Question

Topic: Research/Metrics

Projected Increase In Site Traffic

Posted by beaucommunications on 7/10/2012 at 6:19 PM ET 250 Points
How does one project the anticipated increase in site traffic our company can expect by constructing a microsite that targets a specific audience demographic? My proposal requires that I suggest a projected percentage increase in traffic. We've never done this before, so there is nothing to compare it against. Is there a "normal" industry metric or a standard of measurement for microsites? Or should I use standard metrics for content strategy? Thank you all wise ones!
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by Gary Bloomer on 7/10/2012 at 7:14 PM Accepted
    Where might this traffic come from, what offer, change, or bait is it reacting to? What other variables have you tested (or will you test) to confirm your increases?

    What I'd do in this case is to also offer a spread of percentage point increases, starting low (.25, .50, and so on) and then peg them out up to 35 percent, just to see what might happen. Then run a split test and check all the variations in copy, images, times of day when ads or traffic runs or spikes, and see what happens.
  • Posted by beaucommunications on 7/10/2012 at 8:07 PM Author
    Thank you Gary -- We are partnering with a publishing site that targets the unique demographic we want to market to. They are building and hosting the microsite for us, so traffic will come from their site ads and email to their subscribers. The offer is "register and receive all this great content created just for you" that's not available on our primary site. This is the first time we have tested content of any kind, other than the service we provide, of course. As far as content goes, we really are starting at ground zero. That's why I don't know what metric to measure against. Everyone says content is what we need but my VP says what exactly is it going to get us?
  • Posted by Gary Bloomer on 7/10/2012 at 10:42 PM Member
    In a word, content brings you an audience.

    The more relevant the content is to the interests of the niche, the more focused the readers in that audience become.

    You give content as a loss leader, to attract and RETAIN your audience, then you feed them more content over time, into which you insert relevant, timely, valuable offers.

    The content needs to be relevant, it needs to be well written and interesting, and it needs to be the kind of content that's available nowhere else.

    The content needs to speak DIRECTLY to the felt needs, to the desired outcomes, and to the emotional compulsions of your readership. The role of content here is to create a sense of community, of belonging, of significance. Your readers need to know, like, and trust you and they won't be doing that if your content is crap.

    Your content needs verve, sass, personality, opinion, and solid, "take it to the bank" value.
  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 7/11/2012 at 8:43 AM Member
    Without any testing, you have no idea. It all depends upon the offer/promise and their need (and if your email is even seen by the audience). Are you paying for clicks, conversions, or a flat fee for the service? Your VP would likely be happy if you're only paying for conversions (signups).
  • Posted on 7/11/2012 at 9:50 AM Moderator
    There is no standard metric for this. It all depends on your copy, the offer, and the target audience/exposure format. It could be anywhere from 0 to 2x or 3x, or even more. (It also depends, of course, on the traffic volume you're getting now.)
  • Posted on 7/11/2012 at 10:03 AM Member
    The first step is to look at the details on measuring projected traffic, and how ... What growth rates are you expecting for the more important pieces in your site.

    [URL deleted by staff]
  • Posted by justinw on 7/12/2012 at 12:08 PM Accepted
    If you need to project before building a site and actually getting numbers ...

    1. Ask for or do some research on the keyword search traffic using the Google Keyword tool. This should give you a good idea of the audience for your site.

    2. Once you have the audience (over a month let's say) estimate how many of those people will land on the MICROSITE. It will probably be a low percentage to start. Ask the people building the microsite what kind of position in organic results they think you can expect after a month, and after 6 months. Then search for graphs online relating percentage of clicks to organic search position (all rough, but a good place to start).

    3. Once you've estimated how many people will land on the microsite, then use Gary Bloomer's method mentioned above to give estimates for various levels of Click Through rate to your site from the micro site. Estimate low (like 1%), and add percentage based on the type of microsite it is (single page sales letter sites get low clickthrough, more fully featured sites tend to get higher, like around 10%). Don't estimate about 10% click through rate.

    Once the site is launched, alter your assumptions based on performance. Realize traffic growth is slow at first.
  • Posted by beaucommunications on 7/18/2012 at 3:40 PM Author
    Thank you Gary, Phil, Justin, et al... Your responses and insights are greatly appreciated. I knew I came to the right place to seek advice. Thank you all.
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