Getting Traffic to the Home Page

Members of the ISP-Marketing list discuss the value of having a home page or local portal for your subscribers. The main questions are is it worth it and can we compete with Yahoo! and AOL?

[May 22, 2002]

On the ISP-Marketing list in April, JM asked,

"How many of your customers actually use your home page or portal? Any idea on how to increase that number?"

Some respondents suggested that localizing the portal helps to retain customers' attention:

[DS advised] "If you are a local ISP, focus on the maximum potential you can get from your local region."

[EA added] "LocalWeb4U sponsored a University research study which showed that if you have a properly designed portal, the subscribers stay there longer. What's interesting is that their portals are 'localized.'"

Others considered the idea of recruiting local 'experts' to provide such content:

[CC pondered] "You know how eBay has volunteer department specialists, or how About.com has the same for each topic? How about local volunteers who provide localized content? It could be everything from local weddings and funerals, to classifieds, etc.-maybe partnered with a local paper."

[JB agreed] "A local portal in our area has just started that same concept. They are advertising for 'resident experts' to get qualified people to do just what you are proposing."

Still others noted that customers will want to know about what's going on outside their town, too:

[DS offered] "Don't forget that customers will also want to get information about the outside world. So although your portal may focus on the local community, it should also have links to world news. This allows you to provide information for those who are seeking non-local news as well."

[PK agreed] "Your portal should have real-time data feeds just like AOL has: your portal, first and foremost, has to be technologically equal to or better than AOL."

—End