The Internet Is Local
Recently, I read an article bemoaning the declining effectiveness of display advertising in local newspapers, and I thought it made a good point. News junkies are getting their local news online, and quickly. Many local news websites post stories within hours, even minutes, of receiving an alert. What’s better than accurate news? Accurate news, quickly!
So what is the point? What does this mean for me as a business advertiser? If newspaper readership is down significantly and readers are getting their news online, perhaps we should consider moving some advertising dollars from print to the web. I’ve recently begun to use some online advertising from our local news website, and have been surprised by the volume of traffic this has produced.
A possible local website advertising strategy
- Request placement toward the top of the website’s advertising column. Some websites rotate advertising spots to be democratic and this is acceptable, but placement towards the top is ideal.
- Get your ad designed professionally, especially if you don’t like the look of other ads on the website. If you get your ad designed elsewhere, it will likely stand out from the crowd a bit more.
- When you place your ad, don’t just give your home page address (www.mypage.com), add a parameter that can be used to track the incoming traffic effectively (www.mypage.com/?ref=localnews)
- Subscribe to, and install, Google Analytics tracking software on your website and monitor incoming traffic. You can configure Goals with Google Analytics. This enables you to monitor how many visitors from the local news website actually contacted you or purchased something from your website.
- If your advertising dollars don’t seem to pay off immediately, consider the design of your ad and your home page (or other landing page) to make sure that they accurately describe your service or product.
What local advertising strategies do you use? How effective have they been?
Share your ideas with other readers by commenting on this article.
