Tips for winning website traffic

By Amit I Budhrani

Tips for winning website trafficThe website is built. Good! You want the world to see it. Great! But how are you going to achieve that? Even if you do get visitors in the initial period, it is necessary to make sure that they do continue to visit the website on a regular basis. In other words, it is necessary to convert a onetime visitor into a regular guest. Here are some tips for winning the website traffic:
Interactive website - a great way to get new content: It pays to update and put fresh content on your website regularly. This can be done if the site is made an interactive one. The viewers should get something in return for spending time on your website. An interactive website will help in viewers seeing something new every time they pay a visit. What's the use of visiting a website only to find the same old content on a website. Stale content is something that does not go down well with the audience. Updates are like magnet that attracts the visitors. The higher the frequency of updates, the stronger is the force of attraction. A website can be made to look fresh in the following ways:
Virtual communities: Try to build a virtual community. This can be done by having blogs and discussion boards/forums. Providing such kind of platforms helps in keeping the interest of the visitors. It also provides fresh content for your website. Interaction also helps in building a strong bond between members which is ultimately beneficial to your website.
Keep a special column that will contain regular feature updates: Try maintaining a column, which can be regularly updated. Such column can be a message from the chairman' desk informing about the latest trends. Or it can be one of the employees of the company who writes about serious issues pertaining your industry in a humorous vein. It can also be a column where you answer emails received from the common masses that contain queries related to your field. For e.g. if a car manufacturing company maintains a website, it can start a column where experts answer queries of the public. This can be something as small as tips for increasing the mileage of the car.
Hold chat sessions: This is a great way of increasing the traffic to your website. Try to bring in the top shots from your industry for a chat or an interactive session with your visitors. Make sure that it is held for free. This is a sure shot method of attracting web traffic. For e.g., if your website is dealing is based on movies, you can invite a well known critic who can chat on the topic 'Techniques for reviewing a movie' now that is something which will attract the eyeballs.
Create Blogs: Blogs are a great way of bringing traffic to your website. It is an in-thing that is generating a great buzz in the world of Internet. Having a blog may just provide that extra reason for visitors to visit the website. Blogs also provide a platform for the visitors to share their thoughts with like-minded people.
Free stuff works: Everybody loves free stuff. If your website is able to provide visitors with free stuff, it will provide all the more reason for them to keep on visiting your website. The free stuff need not be of great monetary value. It also need not be tangible. For e.g. if your company is involved in manufacturing chocolate cookies, may be you can hold a workshop on how to manufacture a cookie sauce. Alternately you can dole out free t-shirts with your website and company logo printed on it.
Collect Feedback: One can collect feedback by making polls and online surveys a regular of the site. Everybody loves to have a say and polls and surveys are just the right medium for hearing the common man's voice. It also makes the site far more interesting and interactive. It can be also useful for knowing the public's thought on issues pertaining to the industry or the firm itself. For e.g. if a car manufacturing company has recently launched a new car model, it can hold a poll asking the general public its opinion on various aspect of the car.
Eyes and ears of your industry: A website can be made as the announcement system of the entire industry. If a news pertaining to the industry has been leaked or released, it can be made known on the website of the company. This will persuade people to keep on returning to the website because it is offering them latest industry updates. For e.g., many a times financial experts are aware of the amendments that are likely to be made to the taxation law. If the firm is an association of accountants, they can then use their website to make people aware of the likely amendments.
Treasure trove: Make the website a treasure trove of information. This can be done by listing articles, which is relevant to the company's industry. The company can also offer articles that are an information mine for those interested in making a career in the industry of which the company is a part. For e.g. if an advertising agency has a website, it can include articles on how to make a career in the field of advertising world or may be a list of career options available in the field of advertising.
Promote the site: One has to promote the website if one has to have any chance of standing in the competition. There are two ways of promoting a website - online and offline.

ONLINE PROMOTION: A website can be promoted online in the following ways:
Search Engine Optimization: If you have not made your site search engine friendly, then do it now! It plays a very important role in attaining higher rankings in the search result. It is common fact that people do not go beyond the first two pages that are displayed in a search result. Hence SEO is important in attracting traffic to the web.
Add new features: Keep adding features which are suggested by the visitors to the website. For e.g. if there is a constant and an increasing demand for an opinion poll to be added, then try to add it to the website. This not only increases the web traffic but also shows that you care for the readers of your website. This helps in building goodwill for your website. The goodwill in turn will help in the formation of loyal readers. Also make sure that the added site features are publicized through all possible media.
Allow reprints: If people ask for a permission for the reprints of the articles that feature on the website, give them the permission to do so. But a little caveat. Ask them to give a link to your website on their pages. This will not only please the said people but will also help in increasing the traffic to your website.
Post your website on relevant newsgroups: Make sure that the URL of your website is posted on relevant newsgroups. For e.g. if the website belongs to an advertising agency, it should make it a point to post on newsgroups which relevant to the advertising world.
Keep Posted: If there are people who have registered themselves with your website, make sure that they get regular emails telling them about the articles that have been posted or any other relevant material. Showcase the articles in such a way that they are tempted to visit your website for reading the rest of the articles. This will help in increasing website traffic.

OFFLINE PROMOTION: Offline promotion can take place in the following ways:
Include Website address: Try to include the website address in all possible modes of communication. Letterheads, envelopes, bills, cash memos are some of the places where the address can be included.
Include it in your sponsorship deal: If you are sponsoring any event of program make sure that the banners also include your website address. This will make sure that your website address is read by many people.
Redirect members: Many times organizations get phone calls from the general public. Most of the phone calls are queries asking for some or the other information. After providing with basic information they can be asked to visit the website for a detailed information. For e.g. if a bank gets a call from a customer asking for the interest for a one year deposit, they can be given the information and can be asked to visit the website for further information.
Empathy for the visitors: One should empathize with the visitors. It requires a little effort on the part of the webmaster to keep his site in such a manner that it is a visit to your website turns out to be a pleasure-filled experience. This will not only help in attracting new visitors, but it also ensures that the loyal readers do keep visiting the site. Here are some tips for maintaining the website:
No technical problems: Just imagine a visitor clicking on a hyperlink of your website only to find that no the page does not exist any more. Be sure that he will be pissed off and you will lose a visitor forever. Hence it is necessary to make sure that they are no broken links. Similarly make sure that the page is not suffering from any technical glitches.
Tell a Friend: Make sure that articles of your website contain a link that can be used by the visitor to send an interesting article found on your website to a friend. In other words, make your site forward friendly. The ' tell a friend' option is a great method to get new visitors to your website.
Secure the site: It is important to provide the visitors with a feeling of security. People are often wary when it comes to doing online transactions and finance related procedures. A site can be said to be secured if they are having a lock, which appears on the bottom right panel of the monitor screen. Make sure your site features that lock.
Observe the competition: It is necessary to keep a close eye on the competition. If their website is attracting more competition, ponder upon the factors which might be helping them and try to apply them to your website.
Navigation friendly: Make sure that the website is easy for navigation. A difficult site may put off the visitors. It should also not have too many links. Similarly a sitemap should be provided. It makes the site search friendly for the user and wins his approval.
Different Languages:Be sure that your website is available in different languages. This is more important if the website is going to target international audience. Make sure that the website is available in major international languages. You can study other websites before deciding upon which language should be chosen for your website.
These are some of the ways to increase the traffic to your website. Remember the mantra to winning the web traffic is making it informative and user friendly.

Corporate Communication Strategy in the New MediaCorporate Blogs

"The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place." ~ George Bernard Shaw

In this age and time much has changed in the modes of communication. More information then ever before in the history of mankind is now available at the click of a button. Communication in this age and time acquires an altogether new definition.


The Reality of New Media

3,85,00,000 is the size of online audience in India. In other words it translates into 5.2 times the readership of the leading English daily. Or 2.8 times the combined readership of leading 3 newspapers in India. Or 3 times the combined readership of India's leading 5 English magazines.

Consider the case of a leading institute based in New Delhi suing two bloggers for over Rs 250 crores. The bloggers getting together and doing a full investigation on the antecedents of its founder. More accusations and retaliations followed. The case seems to be on a ceasefire right now. But consider the power of the new media, a small blog and so much reaction. That's the power of blogs, finally at a keyboard near you.

The changing corporate communication scene in India

The case highlights the truth about the subtle changes taking place in India at the moment. And more than that the case highlights the power of corporate communication in the new media. Whether one believes it or not the new media has arrived. The blog is a reality and sooner or later corporate communication will have to use this medium. 3,85,00,000 is too big an audience to be ignored.

Corporate communications and the corporate blogs

Sun has them, so does microsoft.com. Ibm.com does them too, so does GM. Red Hat, Edelman, Stonyfield Farm, and Yahoo.com also have them. Corporate blogs are now invariably a part of corporate communications strategy. Harvard Business School says "corporate blogging can boost your company's credibility". Fortune does a whole feature on "There's No Escaping the Blog". INC.com the popular business magazine recently said " Blogging has been popular with teens, geeks, and flamboyant extroverts for years, but today, it's garnering more attention from businesses as a way to connect with customers and prospects." MSNBC says "Corporate blogs are a new source of useful information, as IBM and others are discovering". Fortune does a whole story on "Future of Media in the Blog?

Harvard Business School, Fortune, MSNBC, Fast Company, INC, CNN are perhaps some of the most reputed business publications. All of them going gaga over corporate blogging. Surely there must be something to corporate blogging.

The advantages of corporate blogging

· Achieve customer intimacy:
Initiate a communication with the customer. Speak directly to consumers and have them come right back with suggestions or complaints-or kudos.

· Influence the public conversation and control it:
Make it easy for journalists to find the latest, most accurate information about new products or ventures. In the case of a crisis, a corporate blog allows you to shape the conversation about it. The control part is a huge advantage.

· Enhance brand visibility and credibility:
Appear higher in search engine rankings, establish expertise in industry or subject area, and personalize one's company by giving it a human voice.

· Leadership
According to CNN "A blog is the perfect platform for a thought leader."

Is Corporate Blogging a Hype?

Let me put it his way. Ten years ago the Internet was called a hype. Mid and late nineties even the world wide web was first called a huge hype, then huge investments followed and it seemed as if everything in the world end with a dot com.

Followed by so called dot com crash in 2000 (the giants crashed so they called it "the crash". Online revenues never did fall). Its 2006 now, the world wide web is still there with a soaring audience, revenues then ever before.

Moral of the story, what matters are fundamentals. The fundamentals of the world wide web were strong and remain strong. The world wide web is a media of the new generation and a media that definitely cannot be ignored, even if you refuse to open your eyes to it.

Corporate blogging is similar. If not today, then tomorrow corporates will have to adopt it. The fundamentals of corporate blogging are very strong. The broadcasting and syndication facilities are absolutely too powerful and strong. The kind of communication a corporate can have with a consumer or even within a company is too strong to be ignored.

How to start a corporate blog?

Companies can start a corporate blog themselves like Google.com using its own blogging tool blogger.com or hire services of corporate blog service providers like brandtalk.in. The idea of a corporate blog could be to have a conversation with your consumers, or simply get information on a new product, maybe have an internal conversation. The key to the success of the corporate blog is the honesty with its implemented. A corporate blog isn't an achievement board or a kudos list. The customers or visitors aren't looking for a sales pitch. Product information maybe.

Customers view a company's message through the lens of corporate blog differently than a corporate website because here they are involved in a conversation with a company. A customer's perception of the source is different and their willingness to listen is greater.

In this age of information, a corporate blog is an interesting tool to connect with the customer and yet be able to control the conversation.

Puneet Mehrotra is a web strategist at www.Cyberzest.com and edits www.MidnightEdition.com you can email him on puneet@cyberzest.com

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print.aspx?Id=6c5cdbee-6342-40f9-b508-465e47edb778

Investor relations or public relations?

Some people think investor relations and public relations are completely different. We examine the arguments.
THE free encyclopaedia states the following: Public relations (PR) means the managing of outside communication of an organisation or business to create and maintain a positive image. PR involves popularising successes, downplaying failures, announcing changes, and many other activities.
Investor relations (IR) on the other hand, is a set of activities which relates to the ways in which a company discloses information required for regulatory compliance and good investment judgment to bond and/or shareholders and the wider financial markets.
So, is IR an element of corporate PR? Companies commonly employ PR to support their sales and marketing efforts and explain products and services to potential customers.
PR is synonymous with corporate brand building and managing corporate image. Relations with government involve lobbying and other PR strategies. Recruitment efforts and occasionally, internal employee relations, can have PR features. Corporate social responsibility programmes are often accompanied by a PR campaign. These are the meat and drink of the corporate communications department.
While an effective IR programme may be seen as part of establishing corporate reputation, it is not part of company “branding” or other promotional activities generally characterised as PR.
IR is about fairly disseminating company fundamentals to specific stakeholder segments, more than it is about marketing or promoting a “corporate image”.
IR is where the company explains its financial performance and prospects, and describes its business plans, strategies and targets to shareholders and potential investors and the financial community in general.
Why? So investors can make properly informed decisions and others can have an accurate view of the company. It is not to inflate the share price, but to secure a loyal, long-term shareholder base, the favourable regard of the financial community and ultimately, a lower cost of capital.
IR communications target investors and fund managers, and those who influence investor opinion, such as analysts and the media. Broader investor opinion is engaged through the company website, especially the IR pages, and through the financial press.
Does this make IR and corporate PR separate disciplines? Not quite! True, the IR professional tends to have a background in business, finance or accounting. Mass communications or psychology graduates are seldom found here. He may have experience in investment management or as an analyst, and understand how capital markets work. He will have sound knowledge of the company, its activities and prospects, and the ability to translate complex corporate data into an understandable form.
The IR professional will also develop the key IR messages, and convey them effectively, utilising a variety of communications channels. Will he do this in isolation from corporate communications?
The fact is, some work of corporate communications impacts on the IR programme, and some elements of the IR programme affect the corporate PR campaign. For instance, being well regarded by the financial community is an IR goal, but it also enhances corporate reputation.
Often the PR and IR units use the same communication channels and apply many of the same techniques. Ultimately, both operations exist to benefit the company. It makes sense they work in tandem, avoiding duplication where possible.
When companies formulate their IR programmes, these considerations are vital if effective overall corporate communications are to exist. A good IR policy will outline in detail the areas of responsibility for different aspects of the company’s financial communications.
For instance, utilising event management skills in corporate communications contributes to the success of analyst/media briefings and the AGM, while the IR professional will contribute his skills to the writing of the annual report.
At this juncture, it’s best to conclude by stating what IR is NOT:
The newest thing on IR is the launch of the Malaysian Investor Relations Association and the launch of the IR manual. Go to www.mira.com.my.


(i>This article is contributed by David Berry, managing director of Columbus Circle Governance Sdn Bhd.

Importance and Power of Public Relations

PR (Public Relations) are one of the most often used expressions in the business and marketing world today.

Since public relations are not clouded with direct (paid) advertisements, they represent a marketing activity that presents in the awareness of the consumer an image element that defines the final image and stance about a concrete product, service, brand or company.

Public relations thus often represent a crucial moment that can indirectly convince a buyer to buy a product notwithstanding whether this product is necessary to him. Such direct advertisement would not only be exceptionally expensive, but sometimes futile and time and money are of the essence in today’s demanding consumer society.

Moreover, apart from being able to convince a buyer that he truly needs this product, that he really needs a certain brand, PR can indirectly create an image about a company or create a name that buyers will differentiate from other, competition brands that offer a product of more or less the same characteristics and quality. This ‘name’ is today’s precondition for survival on the market and for the financial success of business.

The power and importance of public relations can be depicted with a historical example of the ‘father’ of public relations, Edward Bernays, the nephew of Sigmund Freud. He was the first to popularise the use of psychology theories with the goal of campaigns to convince the public – in the beginning for primarily political purposes and later economical purposes.

Expanding the tobacco market to the female population

Back in the 1920’s, the ‘male’ tobacco industry turned to Bernays’s help to expand the market to the female population. Women smoking in public was then considered a taboo.

Bernays’s first task was to create a need that did not (officially) exist yet and so create a habit of smoking by women in public. Only with such an act could he help his clients and enable the expansion of the tobacco industry market. Psychology theories enabled him to understand the significance of cigarettes for women: a symbol of manhood that gives women a feeling of greater equality in the then still non-emancipated society. The ideal chance was at a march-past in New York in which debutantes, young women of the high society, participated, who, at Bernays’s sign lit their cigarettes at the same time.

With this simple, well thought-out and planned act with the help of numerous newspaper articles, the taboo of women smoking in public was eliminated. The cigarette became an integral part of everyday lives of men and women around the world and led the tobacco industry to today’s status of one of the most powerful and most lucrative industries in the world

Navigating Asia's minefields in corporate blogging

By Lee Min Keong, ZDNet Asia
27/6/2007
MALAYSIA--The enterprise community is beginning to view blogging as alternative means to interact with customers and partners, promote corporate unity and strengthen corporate branding. However, telling the whole world about company matters has potential risks which bloggers may sometimes be unaware of.

Though still a rare occurrence in Asia, there have been reports of companies in the United States firing employees or contractors over the content of their personal online journals. In most cases, the bloggers were terminated for criticizing the company or fellow workers, disclosing confidential information or discussing offensive material.

Despite the risk, few companies in the region have formulated policies that specifically address blogging activities conducted by their employees. Given the potential minefields that exist for corporate bloggers, multinational companies have taken the lead to issue blogging guidelines for employees.

At Sun Microsystems, where over 1,300 employees blog on the company's Web site, there are blogging guidelines which ominously warn employeesthat posting "the wrong thing on your blog could cost you your job at Sun".

According to the guidelines, disclosure of non-public technical information such as software codes, without prior approval can have severe repercussions. The guidelines state that doing so can cause Sun, to lose its right to protect its intellectual property and export its products and technology outside the United States.

Sun employees are also warned that disclosing or speculating on the company's non-public financial or operational information can result in "swift and severe" legal consequences for the blogger, as well as Sun. Most of the risks associated with blogging by employees can be avoided by "just being careful and responsible", the company's guidelines advise.

Professional or not?
Perhaps recognizing the growing popularity of blogs, Malaysia's Information Ministry is currently attempting to classify bloggers--either as professionals and non-professionals--as a means to prevent misuse of blogs.

The country's national news agency Bernama recently reported that Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin defines professional bloggers as those who are "more responsible" in ensuring their Web content is based on the truth, and not rumors.

"This classification will also facilitate the action to be taken against those found to have violated the country's laws," Zainuddin said.

According to Tyson Dowd, Microsoft Malaysia's senior director of local software economy, employees at the software company are reminded "to be smart" when they write blogs.

"First, employees must follow all Microsoft policies on standards of business conduct, confidential information and human resources policies," Dowd told ZDNet Asia. "This is no different in terms of [how employees are expected to handle] e-mail, phone calls, blogging and public speaking."

"Second, try to imagine your blog on the front page of the newspaper… If you are comfortable about putting what you wrote as front page news, then your blog is probably fine," he said. "Another good test is to imagine your boss or CEO reading the blog."

Company bloggers have the responsibility to avoid breaking any of a country's laws, he noted. "It's a basic requirement of employment that employees follow the law. Blogging is no different here."

Dowd said that Microsoft encourages its staff to blog and provides both external and internal systems and tools to help create and maintain blogs for its employees. In Malaysia, many of Microsoft's technical staff maintain blogs relating to their technical interests, he added.

"Many staff also have personal blogs that share pictures and information of their friends and family. Beyond regular blogging, Microsoft employees also do a lot of podcasting and video podcasting," he said.

Bloggers at another IT giant IBM, took it upon themselves in 2005 to create a set of blogging guidelines, aimed at protecting both the bloggers and the company. The guidelines were subsequently endorsed by IBM and currently apply to blogs within and outside of IBM Web sites.

According to note published on IBM's corporate site, the company said that while it respects the right of its employees to set up external personal blogs, "activities in or outside of work that affect your IBM job performance, the performance of others, or IBM's business interests are a proper focus for company policy".

The guidelines state that blogs, wikis and other forms of online discourse are individual interactions and not corporate communications. As such, IBMers are personally responsible for their posts. For external blogs, employees are encouraged to use a disclaimer stating, for example, that "postings on this site are my own and don't necessarily represent IBM's positions, strategies or opinions".

The guidelines require IBM bloggers to identify themselves when blogging about IBM or IBM-related matters. They are also advised to write in the first person, so it is clear they are speaking for themselves and not on behalf of the company.

The guidelines also stipulate that IBM bloggers have to comply with IBM's Business Conduct Guidelines, respect copyright, fair use and financial disclosure laws, and are not permitted to disclose or use IBM confidential or proprietary information, or that of any other person or company on any blog.

IBM bloggers are further advised "not to pick fights, be the first to correct your own mistakes, and don't alter previous posts without indicating that you have done so".