoppers
who visit their stores. They are constantly trying to collect data
about their markets so that they can decide what the best forms of advertising
are for their target market, what consumers really want in
order to make wiser buying decisions, what services are important to
them, what product features their target market is looking for, and so
on. The same thing is happening today on the Internet. Companies are
constantly collecting data on their target market—their needs, wants,
preferences, and desires. Most people are unaware that they are even
doing this.
Web traffic analysis software helps companies to focus on their target
market like never before. It helps them to understand the traffic on
their Web site and enables them to make the necessary changes that are
critical to producing the results that they desire from their Web site.
“But how do they do it?” you ask.
Using Log Files to Your Advantage
All Web servers log a list of all the requests for individual files that
people have requested from a Web site. These logs include the HTML
files and their embedded graphic images and any other associated files
that get transmitted through the server. These logs can be analyzed by
Web traffic analysis tools to generate the following data:
• The number of visitors to your home page
• Where the visitors came from in terms of their IP addresses
• How many times each page on your Web site was requested
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Web Traffic Analysis 399
• What time, day of the week, and season people access your site
• Which browser your visitor is using
• Which keywords or phrases your visitors are using to find your
site using a search engine
• Which advertisements are viewed the most on your Web site
• Detailed information on visitors and demographics.
This might not sound like very important information; however,
there are some very amazing things you can do with this data. Like any
good experiment, you must collect the data first, complete the experiment,
and then make the recommendations.
Analyzing Log Files with Web
Traffic Analysis Software
By analyzing the data from your log files, you can generate results that
could significantly increase the popularity and success of your Web site.
By tracking the visitors on your Web site in terms of where they spend
their time, how they came to your site, and if they do what you want
them to do, you can fine-tune your Web site to fit the specific needs of
your target market.
Developing a Profile of Your Visitors
Who is visiting your site? Are most of your visitors from the United
States? Canada? Australia? Are your visitors AOL users? University students?
Government? Are your visitors primarily Mac or PC users? Which
browser are they using? Which version of the browsers are they using?
By analyzing the log files, you can learn a great deal about your
audience. You can see how the majority of your audience came to your
site and what they like to do while they are there—meaning whether
they request information or not, if they download products, or if they
are interested in free giveaways. You can use this information to find
out if your site needs to be changed to accommodate the needs of your
visitors. For example, if you find that many of your visitors are spend-
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400 101 Ways To Promote Your Web Site
ing much of their time on your What’s New page, maybe it would be in
your best interest to start a monthly mail list to inform your audience
about new additions to your Web site.
The log files can tell you when your audience is entering your site.
For example, if the log files indicate that your traffic is mostly at night,
you could predict that most people visit your site from home. Because
many homes do not have high-speed access, you might want to check
your graphic sizes to make sure that they are not taking too long for
your site to load. If your analysis tells you that not many people visit
your site on Saturday, you could select this day as your maintenance
day. You don’t want to make changes to your site on days when you
receive high traffic because it is very discouraging to your visitors to
receive HTTP 404 errors because your site is temporarily down.
You can also see your visitor’s IP address, which the software translates
into his or her geographical location; some of the software is even
capable of narrowing the data down to the city (see Figure 27.1). From
a marketing perspective, this can benefit you in planning your marketing
efforts in other media. If you are planning a television campaign for
Figure 27.1. WebTrends can tell you what cities are bringing you the most
online traffic.
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Web Traffic Analysis 401
your business, you might want to start in a city that frequently visits
your site, thus increasing the chance of a successful campaign.
It is very common for Web traffic analysis software to indicate which
browser your visitors are using when visiting your Web site (see Figure
27.2). Although you want to have a Web site that is designed to be
compatible with both older and newer browsers, this data can be used
to your advantage. Older browsers that cannot read Java scripting properly
and that do not have the proper plug-ins for a Flash introduction
might still be in use by your viewers. However, if a majority of your
viewers are using the latest browsers, you could incorporate more of
the latest technology into your site. Remember that you should always
offer a “Skip Flash” option on your site and the latest Java plug-ins for
people with older browsers.