Re: URL Structures in Advertising?
The short answer is that there is no one right answer.
I've just went through an echaustive analysis of this
for a fortune 500 company. We reviewed 100s of ads
from 10 well know companies across DM, Print, and TV
to determine what the best URL naming convention is.
The results were inclusive to what the common practice
was since everyone did something a little dofferent.
But to boil it down. There are two reasons you
incorporate longer URL strings: first to provide a
reasonable method for constomers to find your
product or service info online and second, to allow
you to track and determine how those customers go to
that info.
A couple of rules to follow though. If your company
is a master brand that owns a lot of sub brands
(Unilever for example) it would make sense to stick
with the sub brands only (www.wisk.com). Customers
don't care if its unilever or P&G. If you are a
master brand with subbrands that are subordinate to
the master brand (Microsoft) work with the a
combination of the two (www.microsoft.windows.com or
www.windows.microsoft.com). Keep in mind that a good
portion of people who see this are going to type in
www.microsoft.com and then look for info on windows
products once they get there. Therefore the homepage
should provide some level of promotion to individual
products or offer.
If you want to add extensions to further track from
where your leads/traffic is being generated. These
can be generated through the use of redirects so
they do not have to match the site hierarchy. The
rule of thumb is be simple and braod rather than over
specific. www.brandx.subbrandy.com/magpromo/CL1234 will
not be typed in by anyone but the most tech savvy user
and only then if its incorporated in a medium that
is suited for saving and reviewing in front of a PC
(direct mail and magazine print). TV should include
no more than one extension off of the master brand,
otherwise no one will remember to follow it
(www.retailerx.com/FallSavings). When coming to the
optimum solution for your company, the four things you
need to concern yourself with are your audience, the
medium in which the ad/promo will appear, the brand/sub-brand
structure of your company, and your tracking capabilities.
Received on Thu Jan 24 2002 - 08:26:59 CST
