The last few years have presented new marketing challenges for the flooring industry. There has been a paradigm shift in the manner in which people read news and view advertising. Statistics* continue to show a steady decline in print media - specifically regarding readership and ad revenue - due in large part to a dramatic increase in online searches and web based news services. Flooring manufacturers and dealers that have recognized this trend and have focused their efforts and resources towards online marketing have increased their market share and ROI.

What has happened to print media
The value that print media once offered has diminished due in large part to the low-cost alternative that online marketing and advertising provides. Another problem with print media involves press releases and news items carefully written by a company’s PR team that have to be pared down due to the restraints of a 20 some-odd page publication – oftentimes diminishing the intended value of the release or worse yet, the release missing the publications deadline altogether.

Online news sources, due to having 24/7 access, offer immediate and unlimited media coverage. In fact, many of the print news organizations now have websites that contain news and information from their print editions. This out of necessity due to the dramatic readership declines mentioned earlier.

Where to invest marketing interests
With the number of flooring news and information websites steadily increasing, where should manufacturers and dealers invest their marketing interests and advertising revenue? The answer lies in Website analytics. The traffic a flooring website receives directly impacts the potential it has for providing an effective advertising platform for your company.

Before deciding where to advertise online, ask specifically for the following:

• The number of unique visitors the site gets per day
• The number of page views per day
• How long the average user stays on the site

The number of unique visitors (or sessions) is an important statistic to consider. If one website has 6,000 visitors per day and another only 1,500, your choice should generally be the site providing the larger target audience. The exception to this rule is mentioned later in this article.

Page views are another important statistic and perhaps the one most overlooked. If a site has thousands of pages of content, yet the average user only accesses 1 or 2 pages per visit, how relevant can this site truly be? If on the other hand the average user accesses 7-10 pages of information, you can be assured that this site has the content necessary to ‘hold’ an audience.

Directly related to page views is time spent on a particular site. Many webmasters struggle with the challenge of keeping the interest of those visiting. People surfing the web have little or no patience for having wasted their time clicking on irrelevant content. They will bounce from site to site until they find one that satisfies their interests. A site that has a large number of unique sessions whose average user clicks on 1-2 pages and only stays 3 minutes is hardly worth your time and resources.

You should only consider using a site that can verify through tracking software and provide a report showing at least these 3 statistics. Do not make the mistake of accepting only verbal confirmation. Everyone wishes to be the 500 pound gorilla but only a few truly qualify. Insist on seeing a YTD report and use this information carefully in determining which flooring site to use.

Times are changing
The economic challenges today facing every single flooring manufacturer and dealer make it extremely important to implement wise marketing and advertising strategies. Use only those online sources which can reasonably be expected to provide the media coverage and advertising ROI you expect and need.

One such source is FloorBiz.com. As the largest flooring directory and guide, we have been serving the flooring industry since 1996 as the preferred choice for manufacturers and dealers. Our flooring news section is the most read in the industry with over 200,000 page views per month. Approximately 5,000 unique visitors per day spend over 16 minutes per session accessing on average 8 pages of information. Our advertisers have enjoyed the highest ROI in the industry and have used FloorBiz as a source for advertising an average of 7 years.

Our web analytics are available upon request.

Press releases and news items
Flooring manufacturers and dealers can now send news items and press releases directly to our publishing department: news@floorbiz.com (*Please include hi-res images you wish to be included as attachments.) All releases will be reviewed and published in their entirety within 24 hours.

Free registration
Flooring manufacturers and dealers can register on FloorBiz for free and be added to our company directory. A business profile page will be provided which can be updated at any time that will include company information, products and services offered and contact information. Click here to register your company

Advertise on FloorBiz
Advertising inquiries can be sent to: advertise@floorbiz.com (Please include company information, contact information and website address.)

For more information, please visit
www.FloorBiz.com or call 336-526-0111

*
http://mashable.com/2011/03/15/online-versus-newspaper-news/

 http://stateofthemedia.org/2011/overview-2/key-findings/