NONE: ONLINE-ADS>> source of traffic
ONLINE-ADS>> source of traffic
Guli Rahimi (internet_at_netvision.net.il)
Tue, 19 May 1998 18:25:53 +0300
Hello Richard and all group,
I've been a member of this group since it started. I find the
discussions very educating. I myself learned a lot and now I want to
contribute to others, and maybe get some help from more experienced
members.
I just wrote a book, which basically answers the questions a typical
manager is asking about the internet and its business applications. In
the topics you may find : Marketing, sales, advertising, procurement,
human resources implications, intranet, and many others.
I've put the whole book in my site (full text). Its in Hebrew, so for
those of you who read Hebrew, this book can of help immediately.
Let me share with you a small discovery I made :
The site was never published, nor mentioned in any written or electronic
media. I only mentioned its URL in two lectures I gave. I've put it on
air a few weeks ago, and just waited.
The results are as follows :
During the first two weeks there were only 5 visitors, who maybe heard
about the book from some people attending the lectures.
The third week was a real surprise : hundreds of visitors.
Now is the forth week, and the growth rate seems exponential.
My questions (or food for thought) for the group are :
1. What seems to be the reason for such a growth, WITHOUT any
promotion ?
Here are my suggestions, which I'm going to verify and post the
results here within two weeks:
A) The content is the most important factor why people would bother
to spend their time and money to visit a site. Supply them with
helpful content and they'll come, and bring others with them.
B) The site (book) is written in Hebrew, which is easyer for Israeli
people to read (as you know, most of Internet content is in
English, and finding some good content in your own language can
be very hard.) My point here is maybe the growth rate chould be
explained by the ease of reading and understanding ?
C) Could it be that people are passing the word about good content ?
If so, it should signal to everyone of us, who deal with online
marketing ! Why spend so much money on advertising. Maybe we
should invest more in the content (Don't get me wrong, I don't
say that all marketing methods are useless, I'm merely suggesting
that good content should be considered as another tool in this
effort). Its been said for long time that content is king, but
could its power be that strong ?
2) Considering the NEGATIVE effects of the following :
A) Hebrew is a very limiting factor, so the vast majority of
the netizens can't read it,
B) I can't expect a massive flow of visitors coming from search
engines (Hebrew is written right to left, which makes it
impossible to search the text of a Hebrew site) or refering
sites, due to lack of interest of those sites.
C) The relatively narrow niche the book is targeted at (that could
be a plus and a minus)
what would you consider a good marketing mix ? Let me just say that
the site is free (no charge to read the book online, even though
visitors fill a questionnaire so I have some statistics), so it's
intended to be a teaser for potential buyers of the printed book.
3) For those of the readers of this distinguished group, who may find
interest in advertising to the targeted audience coming to the site
(managers, academic education, ages 20 - 50, mostly men) I suggest
you contact me by mail.
Have several nice days,
Yours,
Guli Rahimi,
Managing Director, Internet College - Israel
17 Karon St., Rishon Lezion, 75262 Israel
http://www2.iol.co.il/ic
Internet Email : internet_at_netvision.net.il ICQ#: 12088971
Phone:+972(3)5774677 Fax:+972(3)9648889 Mobile:+972(52)597878
My book "The business applications of the Internet" (full Hebrew text)
is available for online reading at http://www2.iol.co.il/ic/book.htm
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